Time was just a construct created by the needs of creatures trying to separate the dark from the light. Sometimes it was dark, other times not so much. Right now, it was both, as Schedar's eyes could see everything that his mind could not yet comprehend-- his friend, Silvio De Italiano Nameo was laying in front of him and all that was left was the unmistakable musk of the cologne he was always using to attract the ladies, like some sort of hunter out on the prowl, and a piece of paper held firmly in his hands.

"Silvio De Nameo... no..."

Looking down at the note, Schedar gasped visibly. His full name that very few people actually knew was jotted down along with a time and place. Was he going to become a dick and figure this all out? No. He never really liked Silvio in the first place and knew that he kept his apartment door unlocked most days, squatters rights was about to play a key role in where Schedar called home for the next couple of months. Score.

The Next Day

"So where is he? I thought you said he'd show?"

"He was supposed to. This man is a lot smarter than I thought."

Two undercover agents sit there with a scowl on their faces, as well as five aardvarks and what looks to be an exotic dancer in the background finishing one of her shows for a group of very short people. You could tell there was a huge story at play that was going to take place here, all very exciting stuff. Oh well.

"Baaaaaah."

There's also a family of goats.

Columbo looked down as the rainwater slowly diluted the pool of blood around his longtime friend.  Derek and he had been friends since high school and always had each other’s back.  Now he laid face down, head turned to the side, eyes staring blankly ahead as the constant drumming of rain droplets were the only sound coming from the isolated alley.  At least three entry points could be seen through the wet tee shirt clinging to his back while the bag of trash he had been carrying was now spread out where it fell. 

Columbo stepped closer to the body and then glanced up and down the alley to confirm he was alone.  Looking back down after confirming his belief, he noticed his friends hand lay partially open and a piece of paper appeared to have been wadded up and placed in his dead grip.  Reaching down, he pulled the piece of paper out and carefully straightened out the crumpled paper.  When he read the note, he felt a chill run down his body.  The note had his name along with tomorrow’s date and an address.

Columbo felt a sense of panic as he tried to process how he had just become involved in the murder.  In his mind, he asked repeatedly “Did Derek get in trouble with the wrong crowd?  How did they know my name?  Or was this a warning directed at me and Derek was innocent?”  Placing the paper in his pocket, he quickly walked out of the alley and turned away from the restaurant entrance to avoid being seen.

Thirty minutes later, Columbo stood in a hot shower, letting the hot water massage his scalp while his mind raced with the events of the evening.  He had only recently been invited into the Family business and knew he hadn’t done enough to generate enemies.  Therefore, the murder had to be tied directly to Derek.  In all the time they had been friends, Derek had always been hard working and frugal.  He was well liked and never met a stranger when it came to communication.  So, what had he done?  Then it dawned on him that there may be evidence at Derek’s home and he quickly turned off the shower.

Quickly drying off and getting dressed, Columbo left the house and jumped in his sedan.  A short drive later, he pulled into the driveway of Derek’s house.  The house was dark as were most of the other houses on the street at this time of the night.  Walking around to the back, he pulled the spare key Derek had given him from his pocket and opened the door.  Stepping inside, he had no other choice but to turn on the lights if he was going to look around for evidence.

Columbo was shocked when he saw the mess inside the kitchen area.  All the drawers had been pulled out and dumped and anything in the cupboards had been pulled out and lay strewn on the floor.  He stepped around most of the debris as he continued through the house.  Each of the rooms were in similar condition.  Finally, entering the bedroom, he could see where even the mattress had been sliced open during the destructive search someone had conducted.  Realizing he would never find any evidence, he began heading back toward the front door and was walking down the hallway when he noticed a picture.  The picture had been of Derek and him at the lake.  Both were smiling and now the glass was shattered as if violently hit be a closed hand.  Maybe this is how they tied me to Derek, but how would they know me just from a picture? he asked himself.

