Each conference the SCWC has a writing contest in which all conferees are invited to participate. The rules are simple: Write a piece in any form you wish of no more than 250 words based on the topic announced Friday night. The topic for the SCWC*PS 3 event was "Ice." Gayle Carline of Placentia, CA is this year's winning author.
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HE WAS THE kind of man who made you want to disinfect your eyeballs when you looked at him.
"You the private dick?" his voice oozed from the doorway.
"Private investigator," I corrected him.
The stranger slunk into my office and poured himself into a chair. Pale and thin, his wispy blond hair lay pasted
against his head, making his ice-blue eyes look large and reptilian.
Taking a picture out of his pocket, he threw it across my desk.
"I lost something. I need you to find it."
I studied the picture. "It's an ice cube tray."
"Not just any ice cube tray," he told me. "It's the ice cube tray used for Dean Martin's drinks on Ocean's Eleven.
I stared at him, clearly unimpressed.
"It's signed by Dino! I paid $1500 for it on Ebay!"
"Okay, okay," I said. "I get $100 a day, plus expenses."
"Anything. Just find it for me."
Taking out my notebook, I got to work. "Where did you see it last?"
"In my freezer," he said. "It's still there somewhere, but I can't see it for all of the ice."
I sighed. Opening the bottom drawer, I pulled out my travel-sized hair dryer. "Give me your address," I told him.
What the hell, I figured. It's a paycheck.
| Copyright 2006, Gayle Carline. Used with permission. |
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