The following is my first short story for a collection of short stories I'm experimenting with called "Chauffeurs and Puppies". I want it to be an acrimonious look at the bourgeoisie, America, suburbs, race, housing, war and all these other complicated issues. Mainly, I need something to write about it in the mornings with my coffee and I don't have the time to do research for my anthropological and urban planning interests. Poems are fun but I want to do some more creative writing type stuff too. So here it is: "The Cold Mansion Yard".
The police uttered her name with a sharp, rapping rhythm. She heard him and it left her unnerved, thinking of all the things that she had to do for the day. There was homework and her bed in the morning. Her parents heaped orders on her seven-year old shoulders. Now, the police are looking for someone, something and here is the cop standing above her with a severe look. "Yes, sir, my name is Zelda", she said.
Zelda was a daughter of a dignitary and a Law Professor whom also owned various small businesses. They lived together in the cold mansion. Zelda ran through the hallways and trampled over the servants' poor feet-servants with feet numb from walking. Whenever their parents saw something mysterious and off-putting they called the police - or so it seemed to their neighbors. They lived in a world which was both fearful of them and one they feared to their cores - a frightful and fearsome world. Zelda's parents would fire an employee with scant notice paid to their livelihood and humanity. These people they fired, they thought, could go broke and be out in the cold because they had their families and friends - their enablers. Zelda had no idea of all the pain that their parents caused in the lives of many children. Businesses, cash flow and busy people were poetry to Zelda's parents. They owned a couple of Fast Food joints, various clothing boutiques, a car wash while holding their academic positions at Lockhart University. They caused havoc with all of their icy ways.
The cold mansion is where these sloppy, pretentious people slept at night waiting for hope - for Zelda to rescue them from their soulless lives. They clawed all over the world in search of money. They really wanted something that they could never find - peace. They prayed for the cold mansion. They prayed for warmth by their fireplace.
Zelda had her friends from next door - boisterous, pushy kids who made her smile. They laughed and clamored for each other like seals mouthing at cold, dead fish. They ran around with arms wide open gathering the joy of living with fingers spread apart. They jumped up and down with their two feet busting the grass. Zelda's parents looked on disapprovingly, nodding menacingly.
One day, a cat died in their yard. They called the police and shrieked over the phone emptying out their pathetic lungs. They usually only yell in people's dumbfounded faces. Today, a cat died in their yard and their little empire would crumble. They sat in their patio deck and discussed their exit strategy. Zelda would of course have to become an orphan. She was much too spoiled in the cold mansion. They looked at each other and thirty years of marriage crumbled. "There is a dead cat in the yard!" Police were dispatched in full riot gear. These were of course very important people. They didn't find their suicide plots to be ridiculous. They studied stories of kings who died and their whole courts were killed in return in order to join the sorry king in the afterlife. The cat died and their world was thus challenged by the mystical powers of the afterlife.
They started by burning their bedroom and cutting up their cards after they spent millions on lottery tickets and Costco. They walked around their pool and began slashing and slicing at their arms and limbs with a bloody, sharpened kitchen knife. The dead cat sat there in the yard exposing to the world the crass comfort that Zelda's parents enjoyed. The cat meant that they were soulless killers throwing away their employees like trash to the wind. These were men and women fired for minor infractions. One person clocked in two minutes late. One person forgot to clock out for lunch. One person called in sick and didn't look like he was coughing all night. One person forgot to smile really wide. This of course was justifiable to Zelda's parents because these men and women had very poor attitudes and complained about the buses they took to work and home. These people lost their incomes and livelihoods because Zelda's parents were coldblooded and demanded perfection out of their staff.
Today, Zelda's parents slashed their limbs until they bled to death after spending all of their fortune on idiot things. They bled by the pool because a cat ended up dead in their yard. Never mind that cats were hit by cars everyday. Never mind that there were many cats in the neighborhood and cats got sick too. Never mind all of these things that would rationally explain why there was a dead cat in the cold mansion yard. The cat was dead and this meant death to Zelda's cold parents. Zelda's parents slashed themselves into non-existence because a cat ended up dying too close to their homes. This was a portent of doom for them in their cold mansion yard.