With no other path, he drove back home and tried to get some sleep.  Lying on his bed, staring up in the darkness, his mind continued to play the events repeatedly.  There just wasn’t enough information and his only hope would be to visit the address tomorrow and hope for the best.  Closing his eyes, he hoped for a sleep that would never come.

The next day, after reviewing a map, Columbo navigated his way to an older part of town.  The area which had one time thrived, was now filled with dilapidated buildings and abandoned vehicles.  Finally spotting the number on the paper, he pulled over and parked his car.  Reaching up with his hand, he felt the holstered revolver strapped across his chest under his coat which gave him little reassurance.  Derek had been shot in the back and he was sure, if that was their intent, he would share a similar fate.

Stepping from the car, he cautiously walked to the front entrance and checked the handle.  The handle was unlocked, and the door slowly swung inwards with a creaking sound, announcing his arrival.  With a final deep breathe, he stepped into the darkness of the building.

The room had been an office at once time and was cleared out except for a desk and a couple of broken chairs.  His eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light and soon he was focused on a dark doorway at the back of the room.  Walking to the entrance, much to his surprise, it heads to a hallway and a room on the far end was lit with a bright light.  Columbo tried to walk quietly in the direction of the light source, but every footstep and scrape of his sole on the floor seemed to echo in the nearly empty confines.

As he stepped into the light, a familiar female voice said, “Come in Columbo and have a seat”.  The voice came from someone seated in a large office chair that had it’s back to him.  Walking to the chair, he sat down without question.  As he did, the chair swung around revealing the family leader sitting in front of her, hand folded across her lap.  Then he caught the movement behind and froze when he heard the click of a gun’s hammer close to his ear.

Silence filled the room for several long seconds before HustlinHoe said “Columbo, I have a problem.  Seems that a certain someone decided to steal from the family.  You wouldn’t want anyone to steal from the family, would you?”  The voice was cold and calculating and he could feel panic welling up inside.

Swallowing, he finally responded “No boss, of course not.”

She then continued, “Well, someone did Columbo.  And I’m very, VERY unhappy.  People die when I’m unhappy.  Do you want to die Columbo?”  There was no hesitation as she said these words and Columbo knew he was close to meeting his maker.

He tried to remain calm and replied, “No boss, of course not.”

“Good” she said then unfolded her hands and placed them palm down on the desk before leaning forward.  With a hiss in her voice, she said “A young man, about your age decided to steal my cocaine shipment from the restaurant freezer.  We have been staging our drugs at that location for years.  Well, he made off with 40 units of cocaine.  We searched his house and there was nothing.  But that is where we found that picture of you two.  Unfortunately, my right-hand man, H-E-R-O got an itchy finger and filled him full of lead before he told us where he had stashed the drugs.  I repeat, H-E-R-O, the guy behind you holding the gun to your head, has an itchy finger.  You understand Columbo?”

Columbo swallowed, but his mouth was dry.  Finally, he said “Yes, I understand.”

With his agreement, HustlinHoe reached into her pocket and pulled out a cigarette and box of matches.  Quickly lighting the cigarette, she took a long pull, but never took her eyes off his.  She leaned back in her chair and blew out a cloud of smoke before saying “I like you Columbo.  Matter of fact, I think you could go a long way in the family.  It was much choice to arrange the meeting out here in my old office so that if it got messy, there would be witnesses, but also so that you might have a chance out of this mess without anyone else in the family knowing.  You find those drugs and I’ll forget about this whole thing.  If you don’t find them, I’ll be very unhappy.  You don’t want me unhappy, do you Columbo?”

Swallowing again, he shook his head back and forth before saying “No ma’am.”

With that, she shooed him toward the door, and he felt the individual behind him step away.  Standing from his seated position, he turned and could just see the outline of H-E-R-O standing back in the corner, still holding the gun pointed at his chest.

