| September 2005 Winner: Carol Gandolfo, The
Shadow
Honorable Mention: Paul Halewijn, All
Fall Down
Honorable Mention: Dr. Joyce Wheeler, Shadow
Sibling
View the 2005 Will Write
4 Food catalogue of winners & honorable
mentions. View the contest rules.
This image used courtesy of the Geek Philosopher Website -
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October
Contest Winner
The Shadow
by Carol Gandolfo
Susan struggled awake from her prone position on
the couch and listened to the sound that had interrupted her dream. She thought
she could hear the creaking of the back screen door. Was someone trying to
break in? She forced herself off the couch, knocking the still-warm lasagna
to the floor.
She staggered into the dark kitchen and
grabbed a knife from the counter. Cautiously, she approached the back door.
The creaking continued. She looked at the knife in her hand. Her hand was already
wet and shaking furiously. Would she drop it? Good thing her son was at his
grandmother's tonight.
She continued forward. Why didn't
she just call the police? At he window, she reached toward the curtain. What
would she do if someone were out there? Fight? Stab them? Scream? A thousand
drums pounded inside her head. A band of steel squeezed her chest, cutting
off her breath. Struggling to keep her hand still, she parted the curtain less
than an inch and peered through the darkness. A large figure loomed outside,
arms reaching toward the sky. She almost screamed as she jerked away from the
window and backed into the corner. Slowly, she slid to the floor, the knife
clutched tightly in her fist. She crouched, her entire body shaking, her mind
numb. In her terror she passed out.
Next to her in the
darkness, the stove continued to cool, the clicking slowly fading away. On
the back porch wall, the shadow of her son's action figure swayed as a slight
breeze swung it across the window where he had tied it earlier in the day.
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