Perfect Spirals
Stephanie is safe – enclosed – bathed by the morning sun.
A new day.
“How I got here doesn’t matter”
She tells herself and keeps telling herself to make it sink in.
“What they did can’t take anymore more of me”
“I can’t let those bastards do their work”
She knows it’s over …. she remains …. they are gone – well at least for 7- 10 years. She was hoping for more – she was hoping for a lightning bolt to rip through the courtroom and fry them right there —- take all the pain away —- singe them to pieces – until only a remnant of those evil smirking lips remain — Yeah, … leave those smoldering relics on the floor so they can be stomped – “I am Alice taking back my Wonderland and you — you evil Cheshire cat lips — you are crushed back into the darkness from whence you came”.
“A new life, my life.”
She looks at her nautilus shell from happier days. A shell she found in the fresh wash of the waning tide on a faraway island. The spiral shape that once surrounded a living thing – Maybe everything is a spiral? – maybe that is how it works. One thing builds on another and another in a perfect harmony that only takes full shape in the end. You just keep living and you just keep trying. None of us knows what will be for us – we are all too caught up to see.
That sun lights her face. There is hope. Out there are countless failures and victories waiting for her. Beckoning her to move forward.
Our star in our own little corner of this great spiraling galaxy. This giant Milky Way turning and turning while it plays its part in the greater scheme of time and space.
The only thing it doesn’t do is go backwards.
“Maybe how I got here does matter?”
Countless shells on countless beaches spread through eons and eons – and countless scumbags doing damage to countless victims over and over and over.
Stephanie thinks about that and it does sink in — we all become shells — we all become used packages of our souls. Every single one of us.
No exceptions.
So you make amends the best you can – you do what you have to put it behind you – if the only way forward is to forgive, you may even have to do that —— forgive your god for allowing such vermin to be produced and forgive the perps themselves for they have no conception of the damage they do.
One day they will understand and one day it will all make sense. A perfect spiral of symmetry where you thought only chaos dwelt.
Shells and galaxies alike – turning and struggling – gravity and fire burning and pulling – ocean currents – swirling tides flowing back and forth.
It somehow works out.
Notes: This is my first attempt at writing fiction – It went much deeper and darker than I would have imagined — but then again — I don’t know how it goes, that is the beauty of swimming in different water and trying new things.
Any comments — good, bad, or indifferent really appreciated on this post.
Thank you my friends
Cave of Fame 
Wayne, I absolutely loved this. You got me in with the painting at the start, which sums up much of the last 9 years for me. Not all the time, because I lead a pretty active life as well but I need my rest. That could be me.
I love deep, a bit of dark and philosophical thought spun together and this has all of that. When bad things happen, it forces you to think. Ask questions and re-process the order of things.
I tend not to read fiction as fiction, especially when it is good and that’s how I read this. Well done.
I have recently started participating in a weekly Flash Fiction Challenge over at Carrot Ranch. Charli posts a prompt and then you post your effort and she compiles them in a post. I don’t usually write a lot of fiction and I wondered how much benefit I’d get out of doing them, However, a few people I blog with do it and after seeing what I’ve been able to come up with , I’m hooked. Writing these is like taking a mystery flight every week. Where am I going? I’ve written on a range of topics but there’s a definite fight for the underdog throughout.
Here’s the link:http://carrotranch.com/
Hope you are travelling okay this week!
xx Rowena
Thanks Rowena and welcome to my website! – there is a cathartic thing about fiction that surprised me — so it helped me and if anyone else gets anything from it — that is all the better. I will check out the link, may try more of it. You get better by doing and it doesn’t have to be perfect ….the first rule of blogging!
Yes, Wayne. I have posted poetry I’ve written the very same day on my blog lately which is a huge change for me. I usually leave things to simmer then re-write them and re-write them some more before I stick them out there. It’s quite liberating. Moreover, all the writing I’m doing on the blog is refining my work so I should be getting better at it.
Speaking of catharsis, don’t know if I mentioned this poem to you but I wrote it on the way to the dentist and it looked ike the auto-immune disease was also affecting my teeth and I got rather peeved and wrote this: https://beyondtheflow.wordpress.com/2016/01/27/poem-a-modern-day-hero/
By the way, 10 000 hours is the magic figure for what it takes to master a skill like playing the violin and writing. I have no doubt I exceeded that long ago but I’m still learning and growing. May it never end! xx Rowena
This is great Wayne! I loved the spiral theme and the connection to the shell, life, the galaxy. Really well done! You have to keep writing stories!
A very compelling read, Wayne. A splendid first attempt!
Thanks J – I appreciate the support, it was nothing like I thought it would be.. And I may try some more.
I enjoyed this piece Wayne, some standout lines “we are all too caught up to see” and “no exceptions”
I often hear music in my head when I read words, and the line “a perfect spiral of symmetry” put a few Keane songs in my head (including Spiraling from the album Perfect Symmetry and the previous album’s Put it Behind You).
That theme of moving on, unsure of where to (or where from) is a compelling one.
No indifference from this reader!
The best thing was diving in Geoff, I’ve got many more genres to hit on the cave– and I want to take big swings with each of them! This is fun – it really is a no lose situation…. Bloggers always appreciate a passionate effort – that is why we do this – take a shot – it is free to play. 🙂
A great start!! Good job Wayne!! 👍👍😊
Thanks GH!🍊
Yes you do ROCK dude! Cheryl
Thanks Cheryl!