Short Stories

<BODY topmargin="0" leftmargin="0" MARGINHEIGHT="0" MARGINWIDTH="0"> <script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript1.1" src="/adm/ad/common_scripts.js"></script><script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript1.1">setAdGroup('24.159.100.128');</script> <script type="text/javascript">var cm_role = "live" var cm_host = "tripod.lycos.com" var cm_taxid = "/memberembedded" </script><script type="text/javascript" src="http://scripts.lycos.com/catman/init.js"></script><script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript1.1">var objAdMgr = new AdManager(); objAdMgr.setForcedParam("keyword", "defensemechanism"); if(adChannel != "") { objAdMgr.setForcedParam("google_ad_channel", adChannel); } var strProdSetName = objAdMgr.chooseProductSet(); objAdMgr.renderHeader(); </script><script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript1.1">function tripodShowPopup() { var bName=navigator.appName; var bVer=parseInt(navigator.appVersion); var now = new Date(); var popupURL = "/adm/ad/popup_source.shtml?"+"member_name=ghostofamemory&path=WOM_18ShortStories.htm&client_ip=24.159.100.128&ts=1120263661&ad_type=POPUP&search_string=defensemechanism&id=de0234a99699c4608dbbd05cda8373a3"; var popupName = "TripodPopup"; if (bName=="Netscape" && bVer<=3) { var popupWin = window.open("", popupName, 'toolbar=0,location=0,directories=0,status=0,menubar=0,scrollbars=0,resizable=0,width=755,height=200,left=200,top=550'); } else { var popupWin = window.open("", popupName, 'toolbar=0,location=0,directories=0,status=0,menubar=0,scrollbars=0,resizable=0,width=745,height=185,left=200,top=500'); } if (popupWin) { popupWin.blur(); popupWin.location = popupURL; } else { var nopopImg=d.createElement('IMG'); var random_num = Math.round((Math.random()*999999)); nopopImg.src="/adm/img/common/ot_popupblocked.gif?type=pop&rand=" + random_num; } } function changeOpenFunction() { var original_window_open = window.open; function new_open_function(url, name, features, replace) { if (name != "TripodPopup") { return original_window_open(url, name, features, replace); } } window.open = new_open_function; } tripodShowPopup(); var bName = navigator.appName; if(bName != "Netscape") { changeOpenFunction(); } window.onload = function () { setKeywordCookie('defensemechanism'); buildExitHandler(); } if (!displayAd()) document.write(" </script><script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript1.1">if (displayAd() || displayTopAd()) { objAdMgr.renderFooter(); } </script><TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" BORDER="0" HEIGHT="100%"> <TR> <TD VALIGN="TOP" WIDTH="215" BGCOLOR="#444444" TEXT="#080000"> <div><B><script language="JavaScript1.2" type="text/javascript" src="http://pub43.bravenet.com/counter/code.php?id=369342&usernum=3608575559&groupnum=43&cpv=1"></script><noscript> </noscript> </B></div><div><B>Archives:</B></div> <div><I>Note: &nbspAny resemblance to persons living or dead is purely synchronistic</I></div> <BR> <div><U><A HREF="WOM_58ShortStoriesIndependanceDay.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Independance Day">Independance Day</A></U></div> <div><U><A HREF="WOM_57ShortStoriesRain.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Rain">Rain</A></U></div> <div><U><A HREF="WOM_54ShortStoriesTheBeast.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Beast">The Beast</A></U></div> <div><U><A HREF="WOM_53ShortStoriesHideAndSeek.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Hide and Seek">Hide and Seek</A></U></div> <div><U><A HREF="WOM_51ShortStoriesTheWall.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Wall">The Wall</A></U></div> <div><U><A HREF="WOM_49ShortStoriesTension.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tension">Tension</A></U></div> <div><U><A HREF="WOM_24ShortStoriesUntitled.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Untitled">Untitled</A></U></div> <div><U><A HREF="WOM_27ShortStoriesGirlDistantAngels.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Girl/Distant Angels">Girl/Distant Angels</A></U></div> <div><U><A HREF="WOM_26ShortStoriesAMomentInTime.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="A Moment In Time">A Moment In Time</A></U></div> <div><U><A HREF="WOM_37ShortStoriesDefenseMechanism.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Defense Mechanism">Defense Mechanism</A></U></div> <BR> <div><B><U>Use your voice... &nbspContribute!</U></B></div></TD> <TD VALIGN="TOP" BGCOLOR="#ffffff" TEXT="#080000"> <div><FONT COLOR="#003399" SIZE="+1" FACE="Comic Sans MS">Hey...</FONT> &nbsp<FONT COLOR="#003399" SIZE="+2" FACE="Comic Sans MS">Hey...!</FONT> &nbsp<FONT COLOR="#003399" SIZE="+2" FACE="Comic Sans MS">Hey!!!</FONT><FONT COLOR="#0000bf" SIZE="-2" FACE="Comic Sans MS"> &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp</FONT><FONT COLOR="#003399" SIZE="-1" FACE="Comic Sans MS"> | &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp</FONT><U><FONT SIZE="-1" FACE="Comic Sans MS"><A HREF="legacy.