Create a short story, piece of memoir, or epic poem that is 26 sentences long, in which the first sentence begins with “A” and each sentence thereafter begins with the next letter of the alphabet.
Autumn looked out her bedroom window at the scene below. Butter-yellow daffodils were waving happily in the breeze. Cicadas sang merrily and the setting sun provided a warm glow over the garden. Dangerously close to the house, though, was a shape she did not recognize. Even though she couldn’t see it clearly she felt a chill run up her spine. Following the shadows as best as she could, she tried to decipher what the shape actually was. Goosebumps ran up her arms as she felt the unmistakable feeling of being watched. Her hair on her arms began to stand on end, and she became increasingly afraid. Instead of closing her curtains and hiding under the safety of the blankets on her bed, she watched the figure as it began to move. Just in case the figure was watching her, Autumn turned her light off and continued to watch through the window. Kansas was humid this time of year, and that coupled with the fear she now felt made her skin feel clammy. Luckily, Autumn kept both a knife and a hand gun in her bedroom, presents from her husband who was currently deployed in Afghanistan, the presence of the weapons made her feel better. More than anything, Autumn wanted the shadow to disappear so that she could crawl into bed, but she had the feeling that she needed to watch, to keep an eye on the shadow, which had gone very still. Not wanting to call attention to herself, she carefully crouched beneath the window sill, so that only her head was visible through the window. Opening the window was not an option, though if she could have done so she might have been able to hear something that would give her a clue as to what the shadow might be. Praying that she would not need to use either the knife or the gun, she pulled both from her bedside stand to keep them close, just in case. Quietly she decided to chance opening the window, just a crack, just enough so that she could hear what was happening outside. Rain pattered through the screen on the window sill, as Autumn sat very still waiting to hear something that would give her a clue as to who or what her stalker was. Suddenly the figure moved, it didn’t move fast, but it moved definitely closer to the window where she knelt. Taking the gun into her hand, she checked the clip to make sure it was loaded, and took the safety off. Under her window, the figure moved again, closer to the house this time, and Autumn shivered in anticipation. Voices broke the silence outside, and Autumn realized that there was not one figure, but two, standing outside her window, she also realized that they were very human. Waves of relief hit her as she recognized one of the voices, the voice belonged to her husband, who was not supposed to be back until the following week. Xerox copies of his deployment plan were laying on her nightstand, she knew he was not due until next week, and why was he creeping around outside her window? Yelling his name out the window, she watched as her husband turned to face her, she noticed that he looked different, in fact she could see him clearly now, and she could see right through him. Zeroing in on the figure, she suddenly realized with great clarity that she was not seeing her husband, she was seeing his spirit, and the reality of that hit her with a force that was unexpected; she sat beneath her window and wept.
Completely Random Thoughts 