The police uttered her name with a sharp, rapping rhythm. She heard him and it left her unnerved, thinking of all the things that she had to do for the day. There was homework and her bed in the morning. Her parents heaped orders on her seven-year old shoulders. Now, the police are looking for someone, something and here is the cop standing above her with a severe look. "Yes, sir, my name is Zelda", she said.
Zelda was a daughter of a dignitary and a Law Professor whom also owned various small businesses. They lived together in the cold mansion. Zelda ran through the hallways and trampled over the servants' poor feet-servants with feet numb from walking. Whenever their parents saw something mysterious and off-putting they called the police - or so it seemed to their neighbors. They lived in a world which was both fearful of them and one they feared to their cores - a frightful and fearsome world. Zelda's parents would fire an employee with scant notice paid to their livelihood and humanity. These people they fired, they thought, could go broke and be out in the cold because they had their families and friends - their enablers. Zelda had no idea of all the pain that their parents caused in the lives of many children. Businesses, cash flow and busy people were poetry to Zelda's parents. They owned a couple of Fast Food joints, various clothing boutiques, a car wash while holding their academic positions at Lockhart University. They caused havoc with all of their icy ways.
The cold mansion is where these sloppy, pretentious people slept at night waiting for hope - for Zelda to rescue them from their soulless lives. They clawed all over the world in search of money. They really wanted something that they could never find - peace. They prayed for the cold mansion. They prayed for warmth by their fireplace.
Zelda had her friends from next door - boisterous, pushy kids who made her smile. They laughed and clamored for each other like seals mouthing at cold, dead fish. They ran around with arms wide open gathering the joy of living with fingers spread apart. They jumped up and down with their two feet busting the grass. Zelda's parents looked on disapprovingly, nodding menacingly.
One day, a cat died in their yard. They called the police and shrieked over the phone emptying out their pathetic lungs. They usually only yell in people's dumbfounded faces. Today, a cat died in their yard and their little empire would crumble. They sat in their patio deck and discussed their exit strategy. Zelda would of course have to become an orphan. She was much too spoiled in the cold mansion. They looked at each other and thirty years of marriage crumbled. "There is a dead cat in the yard!" Police were dispatched in full riot gear. These were of course very important people. They didn't find their suicide plots to be ridiculous. They studied stories of kings who died and their whole courts were killed in return in order to join the sorry king in the afterlife. The cat died and their world was thus challenged by the mystical powers of the afterlife.
They started by burning their bedroom and cutting up their cards after they spent millions on lottery tickets and Costco. They walked around their pool and began slashing and slicing at their arms and limbs with a bloody, sharpened kitchen knife. The dead cat sat there in the yard exposing to the world the crass comfort that Zelda's parents enjoyed. The cat meant that they were soulless killers throwing away their employees like trash to the wind. These were men and women fired for minor infractions. One person clocked in two minutes late. One person forgot to clock out for lunch. One person called in sick and didn't look like he was coughing all night. One person forgot to smile really wide. This of course was justifiable to Zelda's parents because these men and women had very poor attitudes and complained about the buses they took to work and home. These people lost their incomes and livelihoods because Zelda's parents were coldblooded and demanded perfection out of their staff.
Today, Zelda's parents slashed their limbs until they bled to death after spending all of their fortune on idiot things. They bled by the pool because a cat ended up dead in their yard. Never mind that cats were hit by cars everyday. Never mind that there were many cats in the neighborhood and cats got sick too. Never mind all of these things that would rationally explain why there was a dead cat in the cold mansion yard. The cat was dead and this meant death to Zelda's cold parents. Zelda's parents slashed themselves into non-existence because a cat ended up dying too close to their homes. This was a portent of doom for them in their cold mansion yard.
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