This time! I'm reading the one-shot by Lestat de Lioncourt. called Silence!
The quote on the banner seems to make up for the lack of summary. The words got me thinking about truth and lies and how they could backfire and become "poisonous". This, coupled with the simple chapter name "Fin." and the pretty and non-distracting background had me really interested to find out what this one-shot could be about!
Woah.
Just 287 words, this little piece is simple in the best way. It's short amount of words are powerful. The author paints a good image of a troubled, tortured girl walking into a prison to face her nightmare come to life - the man who raped her. In her mind she yells everything she wishes to say, but when it comes down to it, and she's face to face with the man that ruined her, something else comes out entirely and she's reverted back to the helpless child he made her.
Making up for the semi-cliche line of "my tears betrayed me", Lestat de Lioncourt quickly tells the story of the girl drawing the man's face on a whiteboard and erasing it to "wip[e] away the tainted memories [she has] of him." It's a powerful picture of a girl trying to take control of her life and her desperate wish to change her past, to forget it all and be whole again.
Even with such a short piece, it seems there's much to talk about. With good grammar, one can only focus on the writing. The man is never described even though there was a place for it, but the reader can picture a man in prison all on his or her own. He's a rapist. The reader isn't going to imagine a loving, slender blonde man with great hair and kind blue eyes. Just the fact that he's a prisoner only leaves so many options for the man (although Michael Scofield from Prison Break was the most gorgeous inmate I've ever seen!).
I'll give this piece four stars, simply because there's a lack of description. I would've loved to read about the man's features after the girl speaks about seeing his face when she closes her eyes. I feel like it would've made him seem more real and dangerous.
Overall, it's a good piece. It's amazing what someone can do with so few words and the emotion she can show. To have been five stars, I would've liked to see the man's features described and the girl's pain made more tangible. It was visible, but I didn't feel it along with her.
Good job, Lestat de Lioncourt! I recommend this to anyone who is looking for something that'll make them think about expectation and reality and about control of ones own life. It's definitely worth the read. :)
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