David Haggerty

Section 11

May 8, 2009

Themed short story composition

Theme: Appearance vs. reality

Total Words: 774

Black Hole Given Rise

Letting out a scream as she ran, Priscilla moved more rapidly than a bat from a cave. Nothing but the panic of what she had just seen crossed her mind. Priscilla finally arrived to her town after what seemed like hours of running. She stumbled as she called out,

“Oh men and women, I have just seen the most abominable thing!”

Those who paid attention to what she said scoffed as Priscilla fell to the ground and laid there. One person even called her a drunkard. Priscilla tried to warn them one last time,

 “Please you must believe me, do not go to the well!”

“Why should we not go there?”  responded a man from the crowd.

“I cannot tell you, for if you knew surely you would fall like me.”

Priscilla gasped this last word, and lay on the street as if asleep, or dead. he looked awake only because her eyes remained open, although they stared out into the deep dark sky of night. Those around her continued their daily lives casting aside what she had said, assuming that she drank too much, and crashed.

After a few days passed, a few people began to wonder why she remained there. Townspeople called meeting and discussed the circumstances; they eventually decided that she must be possessed or mad. In five more days, the time to gather water for the town from the well would arrive. As that date approached, Priscilla still lay there, unresponsive.

Hector, a young traveler arrived at the town and almost tripped over Priscilla.

“I’m sorry, but what are you doing laying down there?”

“….” Priscilla lay there with no response.

“Have you been hurt?” he asked.

Priscilla still gave no response.

“Can you speak?”

“Go away.” Priscilla finally spoke for the first time since she had first fell.

Hector did not believe she simply remained there for no reason. Armed with this resolution he approached the town’s spokesmen to find out what she had told them. Those in power relayed her message, but smothered the idea that she might be telling the truth. He left realizing that they did not even consider her sane.