Grand mother always told me to look into my heart for answers when too much confusion come. She also told me man who give you his heart too quickly is either too stupid or too clever. Either way trouble for you. She was wise woman babushka.
While I look at memory key I notice businessman near by is staring over his newspaper. I push pieces of heart back together and put inside my blousa but he keep glancing over. I say to myself Don’t be crazy. Man is looking because its what man do. They look at woman.
I say this to myself but I begin to have paranoia because he keep looking down where necklace is. I think Don’t be stupid Ivana. Man is looking at your breast not heart. Its nothing new to you this. Continue reading
British actor, comedian and writer Stephen Fry congratulates Coco, the Fourth Fiction winner, at a book signing of his latest book “Stephen Fry in America” at Idlewild Books, NYC, on December 7th, 2009.
Round 11 Challenge - Put your main character in danger in a new and hostile environment. There should be a struggle for survival through which new aspects of his or her personality are revealed (Word limit – 1500 words)
Read COCO 10 here (see “Similar Posts” at the bottom of this post for any earlier entries)
Sea is sparkling outside airport window when my eyes open. Airport guard is on each side of me holding me up and carrying me along hallway. I see my feet dragging along floor and long brown hair hanging. This confuse me until I remember wig Frank give me. I feel weak so I let them carry me. Like drunk touristes I see on Limasol streets after cabaret closes.
Thinking about cabaret make me remember Yianni’s death. I make realisation I’m in most danger of my life. Cabaret owners is like mafia in Cyprus. Usually they just do car bombs to scare each other but when someone die its real trouble. No matter if Yiannis was trying to kill Frank or me I know they’ll try kill me. For them I’m just package of shiskebab meat from butcher. When shiskebab go bad they throw it out. Easy for them to make new order. Continue reading
Round 10 Challenge – Kill off one of your characters (Word limit – 1200 words)
Read COCO 9 here (see “Similar Posts” at the bottom of this post for any earlier entries)
Say bye to Cyprus Frank says. He look at me and then back at road. You don’t believe me do you? About Washington.
I laugh again but this time also am little sad. Biggest dream I have is to leave here and go to America and make new life. Easy to believe in dream when chance of it to happen is far away but not when close to happening. Because it can kill your dream. Anyone can hope for impossible. More hard to believe when it have chance to come true.
Sun rising behind us and hole earth glowing. I can’t remember last time I been outside early in morning. Only time I see warm light like this any more is when sun go down. Always this is before cabaret so colour of light like this carry bad feeling for me.
Ahead of us airplane make take off. Airport soon appears. Frank turns into car rental area and parks car.
You don’t believe I take you to Washington? he say. I shake my head. He reaches in his bag and hands to me American passport. Open he says.
I open. Inside is foto of me. Under it say Ivana Braun. Continue reading
1) Incorporate a hoax 2) Incorporate a revelation 3) Incorporate the number four 4) Incorporate Stephen Colbert.
Read COCO 8 here (see “Similar Posts” at the bottom of this post for any earlier entries)
I’m mistress for men in Cyprus but in Ukraine I have husband. I tell this to Frank after cabaret in his hotel.
Why are you telling me?
Don’t know. I never tell nobody.
Where is he now?
Donetsk. His name is Steven Colbert. Horrible man. And so fat he needs cane to walk. My father made me marry him because he’s American. But Steven don’t even like America. He say its full of assholes. Still I wanted to go. So I run away and come for new life here.
Frank makes sex to me rough. Not to hurt me but maybe to drive out previous ones. Men think like this. I start to cry. Maybe still Stavros effect me. Also maybe hormones because my bleeding is coming soon. I put sea sponge inside just in case.
I pretend cries are pleasure but its to obvious so I tell Frank to do from behind. That way he can’t see me cry. Usually I do like that because I don’t want to look at men and they like it more anyway. But with Frank I wish to be looking at him. Continue reading
Coco’s Round 8 Challenges (Word limit – 600): * Incorporate a glimmer of light / hope through the character of Frank (given by Kaylie Jones)
* Include an interaction with a wild Cyprus donkey (given by Vasia Markides)
* Incorporate a Brazilian girl named Renata (given by Renata)
Read COCO 7 here (see “Similar Posts” at the bottom of this post for any earlier entries)
Young man nods his head when I ask if he’s been to cabaret before. I put his hand on my leg. He is little shy so he doesn’t move his hand around. Some old men squeeze half your zhopa before you even say hello how are you.
