Parade Moves On

Time passed, slow but relentless, eventually leaving Harry far behind. At one point, too long ago, he was full of promise, the subject of noisy and sustained praise: a rare talent, a singular voice, a prodigy. But then there were a few failed books, and suddenly contracts weren't renewed, calls not returned, his name forgotten. His career's resolution was abrupt, cruel. Momentum turned on him, viciously, as if the earth's rotation suddenly reversed, violently throwing him from the ladder he had been so rapidly ascending.

To land with a thud, never to rise again.

(I wrote this specifically for submission to the Fast Fiction Contest at Writer's Resource Center. The prize is a book on self-publishing that I don't anticipate ever reading, but the recognition would be a nice shot of adrenaline.)