This week's challenge: Using between 33 and 333 words, compose something that includes the third definition of the following word:
HOLLOW
3 : lacking in real value, sincerity, or substance : false,meaningless
I revisited the challenge from August -- to write the last 33 words of my book -- and then added the 33 previous words in September. Today I worked backward again with another entry of exactly 33 words (in bold). I enjoy the exercise of working backwards and seeing where the story takes me … in reverse.
When the verdict was
announced, the whole gallery gasped. Except me. I sighed with relief. My expression
of sorrow was as hollow as Sam’s explanation that he had committed this crime “for
us.”
The
bailiffs surrounded him. He removed his watch and that gold stud I gave him
long ago and handed them to the public defender. He very nearly maintained his
dignity despite the handcuffs.
Twenty
months will grind inexorably by until it brings us to the next shared moment in
our sad saga – and when Sam is released from prison,
I’ll be there, waiting at the gate.
About the photo: Life Magazine
makes a library of their archive images available for free to use for
“non-commercial personal purposes."