Words - 55 of 'em

Inspired by chamique and a tag I once found on Profound Gibberish am trying my hand at fiction, in 55 words.

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The train pulling away under his watchful gaze, the light from the match played across the hard planes of his face.
A wisp of white smoke, let out with a sigh, a stark contrast against the surrounding blackness.
As it slipped out of sight, he fell to his knees, the weight of the world.....
--

Ok, ok. So its 54 words. Am a terse man.
I want to see what the others will do with this.
'Smee!, thee shall I charge to pick up where this hath left off.

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Edit: 'Smee! has continued the story here

Lost for Words

The staccato sounds, like gunshots, made by the rain on the smooth surface of the helmet.....
The water running down the once dirty visor ..... making rivulets in the dirt that's been there for weeks.
A hazy curtain of water that doesn't part even when one tries to push it away.... appears like the screen in a movie theater, a canvas for an imagination stunted by months of disuse and abuse, struggling to hold onto the last vestiges of an individuality lost over time ....
The images come unbidden .... vivid, lifelike ..... the gunshots vanish, replaced by the sound of soft laughter ...... the ghost of a smile, dredged out from the mired reflection of a corroded mind .... reality fades ......

A young girl ..... woman, playing in the rain - dancing to the song playing in her head, humming wordlessly the bars of a song only she can hear .............

A light in a window ..... burning bright like a star ..... red eyes, blinking against the rain, looking toward it in the hope of guidance ..... with regret, with guilt ...............

Looking up at the sun through the rain, bright against the dark clouds surrounding it ........ thinking of foxes and crows.............

The rhythmic thump of thickly soled feet as they land on freshly laid asphalt slick with the falling rain ........ splashes made as they land in puddles made by the rain ....... a cellphone ringing somewhere in the distance....... a promise of admonishment to come.....

The throttle turns in an effort to outrun the visions ........... the memories.

It lurches forward, as it has so many times in the past. Forward ......... follow the road ... almost like a tunnel .......

They still come ...............

The feel of someone riding shotgun, arms wide ..... open to the drizzle coming down ...............

Sweet sounds of soft laughter ............... an even softer rendition of “Raindrops keep falling on my head” ...............

Sounds replaced by a roar loud enough to make a man deaf.
Almost there ...............
A door slams shut .... the sonorous sound of a bolt being thrown .... footsteps walking away ......

The rain’s letting up....

Control

Back foot, front foot ... Back foot, front foot ... Back foot, front foot.
The rhythm of it was driving me nuts.
I could smell the sweat that seemed to be flowing from every part of me.
The metallic taste of the blood in my mouth seemed a little out of place. Didn't really notice.
The tooth was shaking a little too much, distracting me.
Southpaw, keep your eye on the left arm.
..............................
There goes the tooth. "Left shoulder, NOT left arm, damn it." Keep the gloves up. This guy's good.
He's big, fast and he's been at this for a lot longer than I have. Maybe this was a bad idea.
Back into the rhythm - Back foot, front foot ... Back foot, front foot ... Back foot, front foot.
Almost hypnotic. Driving me nuts.
His arm coming at me. Gloves go up. Pressure against the gloves. He's goading me!!
Three rounds, a tooth, a split lip and he's goading me!
Boxing is supposed to be a sophisticated sport. Not at all like street fighting.
"Keep your emotions under control. Anger is your worst enemy."
Damn it! The rhythm is driving me NUTS!!
Can't see him too clearly through the gloves. Sounds? Coming from him? He's laughing through his mouthpiece!
He sees the kid I am, he doesn't see an opponent. He thinks am a kid playing at boxing.
"Keep your emotions under control. Anger is your worst enemy."
I keep hearing the coach telling me that.
Jabs - can feel them coming one after the other against the gloves in front of my face.
Red - there's something red on my gloves. Blood from the spit lip I gave him.
Pressure's gone. He let up. Why?
A couple of more steps and I would be at the ropes.
Curious. Gloves come down.
"Don't ever let your guard down."
I wanna see why he let up. He's standing there, ready .... waiting.
I just gave him the opening he wanted. His gloved hand comes through, right up until my nose. Everything's black.
Pressure against my nose. My eyes were closed ..... waiting for the punch to land.
He flicked my nose ..... backing away.
I can see the amusement in his eyes.
"Keep your emotions under control. Anger is your worst enemy."
"Shut the fuck up, coach!!"
-------------------------------------------------------
Walking to the center of the ring.
Back foot, front foot ... Back foot, front foot ... Back foot, front foot..............
The rhythm is still driving me up the wall.
There's more to it this time...... he's not amused anymore.
We are both dancing to the same song. Its almost choreographed..........
Back foot, front foot ... Back foot, front foot ... Back foot, front foot... Back foot, Back foot!

That's it. Arms goes up. Left, right, left, left, right, left.
Technique's gone out the window ..... back to basics
Sophistication is for people with class. Power is raw.
White canvas, white canvas, white canvas ...... feels soft under my hands...... probably the padding protecting his hands.
Stumble forward ...... my hand's through his guard ........... keep going .......... left, left, left - he's a southpaw.
Bone is a little hard ................. punch .............. punch .............. jab ............... punch .............. jab .............. flesh makes it seem soft .......
Hand goes forward a little more than it should ....... (?)
Where is he ............... Ah!! ...... punch........ something in my eye ............. punch ........... punch ........... punch ....... PUNCH!
Arms not moving ............. Turn around ............... coach?
Look down .................. red ........... eye isn't opening ....... blood running down the side of my eye .......... not mine ......... his.
His nose ....... jaw ............... eye
He's under me.
"Keep your emotions under control. Anger is your worst enemy."
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Control - man or animal?

Days of Gold

Ever have one of those days on which you have Midas' Touch, one of those days where you can do no wrong. Of course, its another matter that generally the very next day is probably the worst day you've had in your life up until that point. All the things that were supposed to wrong on the perfect day decide to pay you a visit on the next day.
There was a time in which the Days of Gold were continuous and plentiful and the fruit they provided sweet and satisfying. I think that if you've had a long stretch of the good days you are bound to have a long stretch of the bad ones as well. Think of it as the universe balancing itself out like a math equation (read as Murphy's laws).
Now, onto what I really think. Fate and destiny are of your choosing, they aren't determined by the circumstances around you. Sure the circumstances cause you to make certain decisions in a predefined manner, but they are still your decisions, meaning that you have to take responsibility for them.
The "Days of Gold" are just those days on which you make the right decisions all the time. I had a lot of them and a lot of "Days of Fool's Gold" as well, the days on which I thought I was making the right decision and it turned out that I wasn't. These are the days which are followed by a lot more bad ones than good because some of the decision we make have repercussions that we can't predict and those decisions can't be taken back or erased.
I've been out of college for a little over a year now which has had a considerable number of both of these days (the last one of the latter kind, I'm still reeling from, and I think I will for a long time to come).
The problem with people is that they don't learn until they fall down or get a kick in the pants. :-)
If only we could turn back time to prevent either of those from happening in the first place.............