Santa Cruz Skateboard & Heckler Magazine Story Contest Winners

Read Me First

We got a lot of great and some not so great stories as entries in the contest to win a complete Santa Cruz Everslick Skateboard. It took a while to get rolling, but the entries started rolling in and we now have a winner. The grand prize of the complete deck with Krux Trucks and Speed wheels goes to Melanie and Courtney Fitzgerald for the story called Hard Candies. We picked this story because it was entertaining, well written, soulful and because Courtney sounds like she needs a skate. Chosen runner-ups will receive special parting gifts courtesy of Heckler Door Prizes.

HARD CANDIES

Christmas Day, 1992, had a chill in the air which energized us as we embarked on an adventure setting out from Berkeley to San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf. We had many ideas and huge expectations of what was to come. At the last moment, Grandma gave my 10-year-old daughter, Courtney, (20) $1.00 bills to pass out to the homeless.

Our first trip on BART ran so smoothly, it hardly phased us that we were traveling under the Bay. When we arrived at The City, we had (5) long blocks to walk before getting to the Cable Cars. My 25-year-old nephew, Ilan, and I (mom) quickly established a pattern of walking behind Courtney as she soon started to give away her $1.00 bills. We were embarrassed and apprehensive of any potential negative reactions.

Everything pretty much was closed down in San Francisco. It was truly a cold, gray, lonely day. Courtney would seek out those individuals huddled in doorways. She would give them a dollar and a "Merry Christmas" and rather quickly retreat to the original direction and intent of this walk (to get to the Cable Cars!). These people were not the well-known panhandlers. These people had "stuffed" themselves as well as possible in a doorway to qet out of the wind and cold. They invariably responded to Courtney with a motion of surprise, a "Merry Christmas", thank you or God Bless You. All I could think of at the time was, "I hope a dollar is enough for a hot cup of coffee." I sure wanted to hurry by these people.

At last we made it to the Cable Cars. Courtney had $3.00 A mime, perfectly positioned at this spot to get tourist attention, superbly acted the part of a robot. He got a dollar. As the Cable Cars were approaching, I noticed two men, with shopping carts, beginning to setup house in a doorway, a little up the block. I suggested to Courtney she RUN and give her last $2.00 to them. She did so and said they were very happy.

As we settled on the outside seats of the Car, we were surprised by the rushing of these two men to the three of us. (I thought, oh Lord, what have we done!) They handed Courtey a small bag of hard candies they had abstracted from one of their carts and wished the three of us a "Merry Christmas."

Our trip went well. We walked the Wharf, went to the Wax Museum, shopped and fed the seagulls. Nothing, however, compared to the gesture of the two men and their sack of candy.

-Submitted by Melanie Fitzgerald (mom) in hopes of winning the Santa Cruz skateboard for her daughter, Courtney Fitzgerald.

Thank you, I had fun writing this story.

Runner Ups:

We couldn't only print just one of the stories, becuase there were too many good ones. The following story, Virchows Room, was picked because of it's sheer wierdness and different point of view. Although for Pete, it's his everyday life. Pete is also my brother-in-law, so he's probably ineligible for this contest because of the usual rules about realtions, employees, etc. But we all liked the story anyway, so Pete wins a Heckler T-Shirt and Baseball Hat.

Virchow's Room

It is 8 o'clock in the morning as I open the door to the autopsy suite. The familiar smell of formaldehyde singes my nostrils as I lay my eyes upon the days work. It is zipped in a white plastic body bag, flopped on the table and waiting there for me.l begin to put on my protective gear as I ponder for a second how I came about doing this kind of work. The gloves are the last items to put on; my key defense against the hidden darkness of the microbial world.

At last I begin to unzip the plastic bag and double check the toe tag to make sure the autopsy technician didn't mistakenly take the wrong body to the suite. The door opens and in enter two observers sent over from the coroner's office to watch me earn my daily bread. My assistant is more experienced then I at this heinous task before us. He remarks to me that this will be number 1397, having amassed a huge repertoire while moonlighting at the coroners office My eyes roll back as I watch for a moment this skilled craftsman sharpen and dazzle his peculiar instruments of the trade.

Before long the chest plate is removed and I begin suctioning with a meat baster the copious amount of fluid that is encasing my patient's lung. The observers stand at attention, mesmerized by the sight before them. I am too busy to even notice their presence as I laboriously suction the blood- tinged fluid. My stomach begins to growl as I curiously wonder why this job always makes me so hungry.

