Fiction International is pleased to announce the winner of our 2011 short fiction contest (Blackness): "Rogues Gallery II" by writer Mary Byrne. Ms. Byrne will receive a cash prize of $1000.00 and her text will be published in the 2012 issue of FI, About Seeing. We'd also like to congratulate runner up, Dorothy Blackcrow Mack for her text "The Black Cradleboard" which will also be published in About Seeing.
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Mon Tour-Menteur
moi ils m'ont mis dans un trou [me they put me in a hole] lui sur un pedestal [him on a pedestal] moi on m'a empêché d'aller à l'école [me they prevented me from going to school] lui on l'a envoyé dans les meilleures écoles [him they sent to the best schools] moi je fus déplacé [me I was displaced] lui on lui a tout de suite donné sa place [him they gave his place immediately] moi je suis tombé dans le vide [me I fell into the void] lui il s'éleva dans les nuages [him he rose into the clouds] moi on m'a fait du mal partout [me they hurt me everywhere] lui on lui faisait du bien tout le temps [him they made him feel good all the time] moi j'avais peur du noir [me I was afraid of darkness] lui il adorait le noir [him he adored darkness] moi je parlais deux langues mal [me I spoke two languages badly] lui il parlait toute les langues à merveille [him he spoke all languages beautifully] moi j'ai jamais réussi à inventer un seul nouveau mot [me I never managed to invent a single new word] lui il inventa des mots et des noms qui resteront gravés dans la mémoire humaine [him he invented words and names that will remain engraved in human memory] moi je voulais savoir tout [me I wanted to know it all] lui il a réussi à oublier tout ce qu'il savait [him he succeeded in forgetting everything he knew] moi je suis resté méconnu [me I remained unrecognized] lui il devint riche et célèbre [him he became rich and famous] moi on oubliera mon nom très vite [me my name will be quickly forgotten] lui son nom restera inscrit dans l'histoire [him his name will remain inscribed in history] moi je suis encore ici seul [me I am still here alone] lui il a déjà changé de temps [him he has already changed tense] moi je continue à me traîner dans la boue verbale [me I continue to drag myself in verbal mud] lui il danse avec les anges [him he dances with angels]
The title of this fragment of writing offers four possible readings. There may be others.
Mon Tour--my turn. My turn to begin. My turn to tell the truth, or the lie [same thing]. My turn to tell how it is. How it was with the two of us -- moi et mon tourmenteur [me and my tormentor], in two languages.
Menteur--liar. My turn then to lie. Or to tell the truth about Mon Tourmenteur.
Tourmenteur--the one who inflicts suffering on the other. [Celui qui fait du mal à l'autre].
My Tor--seemingly a meaningless syllable. But this is a bilingual fragment of writing. Perhaps other languages are hidden here. Tor? Yes, of course, the door--Das Tor. To tell the truth or to lie through the door. From behind the door. To shout the truth or the lie from the hole behind Das Tor [the German hole, the German door].
Mentor--the master, the teacher, the guide, the one who is above, the one who inspires. The other in this fragment of writing. Lui [him].
Copyright © 2010 by San Diego State University.
Authors of individual works retain copyright, with the restriction that subsequent publication of any text be accompanied by notice of prior publication in Fiction International.