Once upon a time...

Damn!!, I've got writers block. Help me write my story, but limit it to 30 words if possible. This is where I'm upto:



In the safety of a shadow in the corner of dreary dark alley that even the most desperate rats would avoid, there huddled a man who...

...desperately tried to avoid the cold glances of random passerby at the mouth of the alley, glances that slid over him like oil on water, never recognizing the sight...

...of a fellow human among the abundant candy wrappers and sodden cardboard boxes of a rich, but heartless and decaying society.

He had no lips. His arms were crossed tightly around his burlap wrapped belly, and he shivered as the dark rain poured down on his...

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...trembling hands. Something startled him, and he shifted a hand to clutch nervously at the pistol's grip. The drifter, hunched over and hiding it deftly at his side, holster-less and clumsy, stuck down his pants, cold metal against his hip and strangely making him think of...

...his recent loss. He crushed out his cigarette with a worn wing-tip, exhaled a billow of smoke toward the leaden sky, and...

..and muttered - "Fuck, these bastards in this thread better make my life better real quick or I'm gonna shoot myself".

Hesitantly, he walks towards the end of the alley...

... waited, trying to keep his cool, trying to keep his head in the game. This one would have to work like clockwork, this one would have to be quick and quiet, smooth and clean - taking out the last mark was messy, especially because of ...

..all the fun he had with his hookers. A man approached him, then asked him what his name was. He replied with, "Joe." The man then pulled out a camera, then opened his jacket, releaving...

her. He had known from the start that he was letting his guard down, that his focus would stray, but he was helpless. She had crossed his path in a moment of sheer weakness and...

her. He had known from the start that he was letting his guard down, that his focus would stray, but he was helpless. She had crossed his path in a moment of sheer weakness when he...

... had just bent down and rescued a filthy gold moneyclip from the gutter. It held a large assortment of deutsche marks, wrapped in a couple of VIP passes to the...

...cabaret, with Lilli von Shtupp wailing away. He could remember the smell of cheap cologne and cigar smoke as though it were five minutes ago.

As he was reminiscing a pale, delicate arm wrapped around his shoulder.

"Oh, darling, you found it!" she said, her voice tense with fear, "I was so worried."

"What's wrong? Is this yours?" he asked, holding up the moneyclip between his fingers.

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"No, I mean your courage. You've finally found the courage to leave the alley." she said. Joe paused in deep thought for a minute and then...

his eyes went wide as a steam locomotive came barreling down the street. With a shriek of brakes it dove towards them. Joe wrapped his arms around the woman and yanked their bodies down to the cobbles.

But when he looked up, the locomotive had vanished.

"Lily," he whispered, "It's happening again."

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"It's going to be ok, stay calm Joe... What did you see this time?"

The man glared into Lily's beautiful eyes, their cool blue depths battling his heated frusteration. "You didn't see that?" he stammered, as a puzzled look washed over his face.

Her eyes glowing at the brink of tears, she choked out the words, "...

"Darling, I want to help you. I want to give it another try. But that's not why I'm here tonight."

She got to her feet and brushed halfheartedly at the muddy water on her cashmere coat.

"The Herr sent me to find you."

Joe looked grim.

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He looked back down the alley and then down the street, asthough to carefully weigh the options in his mind... "Lets go!" he snarled, and set off walking purposefully down the street.

"Hey, Joe! where ya goin with that gun in your hand?." - Lily shouted, realizing she'd just quoted a line from a Jimmy Hendrix classic and feeling quite stupid about it. She wondered whether the author of her moment had some issues with her, or the cashmere coat that she had got from her friend Ananda...

... because it was quite a nice coat, really, a pale dusty pink that went well with her pitch-black hair and damned if she didn't know it.

She rushed to catch up with Joe. "You crazy bastard!" she said. "I'm not going to let you drag me down again. You are going to tell me what's going on. Now."

Joe looked at her. She was so beautiful. He took a deep breath, and said ...

"You damn well know what's going on. He's your brother."

She froze, facing something she'd known all along. Sullenly, she pleaded, "He doesn't mean it. It's just..." She stammered. "He has to protect his family. Don't do it, please."

Joe remained resolute, knowing she didn't know the truth about her own brother. He quietly pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket, and read it quietly...

...to the butler.

The butler had let them into her brother's house after dousing them in essence of sandalwood. Upon hearing the note, the butler replied, "Nyuh."

"Nyuh?" they asked.

"Nyuh," he confirmed.

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The butler plucked the note from Joe's hand. His lips twitched through rote, stuck in some primal, unconscious autopilot - no words came out and both Joe and Lily watched him studying it, rereading it to himself under his breath like a riddle or puzzle.

The butler had known Joe for a while, knew his character well... knew Joe wouldn't; couldn't - even though he had caught her messing around with another man... even if he had caught her messin' round town... Joe couldn't be planning to go out and shoot his old lady. That ain't too cool...

With fearful, pleading, mistrust-filled eyes the butler looked at Joe and repeated, "Nyuh!"...

Nimrod then walks in the door. He says, "Oh, retard talk. Nyuh Brah Muruh Arahuh." The butler looks at him, then looks back at Joe. He then picks up the lead pipe sitting next to him, and raises it above his head...

Lily screamed as he swung the pipe. it all seemed to be moving in slow motion, then suddenly joe...