Fertilizer Becomes Her

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I wrote this for a 250 words or less on-line contest. The attached picture, "Endless Hours" was given as the inspiration for the stories; there was no TG requirement. If anyone is interested, IM me and I will provide the URL.

FERTILIZER BECOMES HER
by Jezzi Belle Stewart  ©2007TRP

Poised and confident, Dressed in Armani, she stood in the kitchen doorway looking at the filthy unwashed dishes in the sink. In the living room, now an ironic label, the old man was dead, surrounded by yellowed newspapers, empty beer cans, and assorted bits of decaying food products. As if to make the scene performance art, his unshaved and disheveled appearance complimented the surrounding framework. She had called 911.

Endless Hours

She lifted her gaze to look out the kitchen window. The half fallen, once white curtain blocked the bottom branches of the ash tree from which the old man had time and again cut the switches used on the effeminate boy she had been. All that could be seen now was the vibrant spring growth budding from the upper branches, brilliant green, even through the coating of grime. The sight dispersed the miasma of despair that had begun to once again envelope her, as if the old man, even in death, could still control.

She felt a great sense of release. Long before he escaped to become she, the old man had ceased to be her father. He no longer had power over her.

As she emerged from the house to wait in the yard,she took one last look back at the filth that represented the old man’s life, and the detritus of her past. If anything, she felt grateful. “Some people,” she thought, thinking of the house and the old man, “would call it dirt. I call it fertilizer.”

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Comments

I had no idea.

Jezz,
I had no idea that your pain was so deep. I, being one who cannot really blame anyone for what she is and gulps at stories like "Shoes", well, I can't help. It truely hurt me to read this and I hope it is just fiction.

You know where I live doll,
Gwen
Gwen Lavyril

Gwen Lavyril

Brilliant

Brilliant use of language and imagery. Very evocative, though spare and concise.

Prose doesn't get much better than this.

Ironic

One switch led to another.

On the farm we fertilized our fields with what we cleaned out of the barns.

Angela Rasch (Jill M I)

Angela Rasch (Jill M I)

Don't know where to start ....

.... don't know what to say.

It's outside my experience. Beyond my ability.

I just know it's good. The terseness of the writing. The conciseness of the tale.

Hugs,

Fleurie

Fleurie

Mulch

kristina l s's picture

Helps things to grow. Seems to have done Ok this time as well depsite the hard dry terrain. A lot of things left unsaid or unasked or unanswered. But then we really don't need to know any more. Short, simple and....elegant. Sort of Steinbeck does TG?
I think I'd wait outside too.
Kristina

Remarkable

The words touch you as you feel the sting of the switch,the bite of the words, and the rejection.

Remember a switch is used because it flexes and doesn't break. Neither did she.

A moving story in so few words.

As always,

Dru

As always,

Dru

The short ones ...

... are often the hardest and take longer than you'd think. Never done one as short as 250 words, but 500 was hard enough so I guess this took a few rewrites to find just the right ones. It says a lot in your allocated limit and says it well. Thanks.

Pedants corner : '250 words or fewer' ;)

Geoff