Suddenly, without warning, one of the observers blacks out and nearly falls into the surgical field His hide is saved by observer number two who catches his fall. My assistant must stop his meticulous dissection to offer help to the observer. He takes him to be seated at his familiar desk chair in the stark corner of Virchow's room.

I continue my examination. The heart and then the lungs are carefully removed. My assistant returns to my side and the tempo begins to increase At last, all the organs are out and the laborious task of further dissection, weighing, and sectioning follow . I look over my shoulder, squinting through my "Chernobyl" face shield that has started to fog over from my heavy breath. My assistant is fast at work, sewing up my patient with the skill of a careful embroiderer. "Number 1397 is almost completed". he must be thinking. But for me, the day's events were yet another priceless opportunity to venture into Virchow's Room and experience the intricacies of the human body.

-Peter F. Ames, M.D.

The next runner-up was picked not only because it describes an unusual day, but because it's got a lot of heart. Shawn's outlook on life is positive. It's not what you don't have, but what you do. Whatever you have, it's yours. Enjoy it. We liked Shawn's story, so we're gonna replace his shitty deck with a brand new Beer City deck and some hard core Beer City vinyl 7"'s.

My Routine

"Time to get the fuck up ... I guess," I say to myself as I'm waking up. "It sure is cold in this damn van!"

I quickly put on the same clothes that I wore yesterday, fold up my shitty blanket that hardly keeps me from freezing my ass off at night, and exit the van. About 20 feet away is my girlfriend's aunt's mobile home. I walk inside to the comforting warmth that lingers within.

"Damn it! I overslept again!" I think as I see the clock on the microwave. It's 11:00 a.m. and I have to meet Lupe, my girlfriend, at Taco Bell during her lunch break from school.

I take a fast shower. Still dripping wet with a towel around me, I heat up a couple of flour tortillas and cheese in the microwave. I then throw on some clothes, scarf down the viddles, grab my shitty skate, and fly out the door.

I make my way through the mobile home park to Alluvial Street, go up to First Street, then all the way down to Cedar Avenue. Finally I'm there. I think to myself, "I need to get a job so that I can get a fuckin' car!"

I wait out in front of Taco Bell for my sweetheart. "It's about time! Where the fuck have you been?" I ask, "I've been here for 20 minutes!"

"I'm sorry, Cory was late getting out of her 4th period class."

"That's O.K., I guess. Are you hungry?"

"No, I'm horny," she bluntly says to me.

"Where do you want to go?"

"How 'bout Von's bathroom again?"

That was fine by me, I guess, I just feel that we don't get enough privacy fucking in their bathroom everyday. "Oh well, at least I'm gettin' some pussy," I think to myself.

We then walk hand in hand to the store across the parking lot. We both smile at each other as we walk through the automatic doors. We walk down a couple of aisles and then to the pharmacy. I purchase a box of Trojan ENZ spermicidal lubricant condoms for $2.95.

"Good," I think to myself, "I don't have to buy condoms for another 2 days."

My baby and I walk around the store a little bit more then go to the bathrooms. I look around, no one's lookin', we quickly enter the men's bathroom. We passionately embrace and kiss. I slip my hand up her flowery dress and into her lacy panties. I gently caress her wet vulva, her breathing quickens.

"Fuck me, now!" she whispers.

We immediately undress. I lift my lady up onto the sink. I tear open the box of condoms, put a condom on my erect penis and enter my lover's heart shaped box. Our love session lasts for about half an hour.

"I've gotta get back to school," Lupe says.

We get dressed, I peak out the door to see if anyone is around and we exit the bathroom. We hold hands and quietly talk and joke about our secret adventure as we walk out the store.

We walk back to Taco Bell and say our good byes.

Time to hang with the Bros. I skate down the street, about 4 stop lights to Shaw Avenue. My friend, Lonnie, lives across the street from Fresno State University. Matt and Jay are always there smoking pot and listening to Hardcore Punk vinyls. Anyways, we go out on Shaw Avenue and skate. All night we smoke pot and skate. Around 9:00 p.m. I skate across town back to my soon-to-be-aunt-in-law's house. Get some din-din and an hour of late night news bullshit. Then it's back to that cold-ass van for some z's. Damn, I need a job.

by: Shawn Robinson Age 16

Thanks to everybody that entered, and thanks to Santa Cruz Skateboards and the always honorable Brett Sigur for sponsoring the contest.