Writing Contest Entries

Retribution (WordBandit Contest 7)

Contest Deadline: April 15th, 2017

Contest Description: Marcus could hear the horn sound in the distance, a sign he was getting closer to the island. Soon, he would be face to face with the father he left behind ten years ago. Every day since he left, he had made a mental list of all the things he wanted to say when he returned, but now, only one thing came to mind. He would...

Names: Marcus/ Kahuna (meaning: a secret, pronounced: MAR-cuss/ CUH-hoo-NAH); Kalaheo, Hawaii (town, pronounced: KAH-lah-EH-o); Kaleo Akamai (Kaleo meaning: one voice, Akamai meaning: intelligent, clever, pronounced: KAH-lay-O, AH-kah-MY); Kale (meaning: man, pronounced: KAH-leh); Lilo (meaning: generous one, can also be translated to: lost, pronounced: LEE-low); Ahe (meaning: soft breeze, pronounced: AH-hee); Aloha (meaning: loving person, pronounced: UH-low-HA); Sonshome (literally son's home).

Take word count and sub 134.

     He would inflict as much emotional and physical pain on his father and his world as had been done to him.

     Dressed in all black, Marcus blended in with many of the other assassins on the boat. Most of them were assigned to infiltrate an elaborate party and murder the most recently elected mayor of Kalaheo, Hawaii, Kaleo Akamai. Kaleo convinced the Hawaiian people that, just like the meaning of his first name, he would be their 'one voice,' and just as easily, he assured them that he was the meaning of his surname, intelligent and clever, but as alluring as it would be to kill a source of political debauchery and corruption, Marcus wasn't here for Kaleo in the slightest.

     No, Marcus was here for one reason only and could not care less of what happened to Kaleo Akamai tonight. In Kalaheo, his biological father lived with a new family. His father had a new wife who was a native Hawaiian islander, a six-year-old son, and a two-year-old daughter, but Marcus was not invited to be a part of this seemingly perfect world. Marcus and his mother were abandoned by his father when he was thirteen. During his adolescence through teen and early adult years, Marcus did not have a dad when he really did need him the most. The kids at Marcus' school made fun of him and blamed him for the absence of his father. All that really happened was an argument partially in Hawaiian between Marcus' mother and father that Marcus overheard...

     Marcus could hear his mother's voice as if it was yesterday instead of ten years ago, "Kale! What do you mean you're leaving us?"

     At this point, Marcus had peeked around the corner at his parents. "I'm leaving. Simple as that. You, this land mass, that no good bo-" SMACK! The sound his mother's hand against his father's cheek made rang through the house before the deafening silence overtook them for several minutes until his father started speaking again. "Lilo, I am smothered by this life. I despise this," he gestured around the room they were in, "all of this! My life has amounted to nothing, and I desperately need to leave. So, I am."

     "What about our son?" Lilo pleaded with him.

     "He'll learn to navigate life." His father cleared his throat. Marcus could not believe what he was hearing. "I can't be burdened by this, Lilo! E mai iaʻu e hele!" As Marcus heard his father say 'Let me go!' in Hawaiian, he slid down on the other side of the wall and wondered, did my father ever love me?

     "Kale, no ke aha la oukou e hana i kēia iā mākou?" Lilo whispered, obviously hurt. Marcus could hear the tears in her voice as she asked her one and only partner in life in her native language: why are you doing this to us?

     Kale sighed. "Au aole loa ia mea, no keia e hiki mai ... 'ole, e noho i kēia loa." As the meaning of this phrase ran through Marcus' mind, his entire world shattered. He heard his father say, 'I never meant for this to happen... or to stay this long.' His dad never wanted to be there for his birthdays, Christmases, Fathers' Days, Thanksgivings, science fairs, Donuts with Dads, or anything else related to his life.