Columbo quickly exited the building and climbed into the car.  As he tried to insert the key into the ignition, his anxiety was evident in the shaking of his hands trying to complete such a simple task.  Closing his eyes, he took several deep breaths, calming himself.

During the first part of his drive home, Columbo felt so much sadness of having lost his friend.  But the acquisition that he had stolen the drugs, and a lot of drugs kept haunting him.  If he had, they were obviously not at his house otherwise they would have been discovered during the search.  And selling that many drugs in a city firmly controlled by the family would never happen without their knowledge.  Therefore, Derek hid them someplace.  Just a matter of figuring out where.

Derek’s mother had passed away a couple of years ago and his father hadn’t been in the picture since Derek was a young boy.  Columbo was not aware of any other family in the area.  He wasn’t even sure if Derek had started dating again after his last relationship had ended a year ago.  He spent the rest of the day at home, running through memories and trying to envision where Derek would take not only illegal drugs, but also something worth a fortune in the right hands.

As Columbo chased thoughts down dead-end after dead-end, he was beginning think about what his death would be like if he couldn’t find these missing drugs.  He had never considered the fact that his death could be imminent since as a young man, you tend to think of yourself as being invincible.  Now he felt vulnerable and life felt fragile.  His friend had died, and he was next.  All over some greed and a bad decision that he not been involved with.

Columbo imagined being stuffed into the trunk of a sedan.  He remembered hiding in the trunk of Derek’s old Model A one time to scare some girls.  He remembered how tight it had been and the feeling of claustrophobia setting in initially before he calmed himself.  His mind drifted to how much fun they had in that old car that Derek had refused to sell for something newer.

Then it hit Columbo.  Surely not he said to himself.  But he had to check.  Running to his car, he drove to the location where Derek had been killed.  Across the street from the diner, he spotted Derek’s old car still sitting in the parking lot.  Pulling up beside it, he walked to the back, but did not have a key.  Walking over to the rear passenger door, the door was unlocked and opened with a creaking sound before hitting the metal stop.  Columbo reached up and lifted on the back cushion of the passenger seat.  After a couple of tugs, the seat released and lifted off and forward, exposing an opening between the passenger area and the trunk.  He reached inside and began feeling around and was instantly surprised to find his hand on a soft package covered in plastic.  Grabbing the package, he slowly withdrew his arm and smiled as a bundle of while cocaine, wrapped in plastic, was resting in his hand.  Quickly, he reached inside and felt other similar type bundles and assumed he had found all the drugs. 

Shaking his head with the stupidity of stashing a fortune in drugs inside the trunk of an unlocked car, he knew he would be unable to reach all the drugs without opening the trunk.  Breaking in would draw too much attention.  With resolve, he grabbed up the bundle of cocaine and wrapped it in an old shirt that was on the back floor of the sedan.  Then he replaced the seat cushion before taking the unit of drugs and closing the door.  Placing the drugs on the seat next to him, he started his car and began heading back toward headquarters.

Back at headquarters, Columbo lightly knocked on the door leading to HustlinHoe’s office.  The silky female voice of his boss said, “You may enter”.  Stepping inside, he watched as she took notice, sitting back in her chair and a look of anger in her eyes.  She watched as he approached her desk, then slowly unwrapped the package he carried in his hands.  Setting the unopened unit of cocaine down in front of her, he said “I found it”.

Glancing from the drug up to him, she replied “That’s one unit.  Where are the other 39?”

Confidently he said “Send your car crew down to the parking lot across from the restaurant.  Derek’s old sedan is across the street.  The drugs are in the trunk.  Your boys will have no problem getting them out once the car is back here.  But I would hurry as the car is unlocked.”

A smile crept across her lips, then was quickly replaced with a grimace as she said, “You left my drugs in an unlocked car, you idiot!”

Turning and walking back toward the exit, he said over his shoulder “I didn’t leave them anywhere and I’m not the one that lost them.  Better get moving.”  With a slight grin on his face, he thought It’s not much Derek, but that one’s for you.

