Early Works - Contemporary Sample

So for this sample, I'm going to give you a sneak peak at the short story - The Effect

Here is a rough blurb for it -

It never occurs to someone how just a few minutes, a few seconds, a few moments of time could change your life. The butterfly effect. A topic of such discussion and yet… it isn’t something commonly thought about. Or it wasn’t until that day. Why would a girl walking down the street send someone in a nearby bank’s life spinning off track? Or one boy running for freedom, change the way you look at the world? Alec summed it up the best. ‘Choices’ it all comes down to free will and choices. What path you pick will determine where you end up in life.

Here is a snippet of the original story (It has been partly rewritten since the original story)

The Effect

She should have left earlier. She should have been home already and yet, Haven was just now passing by the bakery, two blocks from home and ten minutes late. If she was lucky her father would still be at work and he’d never know that she had to stay late at school to explain why her homework was again unfinished. The teacher had only kept her for a few minutes but that the thought of returning home made her slow down and drag her feet. There would be trouble for being late if her father was there, but she wasn’t ready to start another weekend. So she took her time and wondered, ‘when will all of this just end?’ She still had several more years of school left and until she was eighteen she wouldn’t be able to leave her house. Only three more years, she decided, it would end in three more years. The wailing sound of sirens behind her pulled her from your thoughts. Haven lived in a small town. One of those places where everyone pretty much knew everyone. Nothing really exciting ever happened here. No high speed chases or nothing like you’d get in those other larger towns. Then she heard people shouting and yelling. She wondered if perhaps there was a fire, or maybe the horses from the farm down the street had gotten free again. She smiled, remembering the day the horses got free. That was probably the biggest event this town had ever seen. She paused in her walk just outside of the bank and turned to see what was going on. Only she didn’t get to complete her turn. Before she could a hand grabbed her shoulder and yanked her forward. Haven stumbled and nearly fell over but the grip on her shoulder tightened and a strong arm wrapped around her waist. She started to thank them for helping her when she felt something push into her side. She looked down to see the firing end of a gun. A gun? A high pitch sound filled the air as she screamed, hoping someone would save her. She looked back at the person holding her and was surprised to find herself looking at a teen not much older than herself. He pulled her forward and toward the bank door.

Oh god! Was this what he had in mind for me when I said when will it end? She panicked and looked for anyone to help her. The boy kept moving forward toward the bank and Haven dug in her feet trying to stop him. She kicked and screamed trying to get free but finding his grip on her too tight. The screams and shouting from behind her were getting clearer as they got closer. She was obviously slowing him down because they weren’t yet in the bank.

“Everyone get down!” an officer yelled

“Oh my god he has a gun!” someone screamed as they passed

More people started screaming, but no one came near them and finally the teen pushed her into the bank. Someone inside the bank screamed when they noticed them, soon several people were screaming as they noticed what was going on. Several pushed past them and ran outside. Haven pulled trying to get one of the fleeing people’s attention. Take me with you! She silently begged them, trying to get herself lose. The teen fired two shots into the air, and the answer to Haven’s question, ‘When will all of this just end?’ began to be answered.

The day started like most normal days for Elizabeth. The hospital called wanting her to start her shift early. Then the car wouldn’t start. She fought with it until finally she got it to run. She left so quick that she had forgotten her debit card on the kitchen table. So instead of just going through the drive-thru to get coffee, she had to stop at the bank and withdraw money. Had it really been a normal day, like she first thought, the small bank wouldn’t have had many people inside. Instead she found herself standing behind six other people who all seemed to need money. Ten minutes had already passed and she still had two people left in front of her. Elizabeth was toying with the notion of just heading to work and skipping the coffee when she heard screams behind her.

It won’t work she thought to herself I’m seriously not going to lose my place over... whatever you people are carrying on about. She figured someone had seen a mouse or a spider or something. Then she heard it. Two loud pops. Being an ER nurse for nearly eight years now, Elizabeth not only knew what gunshot wounds looked like, but also what gunshots sounded like. She spun around and saw a teen boy, with a gun in one hand and an arm wrapped around a very scared teen girl who seemed to be his shield.

He couldn’t be more than eighteen. She noticed and a wave of sadness fell over her. She knew how things like this ended and the teen was too young for his life to go like this. The girl she guessed was perhaps fifteen or sixteen. Her light brown hair looked darker compared to her nearly white skin. She was terrified and rightly so. Several people ran past them out the bank door and though the girl kicked and pulled and was easily within reach of all those who ran by, none stopped, none looked at her, none even seemed to notice her. The boy turned and kicked shut the bank door then locked it. Within a second his gun was pointed at the one officer the small bank had. The cop was already reaching for his gun but the one pointed at him made him pause.

“Drop it,” the boy’s voice was calm and as if asking for a pen. The officer, who Elizabeth guessed had never once fired a gun himself, slowly put the gun down on the ground. “Kick it here.” The boy said his hand steady. Keeping the gun pointed at the cop the boy’s eyes skimmed the room.

He must be counting hostages Elizabeth thought to herself. or looking for cameras, or exits.

He looked back as the gun skidded to him. He caught it easily with his foot. “Over there with the others.” He motioned the gun toward the center of the room where the remaining people stood in shock.

“You don’t want to be doing this, son.” The cops said his voice shaking. He held both hands up and slowly moved over to the rest of the people. “How about you hand over the gun before anyone gets hurt.”

The teen kept his gun aimed at the cop the whole time. He rolled his eyes at the cops suggestion, “Do I look like an idiot?” He moved toward the rest of the people, keeping the girl in front of him. “Take a seat, all of you, put your hands above your head.” Elizabeth slowly lowered herself to the ground and did a quick count. Well he picked the day that everyone in town seemed to be here she noted. With the bank teller, the bank officer, the frightened girl in front of him, and herself, Elizabeth counted sixteen total hostages inside the bank. The odds were pretty high that someone wasn’t going to leave this bank unharmed. “Everyone just stay calm and we’ll all be fine.” The teen reassured them. Elizabeth looked back at him. Had she heard a hint of remorse in his voice?

“This is the Landsaw City Police we have you surrounded. Come out with your hands up!” A bombing voice said from outside. The teen glanced toward the bank door.

“Sure… why not.” He said. He looked back at the hostages and smiled, “Does that every really work?” He looked around, “I mean seriously… how many people really go out that easy?” He looked at the officer. “Tell me, has that really worked?”

“Yes,” the cop said quietly, “All the time.” He shifted his weight. “That’s why they still do it, cause so many people give themselves up at this time. You should do it.”

The boy’s blue eyes studied him for a moment and then he laughed. Once more he looked around the room and took in everything. His gaze paused on Elizabeth’s and she watched as something passed through his eyes. Some kind of knowing. It was gone just as quickly as it came and he was moving on.

“What… do you want?” a small voice asked him. Elizabeth looked over at the bank teller. Like the bank officer, Elizabeth had to imagine she had never been in this situation before nor had ever dreamed that she would be. The teen looked over at her. “Money? Do you want the money?” the bank teller asked her voice shaking.

“No,” he seemed puzzled as if unsure why that was brought up, “I don’t want money.” He looked around at the hostage. “You can lower your hands, just don’t try anything.” No one moved.

Want to know what happens next? This will be one of the pieces in the anthology if it gets written. Check back for more updates!