Featured, Writer's Showcase
Judge Katz steps up to the Non-Competition
Apr
And he sent me one HELL of a story. I believe this is the first time we’ve had a story from him and, after you read his story, I know you’re going to join me in demanding more from this young man. It’s not my nature to give such a short intro to a story, but I’m turning this over to you and you’re going to see what a fresh new talent he is. I’m looking forward to more from you, Judge.
So, here for his debut on AWwYP is Mr. Judge Katz. Please read and leave him some love…….
Thoughts of a Dying Atheist
I was dying, grasping onto my last breath as an airless scream exploded from my lips and void of all sound. My shallow breathing quickly diminished to a desperate hand, holding onto life and not wanting to leave. As this painful hysteria started to fade into a spiraling descent down an endless abyss called ‘death’. An illusion of heaven and hell lingered upon my clouded conscience bringing a rain of unfathomed questions to the seemingly blatant black and white reality we live in. What were thought to be gentle storm clouds are the infinite judgments upon our painfully lost souls.
-Judge Katz
Mr. Judge – you just set the bar to a very high level for the rest of us writers. Actually, and this is the truth – this was the same thinking I was following to write about. NOW I have to go back to the writing table and shift gears. You are awesome!!! Doing the happy dance!
Awesome is the word for sure!
Nobody knows what really lies beyond our physical lives after our last breath. Of course, if we only see our lives tied to our physical bodies, then the death is simply the darkness behind our eyelids. Loverly job <3
Judge, you need to be carefull unless Thorn catergorizes you as one of those abstract writers he did me when I won my one and only decisive contest, not so long ago. I would not be too worried, however, and I welcome you to the brotherhood. To me, what you have written is an absolute classic piece. By that I mean the simplicity of the writing cannot be broken down to a simpler form and is quintessential. (A difficult one-in-a-life-time-event for some writers.) I am impressed by the way you went beyond yourself, “diminished to a desperate hand”, and the last sentence is a beginning of another story; I for one am desperate to hear. Keep them coming, Lad; you are going to make a future book agent very happy indeed.
An athiest in a casket – All dressed up and no place to go…………
One could continue to haunt the living. . .
A burn notice, maybe?
It would make an intriguing painting, too.
So, where is the Thornantor? Is he filling in for The Grim Reaper until summer or something? Is anyone in contact with him? Is he on one of those cruises to the Nordic Islands sipping imported beer while we valiantly hover in geosynchronous orbit, still off radar but occasionally causing a blip on the NSA’s screen?
I sense him on the astral plane, but he may be stuck at departures.
Nice figurative language, Judge Katz! It is like a prose poem, IMHO.
Thank you all for your encouragement and feedback. He’s been smiling from ear to ear. This is a life defining moment for Judge. He loves to write and you at AWWyP have given him his wings. I’m so grateful. Now, my son will never say again,”Mom you just love everything I do.” How could I have reached so many excellent writers…without Thorn creating and attracting so many of you?
Judge, when I first read this piece I was impressed – it takes place both at the moment and without time. The Professor senses a kindred spirit and I have to agree with him. There are very specific elements that combine into a larger, more abstract whole.
Then I received on good authority (I have spies everywhere) that you had chosen for yourself the additional challenge of writing with exactly 100 words. That made me look at your words with new respect. That you could take on such a debatable subject and pull out the core of the debate with so few strokes.
Whatever we choose to believe today – about life, eternity, even God – only gets truly tested when the stakes are the highest. The narrator here seems to be expressing doubt as to what he has always claimed to believe (or not believe in), but this does not come across as preachy or “corrective.” I can just as easily imagine you writing a similar piece from the opposite perspective: a believer who, upon arriving at the end of his life, wonders whether there really is anything “beyond.”
Can’t wait for your next contribution.
Judge, Keep writing. You have a very good command of language and abstract concepts. You have in inner curiosity about life, death, and the human condition, which will help you even more to hone your skills.Can’t wait to hear what’s next.