The below is a creative piece I wrote for an online magazine contest, but forgot to submit. The contest prompt was as follows, verbatim: "sh--- s--- r---- seeks work that exhibits the gritty side of life: cigarette butts that litter sidewalks, a half-drunken bottle of whiskey left on the porch, the empty corridors of a dead mall – work that encompasses the underbelly of society, whether it be rural or urban."

C-----

I wanted to get published, so I tried to stay as close to the prompt as possible. Unforturnately, and as mentioned above, I forgot to submit. Nevertheless, the following is a piece I wrote.

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CARLEY stood in the alley, cleaning her fingernails with a fork she'd found in the garbage. Nick would be picking her up soon. She looked nice, except for her nails.

She looked up into the headlights as a car turned down the alleyway. The engine roared and the car picked up speed, and Carley's muscles quivered with the instinct to turn and run.

"You were scared as a deer!" said Nick as he pulled up beside her.

"Was not," said Carley.

It was their first date.

"Thanks for coming out with me," said Nick.

"Of course," said Carley. "What do you want to do?"

They decided on driving out to a suburb, where there was a lot more undeveloped land. Nick knew a place on top of a hill where they could drink his liquor and watch the city lights.

When they got there, the base of the hill was cordoned off by a chain-link fence. Carley asked whether they were allowed to go up the hill, and Nick replied that of course they weren't allowed up, that's what made it so private.

The hike took longer than it had looked. The hill was more sand than earth. Finally, huffing and puffing, they reached the summit, where there were a couple of lawn chairs.

"Been here before?" asked Carley.

"Once or twice," said Nick. He took off his shirt and placed it on the back of a chair.

"I bet you bring all the girls here."

"You're the first," said Nick.

She sat down in the other chair, drooping her arms off the sides. "You got that booze?" He handed it to her and she took a draw. "Rum?"

He laughed. "Whiskey."

"I only been drinkin' five months."

"How old are you, anyway?"

"I'm one hundred and fifty-five years old," she said.

He was surprised by the odor of marijuana. "Didn't know you did the stuff," he said.

"You want some?"

"Honey," he said, "I been doin' stuff since before you were born."

----

She liked him, but it was their first date and she didn't want to do what they were doing. He kept saying that he didn't want to if she didn't want to, but after every time she said that she didn't want to, he would ask why she didn't want to, and then after she explained he would ask again a few minutes later. She was frightened, but it was clear that he was not trying to frighten her; it was just that he wanted to and she didn't want to. Eventually, he asked, "What, do you think it would hurt?" and she replied, "I don't know if it will hurt, I just don't want to," and he said, "Well if you don't think it will hurt then why don't you want to?" and she finally said, "Okay, just promise to stop if I say it hurts." He agreed, and though it did hurt she said nothing, and even so it didn't hurt that much, and after all there were plenty of girls her age that had done this anyway.

"I want to go home, Nick," she said.

"We can go," he said. He made no effort to stand up. "I think I might love you."

"Stop that! I want to get off this damn hill!" she said. She stood up, fastened her pants, and began trudging down the hill.

He thought that if he let her trudge for a while, then she would eventually stop and come back. After all, she was very drunk. And, after all, he had the keys. But she kept on trudging down. Eventually, Nick stood up and clothed himself and made the descent after her.

She shrieked when he got close: "Get away!"

"Come on," he said. He hugged her and she placed her head on his shoulder. "Let's get going," he said.

----

They drove back to her house, mostly in silence. "Good night, Nick," she said, staring out the windshield.

He tried to say something, to thank her for her company, but she cut him off by angrily unbuckling her seatbelt and exiting the car.