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    Top Writers Block: Behind The Mask
    Top Writers Block: Behind The Mask
    Top Writers Block: Behind The Mask
    Ebook111 pages1 hour

    Top Writers Block: Behind The Mask

    By Top Writers Block

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    About this ebook

    Masks hide things - people, personalities, fears...find out what is behind the mask in the latest collection of short stories and a poem from Top Writers Block. There's strange things...horrible things...nice things...mysterious things...all hiding...

    This collection includes stories by Elizabeth Rowan Keith, Suzy Stewart Dubot, Tracey Howard, Melissa A. Szydlek, Cleve Sylcox, and John R. Muir.

    Your purchase of this ebook not only supports the creative outlets of independent authors, but also supports charity. Top Writers Block is an international group of writers who continue to donate ALL of their proceeds to Sea Shepherd in France, an organization that devotes itself to preserving our seas and oceans and the life within. The authors' donate all proceeds to charity.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTop Writers Block
    Release dateDec 10, 2015
    ISBN9781310084751
    Top Writers Block: Behind The Mask
    Author

    Top Writers Block

    Top Writers Block is a diverse and eclectic group of talented writers who decided to write stories together - just for the fun of it! Our collections are usually written with one theme or genre in mind. Each author contributes when they have the time, so some of the collections have as many as twelve authors participating. Every collection has something new, with stories and poems ranging from romance, drama, and adventure to mystery, fantasy, and horror.

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      Book preview

      Top Writers Block - Top Writers Block

      A Collection of Short Stories

      by

      TOP WRITERS BLOCK

      Written on the theme:

      Behind the Mask

      Copyright ©November 2015 by each individual author as noted

      Published on Smashwords

      ISBN: 9781310084751

      This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

      Smashwords License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each.

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      The Real Me by Tracey Howard

      He Came Through the Gate by Melissa A. Szydlek

      The Three Messy Little Pigs by John R. Muir

      Masquerade by Cleve Sylcox

      Holding On to Sanity by Suzy Stewart Dubot

      Breakfast with a Story Elizabeth Rowan Keith

      THE REAL ME

      by

      Tracey Howard

      Copyright ©November 2015 Tracey Howard

      Tracey is a stay at home wife and mother who has lived all over the United States. She is currently living in northern Indiana with her husband of nearly twenty years, their 15 year old daughter and two hairballs of the canine variety. She is an avid reader with an insatiable appetite, surpassed only by her child, to whom she has passed on the reader trait. She is a self-taught amateur shutterbug and although she has been writing for the majority of her adult life, she only recently put both words and pictures out there for the world to see.

      When I step

      Outside my door

      I am strong

      My shoulders straight

      My burdens balanced

      I am tall

      And I am confident

      All you will see

      All you will know

      Is my sass

      In the sway of

      My ample hips

      The bright smile

      I always wear

      Daring the world

      To do its best

      I will not bend

      I will not cower

      I am titanium

      And I am above

      The petty whispers

      The ugly words and

      The jealous arrows that fly

      Can not

      Will not

      Penetrate my skin

      My bright eyes

      Stay focused ahead

      Always looking forward

      Never back

      No second guessing

      My intelligence

      My humor

      Shine forth

      A bright beacon

      Inviting all that would

      To dance

      Through life with me

      My imagination

      My heart

      Both wide open

      A living testament

      To the joy

      Of love and acceptance

      Room for all

      Who would find

      Happiness

      Freedom

      Jumping through

      The mud puddles of life

      While holding hands

      With me

      I am always willing

      To help those I love

      Forge their unique paths

      I will cheer them on

      Their accomplishments

      As empowering to me

      As my own

      At the end of the day

      I will walk

      Through my door

      Into my dark

      Inner sanctum

      Peeling back

      All the layers

      My sass

      My energy

      My strength

      My power

      My heart

      My soul

      And as each layer

      Falls away

      Only then

      I acknowledge

      The pinpricks

      The tiny drops

      Of my life blood

      Drawn from

      Arrows of hate

      Jealousy

      Intolerance

      I face each day

      My tired hands

      And numbed fingers

      Slowly extract

      Each and every

      Poisoned darts

      Down to the last layer

      The final barrier

      Between myself

      And those

      Who surrounded me

      Is pulled away

      Exposing the real me

      Behind the mask

      ©2015 Tracey Howard

      ###

      Return to the Table of Contents

      HE CAME THROUGH THE GATE

      by

      Melissa A. Szydlek

      Copyright ©November 2015 Melissa A. Szydlek

      Melissa Szydlek lives in the United States. Originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she survived Detroit for many years and has settled into a quieter life in North Carolina. She is an avid animal rights activist and dedicated vegetarian. Her ebooks can be found on Smashwords at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/mszydlek

      You can also connect with her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MSzydlekWriter?ref=hl

      Tessa’s hands continued to shake even as she reached for the door to the pub. The latch made a metallic clinking noise and Tessa withdrew, pulling away from the door, a scowl on her face. Inside, Newson the bartender looked up from his inventory sheet and could tell it was Tessa, even through the frosted glass of the doors. She took another step backward and felt a hand on her upper shoulder. She had backed into someone on the sidewalk.

      I’m sorry, excuse me, she said.

      The pub door opened.

      Tessa? Newson asked. You okay? We heard about your brother-in-law. We’re all very sorry for your sister. Tessa?

      The stranger, his hand still on Tessa’s shoulder, looked at Newson.

      She all right, mister? the man asked.

      There’s been a death in her family, Newson said. I’m sure she’ll be okay.

      The stranger looked at Tessa with uncertainty. You sure? She looks like she’ll fall down if I move my hand.

      Newson approached Tessa, who stared at the sidewalk, her hands still shaking.

      I’ll take it from here, thanks, Newson said.

      The stranger nodded, his brow furrowed, and walked on while Newson led Tessa to the door. When Newson reached for the latch, Tessa tensed, awaiting the metallic clinking noise again. Instead, Newson’s grip was sturdy, and all she heard was the door opening. She relaxed and let Newson lead her to the bar. He sat her down on a stool and moved back behind the counter.

      Albert Grady and his twin brother, Ashburn, lifted their glasses to Tessa. She tried to smile, but it came out as a slight nod instead.

      Sorry about your brother-in-law, Albert said.

      Tessa nodded.

      Sorry for Vera too, Ashburn added. How is she?

      How are any of us, after what happened? Tessa whispered.

      The funeral was so fast, Newson said, setting a double shot of bourbon on the counter in front of Tessa. None of us knew, you know we would have come, had we known.

      It was a long sickness for Ted, Tessa said, downing the small glass in one large gulp. Ted wanted it over with, his funeral that is, quick and easy, no mourners he said. We should have cremated him.

      He’s buried over in the family plot? Next to Vera’s house? Newson asked.

      Tessa nodded, tapping the empty glass on the counter. Newson poured another double.

      He’s buried there all right, Tessa said. But he wont’ stay there.

      ****

      Ted Filter died at age 42 while sitting in front of the fireplace in his living room reading. An aneurism, the doctor had said. His wife, Vera, and his sister-in-law, Tessa, found him later that day when they returned home from shopping. Vera was inconsolable. Never one to be strong in the face of tragedy or trouble, Tessa took over funeral planning, cooking, and cleaning her sister’s large home. Vera sat in the living room, staring into dark corners, the only light in the room coming from the fireplace.

      You have to eat something, and stay hydrated, Tessa said, rubbing her sister’s long hair.

      He’d want a fast funeral, nothing fancy, Vera whispered, holding one of Ted’s handkerchief’s over her mouth as she spoke. He told me, and he wrote it down too.

      She dabbed at

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