What Happens...?
a misfits drabble by d.l. schizoauthoress

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What happens to a dream deferred?

Seventeen publishers.

Pizzazz clenched her fists, relishing the crackle of the photographs she held. They fell to the floor, crumpled, like multicolored birds with broken wings. Only the fact that Roxy was keeping close watch on the negatives stopped Pizzazz from destroying the evidence of her wasted time and effort.

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?

The itinerary of Jem's fashion book photoshoots lay on the seat beside Pizzazz. That single sheet of white paper, so neatly typed with locations and times, was the promise of revenge. That was why Pizzazz didn't scream. She pressed her lips tightly together, thinking of revenge, and willed herself to stay calm.

Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?

Clash, in the driver's seat, glanced nervously at the Misfits lead singer. She had never seen Pizzazz so still, so coldly in control, as she was now. Neither Stormer nor Roxy were offerring any reassurance. They were both in the backseat of Clash's car, asleep. Or maybe, in Roxy's case, pretending to be.

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Pizzazz could feel the weight of the world pressing at her. The pressure to be the best, to excel...it wasn't something that she'd chosen. It was something that she'd lived with from the very first. Memories of watching her mother painting...memories of attempting similar scenes in fingerpaint, only to have Gail Nye Gabor smother laughter at her efforts behind an elegant hand. It wasn't something that she'd imagined.

Children understood far more than people gave them credit for. That was something that Pizzazz knew, deep in her soul, something that scared her away from children to this very day. Fear that they could see through her, through her tough and world-wise stage persona, to the vulnerable and bitter woman that she was.

Nobody was going to see that side of her anymore. Pizzazz promised herself that.

Or does it explode?