2016 "FOCUS ON YOUTH":
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Creative Writing and Editing:
Lucie Turkel
Greenwich High School - CT
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Lucie Turkel is a senior at Greenwich High School in Greenwich, CT. She is the editor-in-chief of her school newspaper The Beak, and she is a member of the National Honor Society.
Lucie has participated in pre-college programs at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, the School of Visual Arts in New York City, and the Young Writer’s Workshop at Bard College at Simon’s Rock. Lucie is also a student at the International Center of Photography in the Teen Academy program which is also located in New York City. Lucie has been recognized for her academic excellence in research, communication and writing. She won the Traditional Scholar and Research Social Studies Award and the Lillian Butler Davy Communications Award for Academic Essay. |
When she is not involved in various extracurricular activities, Lucie works part-time at Originals, a lifestyle boutique. Lucie has also volunteered at Inspirica, a homeless shelter in Stamford, CT.
*Below you'll find a flash fiction piece by Lucie Turkel.
*Below you'll find a flash fiction piece by Lucie Turkel.
DRIVE
© Lucie Turkel
© Lucie Turkel
Matt picked me up around eleven. The sky was still as I climbed out of my bedroom window and ran to his car. I knew I could have walked right out my front door, but it was more exciting this way. He smiled when I slipped into the front seat.
“You ready?” he said. Before I could respond he put the car in drive.
I answered, “I’m ready”, but only in my head.
We didn’t talk much at first. Everything seemed strange and alien even though I had lived in this same town for nearly seventeen years. There was nobody on the streets. It seemed like a suburban wasteland, and we were the only two people left alive.
“So where are we going?” I said. I tried to fill the empty space all around me but it was impossible
.
“The fuck if I know,” Matt said, “but we’re going.”
The two of us had decided to run away about a month ago. I didn’t have a particular reason for it, except for the fact that I was so bored in my town that I was always up for anything. Matt was always trying to do stupid shit, and this was his latest idea. We had been friends since the second grade. I told him I would come along since I had nothing better to do.
I watched my old world whiz by my window but I didn’t feel sad. I tried to think of everything I was leaving behind. It wasn’t much. I would miss my mom a little, but I knew that after I called her once from wherever we ended up, I would feel fine. Phoebe was the real problem. I would miss her more than anything. I kissed her goodnight a couple of hours before Matt came to get me, and I knew she knew...but it was okay. I tried to think some more about what else I was leaving behind, but all I could come up with was a math test, a date, and a pack of gum. All of that was a blessing to leave except for the gum, but there was only one piece left in the pack anyway.
We made it onto the highway. It was deserted except for the orange glow of streetlamps. Matt started driving faster. He rolled down his window and yelled.
“We’re fucking free! We’re fucking free!” He threw an empty Coke can out his window just because and yelled more. I smiled but I didn’t feel free, not yet at least. I watched the red aluminum can fly off into the night until I couldn’t see it any longer.
Matt stopped yelling and slowed down. He was smiling big. “Julia, babe, this is going to be amazing,” he said, “so fucking amazing.”
I laughed but nothing was funny. I stuck my feet up on the dashboard and leaned my head across my knees as I looked out my window. There was nothing to see. I wished we could listen to music, but the car radio was broken so the only thing it played was static.
I turned it on anyway. Matt laughed. He said, “What are you doing?”
“I don’t know,” I said, and I meant it. I opened the sunroof of Matt’s car and stood up so my head and torso were outside. The wind whipped me hard but it felt good. I raised my hands above me and yelled, but the wind stole my voice so I yelled louder. It felt like I was the only person on earth.
Matt laughed from inside the car. “Now you get it!” he said. “Now you fucking get it, babe.”
I didn’t know what I now understood. I kept standing there. We kept driving down the deserted highway. It felt like we would never stop.
“You ready?” he said. Before I could respond he put the car in drive.
I answered, “I’m ready”, but only in my head.
We didn’t talk much at first. Everything seemed strange and alien even though I had lived in this same town for nearly seventeen years. There was nobody on the streets. It seemed like a suburban wasteland, and we were the only two people left alive.
“So where are we going?” I said. I tried to fill the empty space all around me but it was impossible
.
“The fuck if I know,” Matt said, “but we’re going.”
The two of us had decided to run away about a month ago. I didn’t have a particular reason for it, except for the fact that I was so bored in my town that I was always up for anything. Matt was always trying to do stupid shit, and this was his latest idea. We had been friends since the second grade. I told him I would come along since I had nothing better to do.
I watched my old world whiz by my window but I didn’t feel sad. I tried to think of everything I was leaving behind. It wasn’t much. I would miss my mom a little, but I knew that after I called her once from wherever we ended up, I would feel fine. Phoebe was the real problem. I would miss her more than anything. I kissed her goodnight a couple of hours before Matt came to get me, and I knew she knew...but it was okay. I tried to think some more about what else I was leaving behind, but all I could come up with was a math test, a date, and a pack of gum. All of that was a blessing to leave except for the gum, but there was only one piece left in the pack anyway.
We made it onto the highway. It was deserted except for the orange glow of streetlamps. Matt started driving faster. He rolled down his window and yelled.
“We’re fucking free! We’re fucking free!” He threw an empty Coke can out his window just because and yelled more. I smiled but I didn’t feel free, not yet at least. I watched the red aluminum can fly off into the night until I couldn’t see it any longer.
Matt stopped yelling and slowed down. He was smiling big. “Julia, babe, this is going to be amazing,” he said, “so fucking amazing.”
I laughed but nothing was funny. I stuck my feet up on the dashboard and leaned my head across my knees as I looked out my window. There was nothing to see. I wished we could listen to music, but the car radio was broken so the only thing it played was static.
I turned it on anyway. Matt laughed. He said, “What are you doing?”
“I don’t know,” I said, and I meant it. I opened the sunroof of Matt’s car and stood up so my head and torso were outside. The wind whipped me hard but it felt good. I raised my hands above me and yelled, but the wind stole my voice so I yelled louder. It felt like I was the only person on earth.
Matt laughed from inside the car. “Now you get it!” he said. “Now you fucking get it, babe.”
I didn’t know what I now understood. I kept standing there. We kept driving down the deserted highway. It felt like we would never stop.