I am wearing tanga so I lift leg to make him excited and buy me drink (fake drink – 20 euros for small glass of grape juice). I begin to rub his arm while looking him in eye. Trick always is make man centre of attention. Not like you need prostitute to tell you that.
He is Shamus from Ireland. A writer who want to learn about cabaret life to tell world. Only tourist would say that. Cypriots anyway they don’t write. They come only for the sex. Continue reading
Nora’s Round 7 Challenge: Incorporate Dostoyevsky (taken from Igor’s Story). Word limit: 600.
Read COCO 6 here (see “Similar Posts” at the bottom of this post for any earlier entries)
Incorporate Dostoyevsky.
When I get back to our apartment at nine o’clock the other women are already at cabaret. Police like I expected don’t even give me ticket. Police are mostly men and every man likes cabaret. Even ones who don’t go still want cabarets around. To feel it is possibility if they ever want to try it tomorrow.
Its Cypriot woman who hate the cabaret. I wouldn’t either want to have so many young woman come to my country to make sex to my men for money. Now you have the marriages between older Cyprus man and young cabaret woman from Russia or Romania. Although there is also joke that cabaret help Cypriot man to stay with Cypriot wife. But really most of us only joke from bitterness for not having marriage. In our countries when you don’t marry young you are finished. Like milk that goes bad after certain day. In poor countries they throw milk out even when its still good.
Its Tuesday so cabaret is quiet. Rodica and Svetlana and others are sitting on bar stools in lingerie waiting for man to walk in. This is most of cabaret job. To sit half naked and bored under disco ball listening to same pop songs over and over. At least its not Greek rembetika music like they play in barakia. Continue reading
Read Coco 5 here (see “Similar Posts” at the bottom of this post for any earlier entries)
Round 6 Challenge:Incorporate a White Russian and the words “over the line” into your next passage, which should be no more than 500 words.
Police ask me if Stavros is man who pays for sex with me. Like they care. Even they go to cabaret for sex. I know stories of police doing sex with marked money and making arrest after if you can believe it. Taxes pay for police to do sex with the butana and then they tell journalistes that Cyprus police fight human traffic.
They put me in prison room and tell me American detective wants interview. I sit on bed to wait. After Frodo I begin thinking about my life. About routina. Every night I go to cabaret at 8 and do dance and consumatsia until 2 or 3 in morning. If man pay Yiannis for me then after cabaret close he take me to house or motel. Then I don’t get to my apartment above cabaret where Yiannis have six of us living until 11 or 12 next day. I rest there because I never sleep good in strangers bed. But sometimes CyTA phone rings from man who want sex after lunch. In daytime its more cheap for them and for me to better because I keep all the money and it sometimes take only one hour.
Different prices for different sex. Overnight sex more expensive and then sex inside cabaret cheaper and daytime sex cheapest. They give more if you let them put it in the zhopa or make sperma on you or take video or do it without condom which is where I draw line and never go over because Ukrainian girl last year got AIDS hear in Limasol. I am lucky not to be beaten yet because many girls I know who refuse to go without condom get beating or rape. Its like that. Continue reading
Round 5 Challenge:Incorporate this image into your next passage of no more than 500 words. You can interpret this challenge as you see fit.
*click on thumbnail for a larger image
There is black cloud suddenly over his face and he turns away. I know now something is wrong.
Sometimes he make me coffee or food on veranda first but not this time. I follow him to bathroom. He say to leave light on. Usually we go to bedroom with metal shutters down and candles for light.
I put on spike heels as he undress. In sink is rope and the ducktape.
Are you sure you want to lie here? I say. Floor is filthy.
What did I say? he say angry. Ate Maria! Tie it tight. Ate!
He is shouting. Now I want to tie him because of bad feeling I have. I tie his wrists ankles arms legs everything. I tie hard and make knots too much strong. Then I tape around his head three four times to shut his mouth. That way neighbours don’t hear cries. Continue reading
"In defense of privacy-20th century's most reclusive authors" http://bit.ly/cTQi0E Good piece despite the title's hypocrisy 3 weeks ago
@yasminepeacock Ha, and you also found your cousin's Twitter page! ("Just found my uncle's wikipedia page lol! Search Kyriacos C. Markides") 3 weeks ago
99 degrees. If I were bald, I'd fry an egg on my head. #nyc3 weeks ago
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