Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Before and After (05/14/09)
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TITLE: Never Look Back! | Previous Challenge Entry
By Tabitha Person
05/21/09 -
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“Hello.” “Hello.” Mrs. Carmen, are you here?” The nervous and mildly timid maid calls as she enters room 512.
Not a sound! Just two perfectly manicured feet hang from the end of the disheveled bed.
The maid (fearful of the young woman’s demise) cautiously approaches the bed with an out stretched hand and meticulously glides her hand from Taylor’s hamstrings alongside
her torso-making no bodily contact. She is just about close enough to Taylor’s shoulder to feel the discrepancy between the cold air that fills the room and the sensation of body heat released with each deep breath when suddenly……..
She hears a moan from underneath the tightly bound sheet.
Mrs. Carmen, I thought you had checked out. Lo siento. Lo siento. I’m so sorry. I’ll be back. Please forgive me.” Another moan –with greater intensity- as she exits the room hastily.
Taylor, barely coherent, lifts her head as she hears the loud thump as the lock catches on the door. “What time is it?” she murmurs.
She staggers – taken twice by the pillows’ sunken soft down feathers pressed against her ankles with each step-as she makes her way to the mirror.
“It has to be a dream. It didn’t happen.”
With one bony phalange she flips on the light switch.
She gasps. “It’s true. It’s true. All true. I was there. And it happened. Before this, I had everything and in one day-one night…….it’s gone.”
Taylor Carmen had been a very successful and an extremely prominent attorney. Last night, she attended the most awaited banquet on the east coast as the honoree of one the most prestigious awards: Community Activist for Pregnant Teenagers.
The announcer calls Taylor to accept the award. The crowd applauds as Taylor proudly and confidently approaches the podium.
“Thank you. Thank you. I stand before you today sincerely humbled the presentation of this honorable award. My whole life I have wanted to work with young women and fight for their rights-to be a strong voice. I would like to thank my loving husband, Tom and my two wonderful children, Kenya and Laney for their support. I don’t pretend to know what it is to be a pregnant teenager or an unwed mother, but I know real pain and real determination. I…..
“Excuse me, Mrs. Carmen, Mrs. Carmen,” a loud and forceful shout erupts from the back of the room.
The crowd is deadly silent.
The strong voice moves closer to the front of the room. The young lady is tall and slender-bearing a shocking resemblance to the honoree.
“May I help you, miss?”
“No, I doubt that you can since I am neither a pregnant teenager nor an unwed mother,” she says sarcastically. “But, I think I can help your fans – help them get to know you better. The real Taylor Carmen.”
The audience glares as Taylor looks bewildered.
“Many of you may be wondering how I can tell you anything about Mrs. Carmen, as it appears that she doesn’t even know me. I learned about Mrs. Carmen six years ago from my adoptive parents.”
Taylor’s eyes grow wider and glossier with each spoken word. She realizes the young lady is the daughter she gave up more than twenty years ago.
“You see, Taylor is my mother.” The crowd gasps. “She fights for teenagers now, but she never fought to keep me. She makes it her life ambition to fight for the rights of children, yet I spent many years in foster care subjected to emotional, physical and sexual abuse and no one to fight for me.”
After her daughter’s speech, Taylor turns to her husband and children; the looks of disappointment were too much to take. She dashes off stage and the crowd remains –seemingly dazzled by the strikingly beautiful young women. She picks up the award that Taylor flung as she exited the stage.
She proudly says, “Thank you and good night.”
You are snared by the words of your lips, you are caught by the speech of your mouth.
Proverbs 6:2 AMP
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There is also hope for her daughter whom she abandoned. She must learn to forgive from the heart. And she will indeed find mercy from God too.
Psalm 103:8 "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
V.12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us."
God gave you the gift of writing. Keep using it for His glory and honour.
Thank you for your well-written piece.