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Brian

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The result is in and the winner announced! And the champion is...

View attachment 4

Partly because he was the only one who wrote anything. But mostly because it was good and had a twist at the end. Get it? Twist? ...You'll get it if you read it.

Anyway, a quality bit of work at any rate, I think.

Stay tuned for details on the next contest, which will hopefully seem a bit more accessible and be a bit more engaging!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to ...immortalize... this potato.
-------

Midnight in Idaho
by Spare​

I have been driving for hours, trying to outrun my demons. Yet they are ever on my heels, mile after mile, state after state. I stare out the windshield and into the blackness, and I realize with a start it's a little too black. I open my eyes, and find myself miraculously still within my lane. When was the last time I slept? I cannot remember. The past is a black hole, pulling and distorting everything around me, blurring reality and my time-sense alike. Judging by the weight of my eyelids, it has to have been a while. I tell myself I should sleep, but I know if I stop my demons will finally catch up with me. So I drive on.
Where am I, anyway? Can I at least remember that much? Oh yes. Idaho. Stay awake. What do you know about Idaho? They have potatoes. And mountains. I look out the window, and the massive shadows around me make me wish it was daytime. I bet it's beautiful. Even now, awash in the silver glow of a full moon, it is beautiful. I crane forward, peering up through the windshield. The moon bathes the world from a cloudless sky, and the growing horizon before me shimmers beyond my headlights like a painting. I glance out the passenger window. The fenced field, bordered by endless forest; like a painting. I turn my head and look out the driver's side window. The gorge between two steep hills, with a high railroad trestle running between them; like a... From the center of the trestle there hangs a body.
I slam on my brakes, paintings and demons alike forgotten. I park on the curb, then climb from the car to stand in the middle of the road. I stare up at the figure, a black silhouette against the moonlit sky, dangling from a rope about its neck. I watch, seeing nothing but the figure, hearing nothing but a gentle breeze in the trees around me. The seconds stretch, and as I watch, the body twitches. Wide-eyed, I pull my cell phone out of my pocket and dial nine-one-one, only to discover I have no reception. Cursing the mountains I so admired moments before, I look up and down the road, searching for help. But all is dark and quiet, except for the rustling breeze and the pounding of my heart. I look back to the figure above.
"I'm coming!" I shout. "Hold on!" I dash across the road and plunge into the trees where I pull up short, shocked by the absoluteness of the dark. The coward in me is too terrified to go on. I know it is my demons huddled about me, caressing my fear and gripping my soul, that hold me back. I concentrate on the image of the figure hanging in the darkness. Dying. I force my feet into motion, and I can almost hear the demons howl in frustration as the darkness enfolds me and I climb the hill. It seems to take forever. The ascending ground under my feet seems to shift, rising and falling at will, just to torment my progress. Both branch and bush grasp at my clothes and skin, dragging at me, trying to hold me back from the tracks above, but finally I make it to the top. I am breathing hard; it was a longer climb than I thought. Surely I was too late. I must be. The poor soul must be dead by now. My demons are around me again, telling me that it's okay, I've done all I can. They urge me to go with them now. They will take care of me. I steel myself and ignore their protests, and walk unsteadily out onto the trestle, my every footstep falling in time with my pulse. The night is all around me now, both above and below. The height of the trestle is staggering in the moonlight, the gorge between the hills a twisted mass of forest and waiting death. Terror seizes me again as a gust of wind unsettles my balance ever so slightly, and I stop. My demons chuckle to themselves. I take a deep, quavering breath, and move on.
I hear the creaking of the rope before I see it in the glimmering darkness, tied to a beam on the edge of the trestle. I look up and down the tracks, belatedly checking for trains, but the night is as empty up here as on the road below. I crouch down and grip the rail in both my hands, grateful for its stability, and I peer cautiously over the edge. The rope is long, maybe twenty feet, the figure at its end swinging through the night like a pendulum. I am shocked that the long drop didn't break the figure's neck. I'm shocked the body even stayed attached to the head. I am shocked further still as I see the figure below, swinging momentarily into view, twitch once again. I give a start, and my skin crawls for an instant, but I quickly recover myself.
"Are you okay?" I shout, knowing it for a foolish question. My voice echoes up and down the valley, and I shrink away from its surprising resonance. I wet my lips, and with wide eyes I peer over the edge once more, and once more I find the figure swinging into view. It stops, seemingly frozen at the end of its slow parabola, and I watch in disbelief as the head cranes around the thick knot at the side of its neck to look up at me. My heart sputters in my chest and my breath chokes in my throat. I squeeze my eyes shut.
I know that face.
It is mine.
The demons laugh.
I grip the rail white-knuckle tight, and as I do so the cold steel beneath my fingers becomes the thick, rough hemp it always was. My knees are shaking as I open my eyes. The rope is tied securely between my feet, and I am holding the noose before my face, ready to put it around my neck. My breath is ragged, my brow covered in sweat, and my demons are urging me on, telling me to do it, to finish it now. Be done with it at long last. I gaze through the noose and into the night, and just as I am about to slip my head through the loop I have a sudden insight. They say you see your life flash before your eyes in the moments before you die. But I had seen only my death. It was cold and alone, and horrible. Much like the life that had preceded it. This is not the way to die. This is not the way to live.
My breathing steadies and my heart rate levels off. My grip on the noose loosens, and I examine it for a moment before I let it go. It plunges over the trestle's edge and into the abyss, snapping violently at the end of its fall. I shudder, and I'm grateful I wasn't wearing that noose after all. My demons shriek in outrage as I walk back along the trestle to the solidity of the hilltop. They are not welcome anymore. Let them stay on those tracks. Let them hang.
I climb back down the hill and reenter my car. I roll down the windows and enjoy the night air as I drive on, a faint smile touching my lips. I glance at my watch. It's midnight. The start of a new day. The past recedes behind me as I drive into the future.
Demons follow me no more.
 

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Thanks for the potato, Brian! I'll put it in my trophy case with the rest of my vegetables! :D

Seriously though, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
 
That was quite good. I thought it was going to be "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" for a minute there but ya fooled me.
 

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