Not Another Rejection
I’ll never give up
Last year, I submitted several short stories to worldwide publications. Two of my stories were accepted by non-paying publications, but that was all. The Letter Shuffle was one of those rejected. I have copied it below. Please let me know your thoughts?
The Letter Shuffle
A blank computer screen, my fingers tap the keyboard and words pop up. The letters, some curved and curled in appearance, seem shy and embarrassed, while others stand upright with their accessories of dots and crosses on display. Lifelike, they shuffle about, swap places, dance across the page, bump into each other, then move on. “Clumsy creatures,” I murmur, “skylarking about with no purpose.”
Anarchy reigns, but what’s this? The letters are not as silly as I assumed. Before my eyes, they slot into unique positions. New words appear. Full stops, question marks, and speech marks wriggle about and find uninhabited places to settle. A moment of silence, the letters sway from left to right, the M and L, puffy and bloated, “look at us,” they gloat, “Look at us.” I shake my head. Talk about inflated egos. I study my writing… an avalanche of doubt floods my mind — incoherent, sloppy, pathetic.
My fingers return to the keyboard. Once again, the letters on the screen begin their rampage. As night falls, I stop to read what I’ve written. Mistakes, a tangled mass of words.
The capital G, the first letter in the second paragraph, shouts to me, “Hey!” It straightens out and reinvents itself as an L. “Face facts, you have no talent.” One by one, the other letters break into laughter. Out of control, they topple sideways and roll about, howling.
“Stop,” I command, “stop.” Their ear-splitting cackles continue. I thump my fist on the delete button, and they vanish.
A blank page appears, a white void of despair.
Ashley Noel 2023
