“It’s been a while since I’ve felt this strong. Since I tried to be published I felt I lost all control. I became a weak man at the mercy others who stole from, humiliated me, and ruined my dreams. In order to regain control, I’ve made many a sacrifice and dipped into dark places in my mind as I fought to find myself again. Now, I’m happier, and I feel strong.”
I wrote this story in answer to the following prompts:
Pensitivity’s Three Things Challenge 473 — Tomorrow – Weak – Thoughtful
Your Daily Prompt — Betray
I Am Strong
Last year, last week even Yesterday
I was naïve, so easy to betray
Every tomorrow was the same way
I was weak and became your prey
All I had was thoughtful imagination
I weaved words into many a magic creation
You tried to steal them like an evil aberration
Now, I cast you to damnation
Now, my doors are firmly closed
Sure, my novels will never again be exposed
Yet, I smile at the short stories I composed
This way I will not be opposed
You see, I am once again strong
I am a writer for my lifelong
My stories, never again, will you wrong
For now, I sound my own gong
Thanks for reading my friends. There’s more in the Short Stories. and Short Stories 2 tabs.
Have a great day!
Masons Menagerie 
It’s all good life experience – I bet you’re wiser for it.
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No kidding! Yup, I’ll never trust another editor or publisher with my stories that’s for sure.
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Glad you have found your self-confidence again. But, do editors steal content or stories from contributors? Does it happen only in novel publishing or also among short story publishers?
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Thanks
No, a publisher stole my book. Editors just change everything so its written in ‘their way’ not yours. You know, for most books the only original thing is the author’s name. Everything else has been rewritten by editors and publishers. We authors may as well only write synopsis and pay the editor to write in the first place really.
My strength now is in my control with my website. My stories go out as best as I can, how I wrote them as it should be.
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Yes, I know about how editors change everything. It happens even with haibun and short stories. Sorry to hear that a publisher stole your book. That is the worst form of theft.
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I don’t know what a haibun is. But yeah they do change everything. At least on WordPress we share our work as we intend it – grammatical and punctuation errors allowed.
At great cost and length I got the book back. I then got a new publisher and they ruined it. I got it back and then a third almost ruined it too. There’s just nobody trustable editors or publishers thes days. We authors have to stop using them all.
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Sorry to hear all of this. Glad you are doing good in short stories though. Indeed, blog is a great place to show your creative skills. Btw, a haibun is a haiku combined with prose.
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Thank you.
So a haibun is a poetic story, That’s clever stuff. Thanks for the info.
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I’m glad you are now stronger and able to do what you love!
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