Why I stole...

Question

Find an object in your home no matter how strange or mundane: a stapler; a scythe; toilet paper; a meat grinder are fine examples of an object you may choose. Once selected write a short story (250 words±) or poem (170± words) about why you stole this object.

 

Cut off date is March 24. Torch passes March 25. Good luck and have fun.

~~ EmyO

Comments

Great angle,  EmyO.

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I don't steal.  Can I make it up?  I know stupid question, but the way you posed the challenge it sounds like the object must be something you actually "stole".  Interesting challenge; I like it!

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Hey Doug, there are many ways of stealing.  Think again. Maybe you could stretch it and find an object which reminds you of a stolen kiss, a stolen look, an hour stolen from your work .  .

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Doug, I'm sorry for causing you angst over this challenge. I don't steal either, but if I were to answer this challenge, I'd make believe I took an item from my home that actually belong to me anyway for some reason (its safety, it was getting older and I wanted to preserve it for eternity, it constantly got used by others and was never put back) that made sense to me. I do have another challenge if you don't like this one. I am sorry as I said to have upset you by the wording of this challenge.

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I think almost everyone has a copy made from a friend's music CD .  .

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You know, Doug, I just happened to think as I reread my challenge. This isn't True Confessions, right? It's about "creative" writing. You can be creative and make believe you took something and why you would have taken it. A stapler from work because the kids keep taking your handy little stapler; company pencils because we all know how pencils are needed and never where we need one. I just want you to be part of the challenge. I enjoy your writing and lately I find myself writing alone which means I don't have a lot of reading to do. Give it a try, please.

Answer 1

I have something in my house which was stolen.  By me. Oh yes.

 It sits in plain sight in the living room, and weighs something like 100 pounds, double that if you count its base which is out of sight.  No way I could lift it.

It is worth several hundred dollars, at least if not a lot more.   Hard to believe my theft would be classified as petty larceny, but it would.  Indeed if the police knew of it, they would doubtless consider my crime to be beneath their concern.

 Its magnificence -- for it is truly magnificent -- arises spontaneously from the ancient laws of the universe, as they have unfolded here on earth and perhaps unfold much the same way on other planets.  Yet in all modesty I must admit I have played my part in that.

 It is not always tidy, as it is subject to gravity, which claims some parts of it from time to time and deposits them on my carpet.       Occasionally it smells -- smells pretty good actually.

Like a giant in Jack and the Beanstalk, like Gulliver, I brought the thing into my house in my pocket. Thus time works its way in these matters.  I feel much smaller around it now.

The scene of the crime was our local greenhouse, and was committed many years ago when I was ruthless and without conscience.  And penniless.  

There under the glassy roof, in a far corner, I checked to be sure I was unobserved, then I knelt to the ground and committed my theft.   From a rotting lemon beneath the great old potted lemon tree,  I picked up one sprouting seed and put it in my pocket .

The rest was history.

Comments

You know, annierosie, I don't often get left speechless by a short piece of writing, especially one contrived for a challenge, but on this occasion... You really took the topic to heart and created a thing of beauty. Nice work. I look forward to more of your work.

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Congratulations, annierosie. I said before Hobbes entered that I really liked your piece. I felt it met the challenge in the way intended. You get the torch and I wish you well. I do want to compliment Hobbes for her entry and welcome her to TW. It's great to see new names and read new pieces. But, annierosie, to you I say, not stealing but passing on something of worth as nature intended. --EmyO

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"As nature intended" -- I hadn't thought of it that way .  .  Thank you for the torch, EmyO.    I thought Hobbes' writing was excellent too.  I was lucky to have a good "theft"  come into my head --  and who knows where those ideas come from?  That's the pleasure of writing, isn't it -- waiting to see what the muse gives you.   That was a really good challenge you made and I wish you'd gotten more responses.

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I enjoyed reading your entry - I liked the build-up, teasing us with hints before the final "reveal". Your twist inspired me to try writing something myself.

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Thanks, Hobbes.  I liked your twist too -- it gave me a peek into my dark side.

Answer 2

It was 1:20 p.m. by the time the nurse's aide got around to calling my name into the inner office. That was when I was going to get the chance to wait another forty minutes before the doctor came in to finally see me, so I knew better than to relinquish the Reader's Digest I'd been reading in the outer office. I finished the book I brought within the first fifteen minutes of my wait. What made me think that would hold me over here in Dr. Clancy's office. I've never waited less than an hour in the outer office.

The Reader's Digest offered a variety of clips to keep me occupied and distracted as the time passed. There was no way I was giving this copy up when the Doctor finally arrived if I wasn't finished reading it. So there on my coffee table is the June 1997 copy of Reader's Digest that held my attention for almost two hours yesterday afternoon. The first thing I've ever stolen and I don't feel a stitch of guilt because I know I'll finish reading it tonight.

Comments

what exactly are challenges?

Answer 3

Sarah knows.

I can see it in her eyes, looking sideways at me as she plumps up my cushions. Talking about the weather and asking how I am. Same as yesterday, same as tomorrow and the day after that, measuring out my time in crossword clues and cups of tea. Well, I'm not as daft as she thinks, she won't get a confession out of me with a dirty look. No, my girl, you'll have to try harder than that if you fancy yourself as a sleuth.

It was the harp lessons that pushed me over the edge. There I was, trying to watch my programme in the day room, and all I could hear was Erica harping on about harps to her cliquey little coven. Bleating and boasting and blustering away about her granddaughter's amazing natural talent, whilst her cronies simpered and cooed. Showing off the harp-shaped locket that had arrived in the post.

I kept staring at the television whilst Erica's grating laugh drowned out the sound, and I sipped my tea. Never slurp. I was raised with manners, unlike some people, not that it counts for anything in here. We're all lumped in together, as if we're supposed to compare our grey hairs and become best friends.

I will never be friends with Erica. I choose to keep living my own life whilst I've still got it, and I've never felt more alive than when Erica was crying and wailing about her missing locket, and I could feel the cold metal lump in my right slipper.

Comments

Hobbes:  Welcome to ThinkWrite!  Besides some obvious grammar breakdowns I found your word usage lovely.  "Bleating and boasting and blustering away...", just rolls off the tounge.  I see a lot of talent.  I hope you continue to join us.

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Welcome, Hobbes. I did so enjoy reading your piece and did have difficulty selecting a new torchbearer, but the intention of the challenge was to select something you stole that is obvious in your home now. The locket will eventually be obvious, but for the point of the story it is not so at this point. It's a miserable little reason but I honestly couldn't come up with a better reason. You have, as doug noted, a lot of talent. You definitely have a way with words and a way to tantalize the reader's senses. Please do come back and write with us. I know I look forward to seeing more from you.--EmyO

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Thank you very much for your comments. I admit I got carried away with the story, sorry about that, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.