HCE received a lot of high-quality submissions for The Brutal Issue – sadly, too many to fit inside the magazine! So we offered some of our shortlisted contributors the chance to be published on our website.

Keep an eye on our social media for more great writing like this, in the run up to the release of The Brutal Issue…

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The Last Action News

Randy Mazie

 
 

Late breaking news, declares Diane,

anchor of the Channel 10 News Team,

her long dark hair loose, open white blouse heaving,

wiping a perfect strand of hair from her face, widening her eyes

to mimic startled-ness and intensity,

as the camera closes in.

 

Our own Action News Team, she declares, has just reported

that in the last closing hours, the State

has been hit with heavy facts

knowing that there is grave risk involved for all.

 

The fight to stave off that offensive,

brought on by the opposition early this morning,

may end in duplicitousness,

which, our President,

always hopeful of a fix,

lithely stated himself, in his own words, in his own Oval Office.

 

Diane’s eyes widen, again. She licks her lips,

the camera angles back

showing off her lovely upper torso,

which then falls sideways

as loud harrowing shots ring out in the studio.

Bam. Bam. Bam.

The camera jiggles violently.

There’s screaming. Someone yells for help.

The studio goes dark.

 

This just in…

 

Action News ended poorly tonight.

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RANDY MAZIE has been writing all of his life. His non-fiction works have been published in transportation-oriented professional magazines, and his poetry, most recently, published in The Fredericksburg Literary and Art Review, Poetry Leaves, and The Rat’s Ass Review. Previously, he has been published in the University of Miami Tempo Magazine as well as other venues. He blogs at www.thewritersvillage.wordpress.com.