This is your last chance to enter the competition and win some amazing prizes! The competition ends tonight at 23:59 and all submissions must be entered before this time (unless previous arrangements have been made with me).

Anton could you please elaborate for me? Here at 'Fairest Competitions Inc'. we take all reports very seriously and would need to properly evaluate any claims. If you feel this is better discussed in private I will be available as well.

Very interesting point. I will consult with the judges and a verdict will be made on the validity of the entry.

We appreciate you bringing this to our attention.

"Too long to judge"

Thats what she said

I want to thank everyone for their entries. Judging will take place over the next few days and a winner will be announced shortly afterwards.

The judges have decided to allow entries of any length and all entries have been deemed valid.

Big thank you to all the contributors, authors and everyone who has shown interest.

Great to hear LSD. As you hadn't stipulated an upper word count i thought it would have been entirely unfair to exclude  Columbo's excellent entry based on length. I have my own personal favourites from the list of entries,so I can't wait to hear if your judges  concur. Good luck everyone.

I think you will find you are incorrect Anton. This is a story competition, and as such is judged on entertainment value, it is not a school english composition or essay writting competition based on spelling, punctuation and grammar. Personally if i were one of the judges I would be voting for the stories that entertained me the most, perhaps evoked an emotional response in me, to judge otherwise would be a disservice to imagination and creativeness. This of course is my personal belief and the judges may have a completely different set of guidelines that they will follow. 

However, I believe what you may have been driving at is impartiality, in which case it should be a given. It would be a travesty if someone won, or recieved a major prize just because they were friends with the judges or organizer, don't you think?

I'm not a judge Anton, I am an entrant, I have no say on who wins. Therefore saying that I thought it unfair to rule him out based on the length of his entry, has no sway on the outcome of the popular vote. Unlike Grin, Curtis, Tetley, Elodin, Clarkson, Gash or Scousepole, I am not a powerful leader. I have a small crew, and according to at least one member of our community, I'm 'irrelevant'. The judges have already made their decision to allow his entry to stand, and even though it is just another entry to stand against my own, I believe that is for the best, and I voiced my support for that decision. I though, waited until after they had made their decision to weigh in, so as to remove any influence I may or may not have had. By publicly denouncing it and suggesting it should be excluded, you have not. One of two things may occur now. Because you are a divisive man (much like that branded brown vegetable protein spread) people either love you or hate you, if the judges are in your circle of friends, it will no doubt lose, as they will not want to offend you or cause you upset. However, if they are amongst your many detractors, then they may well vote for it as the winner just to spite you. Personally I hope the judges are honourable, upstanding members of our community and judge each piece on its relative merits, and not on anything you, I or anyone else says.

I can ensure everyone that the judges have not and can not be compromised by politics, scheming, or bribery. Here at 'Fairest Competition Inc.' we properly vet our judges and they are held to the highest of standards and scrutiny.

I can also very confidently say that there have been no attempts by anyone to sway the voting in one direction or another. A member of the community raised a potential issue with one of the entries, it was decided to be allowed and therefore it will be counted as a valid submission. This process will continue in any future 'Fairest Competition' competitions.

All entries will be judged blindly (without entrants names attached) to ensure that there is no edges/deductions based on favoritism.   

Anton of course sir. We have contracted several 'outside' individuals who have agreed to read and judge the entries. I've decided to pull people from 'outside' sources as to avoid any chance of tampering or impropriety.

I've taken time to choose people from several different backgrounds and locations as to add some diversity so we can come to a decision on the best all around entry.

Other than boosting your eyesight, is there such a thing as fair? 

I have to apologize for the delay! The judging is quickly wrapping up and we will be looking to announce our winners very soon! Everyone had some stellar entries and I do not envy the job of judging such a close competition.

While the judging is finishing up I will be working on sending out the participation prizes to everyone who has entered.