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Michelle Brown is an author, activist & public speaker who believes in common ground for all people.Appearances
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Archives
Category Archives: Short Stories
The 26th Project: The list that began it all
This is the initial list that Tony and I exchanged back in 2007 and the crazy short story that resulted.
- Amsterdam
- Blind
- Crazy
- Dawn
- Edify
- Fracture
- Giddy
- Homage
- Infantile
- Jaded
- Klondike
- Lesbian
- Marsupial
- Negro
- Operatic
- Palestine
- Queer
- Radical
- Scientology
- Truncate
- Utopia
- Vixen
- Whimsical
- Xenophobe
- Yearn
- Zygote
My arrival on earth had been delayed by an unexpected brush with a meteor storm soon after passing Venus. My destination Alaska where I would meet up with other members of the Interspecies Liberation Movement to get the revolution started on another planet – Earth.
I was dressed for the frigid landscape of the land of the midnight sun in midnight blue leather, of course. A leather jumpsuit with matching parka trimmed in silver fox and my signature six inch stiletto boots. Ok, not your traditional Klondike attire but stylish, totally hot and totally me.
I was all ready to step from my glitter capsule into the crisp Alaskan air but when the hatch opened I found myself, instead, smack dab in the middle of Amsterdam’s red light district at dawn. As the sun rose in the sky its rays reflected off the garish windows of the brothels and sex shops. The glare left me blind.
This was crazy!! I was in Amsterdam. There was no radical queer community waiting to pay homage to an intergalactic vixen preaching interspecies rights. Instead of throngs of worshipers chanting my name in sweet operatic tones I was surrounded by dirty old men in trench coats and drunken tourists stumbling in and out of the shops and brothels – so inane, so infantile.
No revolution here. Just crazed Dutch boys that didn’t want to vibe on my message, they only yearned to cop a feel on my muscular, chocolate, 6 foot 8 inch frame. I lifted the flap on my pouch and pulled out a pair of silver framed sunglasses.
“Look Hans” one of the Dutch boys shouted “I don’t think she’s just a Negro. I believe she’s one of those interspecies hybrids.” A crowd started to gather. All of them watching, pointing, and getting a little giddy.
I cleared my throat and spoke. “Listen up folks I am not a neee-gro. I am a Black Lesbian Marsupial with a message for you. It’s a message about Utopia. If you care to listen?”
They kept mumbling and staring. Finally a short red-haired stud stepped forward, grabbed me by the arm and said “I feel you sister but these are lost causes. Let’s get out of here.”
We slipped into the coffeehouse at the Van Gogh Museum. “What happened? I’m here in Amsterdam and nothing. Where’s the love?”
Maxie, the red-haired dyke, told me that every since Tom Cruise had moved to the Netherlands and started throwing around Scientology doctrine and more importantly money there was a fracture in the community.
“So that’s why they’re so jaded – Scientology. Well I’ll be damned” I said
We left the café and headed toward my glitter capsule. I pulled out my astral map to chart a course for the nearest commune.
A trench coated xenophobe whipped open his coat and flashed me. “Want to play girlie” he slurred and reached out to touch me.
Just then a location lit up on the astral map – Palestine. As I charted my course I felt the jerk’s hand on my shoulder. I spun around and kicked the little weirdo, knocking him flat on his ass. “My back! You broke my back! I’m paralyzed” he screamed.
I scanned his body with my x-ray/CAT scan watch. “Quit whining you zygote. It’s not even fractured.”
I started for the Glitter capsule again. Ï heard footsteps running behind me. It was a band of queers “Wait! Wait! We yearn for Utopia. Take us with you” they called.
I could have turned around and given them a lecture but I needed to get to Palestine. There was no time to edify the masses now so I did the next best thing. I said, “Get on board. I’ll tell you on the way to Palestine.” We all climbed into the capsule, battened down the hatches and took off for the Promised Land.
We landed in Palestine an hour later. I had changed in to a hot pink leather mini dress with matching stilettos. I fluffed up my afro and opened the hatch. My motley crew and I were welcomed by the sweet refrains of the liberation anthem. The weather was hot, crazy hot and the sun reflected of the desert sand was blinding.
A sister from my home planet stepped out of the crowd and gave me a big hug. She was dressed in an identical leather mini-dress and stilettos only in lime green. “What kept you sister Yar? The Klondike team froze their butts off waiting for you” she said.
“Well I could tell you the whole sordid story but our “peeps” are waiting. Do you mind if I truncate?” I asked.
“Truncate! I like the sound of that. Truncate, my sister, truncate.” Xena said with a whimsical smile.
I gave her the reader’s digest version of my trip including the meteor storm and my stop in Amsterdam. “Scientology! Wow!” she said at the end of my story. “I knew it was out there but it’s becoming a frigging cult.” “With Tom Cruise as its leader, the revolution can’t start soon enough” I said.
“Who are they,” she asked pointing to the wide-eyed, scraggly group standing close to the capsule. “They’re cool. Met them in Amsterdam and they came along for the ride,” I said. I let Maxie do the introductions. Pretty soon everyone was talking and smiling.
I cleared my throat to get their attention. “That’s right, all eyes here,” I said. “Now that we all know one another let’s get this party started.”
“The sun’s pretty bright out there” Xena said as she put on her sunglasses with lime green frames completing her outfit. “I hope you brought some shades.”
“Am I not a Black, lesbian marsupial” I asked unsnapping the flap over my pouch and pulling out a pair of sunglasses to match my hot pink ensemble. We looked at each other, smiled then hopped towards the city to preach interspecies liberation to the believers waiting at the commune in Palestine.
Posted in Black women, Creative Writing, lgbt, literature, Short Stories, Uncategorized, youth
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“The 26th Project”: Rebooting a Writing Project
In 2007, with my friend Antonio E. Johnson, I began a whimsical writing experiment we called “The 26th Project.”
We began by exchanging a list of 26 words beginning with a different letter of the alphabet (from A-Z) and, using these words, we each wrote a short story.
From this humble beginning I set a goal to collect lists of 26 words from 26 very diverse individuals from around the world – gay, straight, multicultural, multi-ethnic and from different socio-economic backgrounds – that would celebrate the diversity of imagination.
Like most projects, this one got off to a great start but got bogged down by LIFE. So I am rebooting this project and encourage you to send me your list of 26 words and let’s see what stories they tell.
Posted in Creative Writing, lgbt, literature, Short Stories, Women, youth
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Tagged Creative Writing
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