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Hey... Hey...! Hey!!!">home</A></FONT></U></div> <div><U><A HREF="WOM_17ImageGallery.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Image Gallery">Image Gallery</A></U> &nbsp&nbsp| &nbsp&nbspShort Stories &nbsp&nbsp| &nbsp&nbsp<U><A HREF="WOM_19SelectedTexts.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Selected Texts">Selected Texts</A></U> &nbsp&nbsp| &nbsp&nbsp<U><A HREF="WOM_20OtherSites.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Other Sites">Other Sites</A></U> &nbsp&nbsp| &nbsp&nbsp<U><A HREF="WOM_21ContactUs.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us">Contact Us</A></U></div> <div>________________________________________________________________________________________________</div> <BR> <div>Short Stories</div> <div>Mount Ordeals &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp</div> <BR> <div> &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp<FONT COLOR="#003399" SIZE="-1" FACE="Comic Sans MS">It was a lonely day in autumn. &nbspI recall missing someone and feeling like I didn't know what to do with myself. &nbspI decided to take a trip to Stone Mountain. &nbspIt was only a few minutes away from the house. &nbspSoon I was on the road and then the highway. &nbsp</FONT></div> <div> &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp<FONT COLOR="#003399" SIZE="-1" FACE="Comic Sans MS">The tape player in the car didn't work. &nbspI had made jokes earlier in the week that my mental disorientation was broadcasting itself and had caused the tape in the deck to flip from one side to the other without playing any music. &nbspIt didn't seem so funny now. &nbspSomehow the silence made me uncomfortable. &nbspI didn't want to hear my own thoughts and I didn't want to feel my emotions. &nbspI put on some earphones and listened to the Walkman I had left in the car the day before. &nbspI let the abrasive, politically opinionated music fill my head with general thoughts that were not my own. &nbsp</FONT></div> <div> &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp<FONT COLOR="#003399" SIZE="-1" FACE="Comic Sans MS">In no time I arrived at the park. &nbspIt wasn't very crowded, it being close to sundown. &nbspI parked and headed towards the trail up the mountain. &nbspJust about where the trail begins to incline, I stopped to gaze at the sky. &nbspI often looked there, as though I might find an image in the clouds to comfort me. &nbspToday there was nothing besides thin wisps of almost nonexistent clouds, slowly curling around the sun in the slight breeze. &nbspThe sun caught my attention next. &nbspI will race the sun, I thought.</FONT></div> <div> &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp<FONT COLOR="#003399" SIZE="-1" FACE="Comic Sans MS">I headed up the trail, moving steadily and quickly. &nbspThe music was still blaring in my ears. &nbspI made pretty good time, occasionally looking behind me to check the progress of the sun. &nbspSuddenly, the trail began to get steeper. &nbspI was out of breath, sweating, the earphones were falling off my head periodically, and I thought of an old video game. &nbspI'm climbing Mount Ordeals, I told myself. &nbspAfter a brief rest, I pushed on. &nbsp</FONT></div> <div> &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp<FONT COLOR="#003399" SIZE="-1" FACE="Comic Sans MS">The trail got steadily steeper, and I could not stop to rest, lest I lose my momentum. &nbspThe music in my ears began to take on a mocking tone, and I was struggling with each step. &nbspI felt tears on my face but I could not recall the moment that I began crying. &nbspAs I looked at my shoes, I noticed an inscription carved into the mountainside. &nbspWe love you, go! &nbspAfter fighting for a few more minutes, I saw the summit. &nbsp</FONT></div> <div> &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp<FONT COLOR="#003399" SIZE="-1" FACE="Comic Sans MS">I wasn't so tired anymore. &nbspI took the headphones off and hurried onward. &nbspThe last several feet went quickly, and then I was at the top. &nbspThe wind pulled at my clothes as I stood there. The sun was just beginning to set. &nbspI watched the pastel colored clouds on the horizon drift and melt. &nbspAs I turned my head from side to side, studying the small buildings and vast green expanses of trees, the wind made music as it passed my ears. &nbspEach slight movement of my head created a different soft, throbbing trill of a note that I could not only hear but also feel. Everything looked calm and still from the vantage of the mountaintop. &nbspThere was a strange peace in feeling so small, standing alone on the top of the mountain.</FONT></div> <BR> <div>~Work submitted by Rue</div> <BR> <BR> <div>&nbsp</div></TD> </TR> </TABLE> </BODY>