LISA
The Bully
Her bruises bloomed with a riot of colour across her face. Purple and blue blended with a jaundice tinge beneath her eyeball. What a night: it was the first time the neighbours had intervened.
The police said they didn’t get involved in domestic disputes, and left when no one needed hospital attention.
She didn’t know where they’d go from here. Changing the locks hadn’t helped previously. She wondered about leaving, but would miss the children. She looked in the mirror at her beaten up face; he’d never retaliated before. At least she only hit him where the bruises didn’t show.
RICHARD
Proud
I had no idea at the time it was my big break. The editor tasked me with covering the Gay Pride parade, mainly because I was the most junior reporter.
I wasn’t exactly impressed, but determined to make the most of it, and to be fair, it was really quite impressive with all the rainbow flags, outrageous outfits and over the top makeup.
Fun, until they ran into the Black Lives Matter parade, who thought they had right of way.
Words and blows were exchanged, and it all descended into a brawl.
Front page news.
Headline: ‘A Riot Of Colour!’
LIZZIE
Out of the blue, he jumped from behind the giant canvas. Sword swallowing. A daring exhibition. He had to practice, right? “Almost caught red-handed,” he mumbled. And when they asked him questions, he chuckled. “Oh, it wasn’t me, officer.” And they believe him, because he told them a harmless little white-lie. The officer grinned. But then he was given two days to leave the circus… Why?! Making a random passer-by swallow a sword hardly seemed a good enough reason to be fired. The said passer-by vanished into thin air, true. But still. Well, their loss. A daring exhibition no more.
SERENDIPIDY
It was entirely by accident I embarked on my new career – serial killer to contemporary artist in one simple step.
My last killing was rather messy: blood, guts, and gore everywhere, and body parts strewn all over the floor.
It hadn’t quite gone to plan.
It was supposed to be a simple throttling in a dark alleyway, but an unexpected change of plan meant it was indoors, and a little bit gory.
Thankfully, it happened in an art gallery.
Rather than clean up, I attached a small label: ‘Riot of Color’ – Unknown artist.
I sold it for a small fortune.
NORVAL JOE
Once they were at the river’s edge, and out of sight, Billbert, Loliamanda, and Sabrina joined hands and flew downstream. They crossed back to the highway passing flocks of sheep and eventually coming upon the small town of Ferndale. The main street was lined with Victorian houses. The rising sun reflected off myriad stained glass windows creating a riot of color, distracting the three from the danger waiting on the edge of town.
An elderly woman stepped into the road ahead of them, aimed a confetti cannon, and pulled the cord. A riot of color blasted them from the air.
TOM
897 Story 1
In its day Live Aid was real big deal. And it was in the day of VHS. I recorded the whole thing on a number of tapes. Each carefully labeled. Fast forward to the day I got married. Total chaos, lots to people circling in cars around a shifting center point. One of these folk was the person willing to do video. He needed a tape to record on. So somehow he got tape 15 from my Live Aid tapes. He used it to record the wedding, but the camera input failed. No wedding and a hole in Live Aid.
898 Story 2
Frank was some what normal. Job, eating habits, selection of friends, and most of his hobbies. He did have one odd habit. He loved sitting in large vats of paint. Had 16 barrels of different colors. Built a crane that lowered him into and out of each color. I took four hours. When finish Frank was a Riot of Color. His wife would wrap him in a bolt of white canvas, toss him in a wheelbarrow, tip him out at the edge of hill. One foot on the canvas, down the hill rolled rainbow Frank. Sold them for a Fortune
PLANET Z
When the Amazing Journey to Inner Space ride opened, thousands of guests boarded the conveyor of seats, showing them the journey through molecules and atoms.
After hours, the employees lit up all the projectors in a riot of color, and lit up their joints and dropped acid.
The speakers jamming the latest psychedelic rock.
The wildest ride, a trip unlike any other, true to the name of the building.
The park managers posted security guards to keep the employees from their after hours drug trips.
But the employees shared their drugs with the guards, and The Amazing Journey rolled on.