Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

after i write this introduction, i am going to try something new. i have five minutes to write. the only other rule is that the story takes place in a narrative scope of five minutes. every paragraph will have the time remaining at the beginning. ready...go.

5:00 It lasts five minutes. That’s the only thing I can say about a fight. Much longer and the cops have rolled up. So that’s all you have.

4:45 I didn’t set out to mess anybody up, you have to think about that. Like it wasn’t a plan, it wasn’t what I was after. But when you don’t have time to think, its what happens.

4:28 I leave my house, knowing I’m already late. I take off in to a run, turning sharply left from my door. The alley is faster, though the snow and ice are treacherous. My sneakers catch just enough to throw myself forward, a couple times nearly hitting the ground ass first.

3:57 my lungs are raw. I can taste the blood from the cold. I have to slow, my feet skidding to a stop. I breathe as deep as I can, with my muscles spasming in response. The noise from the street screams along.

3:42 I start to walk again. A shadow is projected against the apartments in front of me. It raises its hand above its head. I’m moving.

3:34 She is doubled over, and her nose bleeds on to the dirty snow. He has a tire iron in his left hand.

3:25 The ice beneath my feet nearly gets the best of me. I slide forward as I shout something.

3:23 he swings.

3:01 I have landed three punches. I feel four. Two are to my face. My lungs still burn. She is standing still. I tell her to run. I tell her I am losing the fight.

2:36 My left fist connects with his face, right at his eye. The blood is moist on my hand. I have to resist the urge to wipe it off on my shirt. I throw another punch.

2:12 The number of times I have hit him has been forgotten. He has stopped fighting back. I pull his head off the pavement.

2:05 I cradle his head in my right hand. I swing with my left.

1:56 A human being will cease to live if massive trauma is applied to the cranium. His brain has begun to leak on to my hand when I pick his head up. I realize that this is massive. I drop his head.

1:44 My lungs ache. I am running too fast for how cold it is.

1:32 I fall once. I stand up, and look down. My clothes are covered in blood. The bones of my knuckles peek through the skin on my left hand.

:58 I hear sirens.

:42 The lights dance on the buildings around me.

:33 They tell me to stop running.

:29 I ignore them.

:14 They have warned me three times.

:09 Four times.

:02 Officer Jackson fires his .38 service revolver.

:00 My heart stops beating.