The Thin Space, #99-Word Story

Posted on by Colleen M. Chesebro

The Carrot Ranch March 6, 2023, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about Gloria. You can name a character that comes to you as Gloria or you can interpret the Laura Branigan song into a story. What image comes to you? Go where the prompt leads!

Submit by March 11, 2022. Please use the form below if you want to be published in the weekly collection. The Collection publishes on the Wednesday following the next Challenge. Stories must be 99 words. Rules & Guidelines.

He left you… the voices whisper. How will you get him back?

“Laura, I’m talking to you. Are you in there? Are the voices talking to you again?” asked Dr. Freeman.

Her eyes focus on the doctor’s face. “I’m not Laura, I’m Gloria,” she mumbles.

You better slow down before you blow it. The voices grow louder and bolder.

“Laura, I’m giving you a sedative.”

You’re headed for a breakdown; you better not show it…

The injection works, and Laura relaxes. She slips into the thin space between madness and reality.

Are the voices in your head calling, Gloria?

This week, I researched the song, Gloria, sung by Laura Branigan. You can find the lyrics HERE.

Songfacts shares:

Songfacts®:

  • “Gloria” was first released by the Italian pop singer Umberto Tozzi in 1979; his version was a hit in his home country and popular in other non-English-speaking countries in Europe. When Laura Branigan started work on her first album, she was teamed with producer Greg Mathieson, who did the keyboards and arrangements on Tozzi’s “Gloria.” He suggested Branigan cover the song, but she was skeptical. When they worked it up with English lyrics, she came around, and the song became a huge hit, this time in many English-speaking territories.

  • In the original Italian version, the singer is longing for Gloria. In Branigan’s version, she is addressing Gloria, whose head is scrambled over a guy. Gloria seems to be on the verge of insanity. “Are the voices in your head calling, Gloria?” Branigan asks.
songfacts.com

I liked Branigan’s version of the song and “borrowed” lines from the song to share my version of Laura’s descent into insanity.

Laura Branigan passed away in her sleep in August of 2004. The Today Show said it was a brain aneurysm… but what if…?

38 thoughts on “The Thin Space, #99-Word Story”

    1. Me too! There was real emotional pain there. I wanted to work with that place between sanity and madness. I think back to the end of my first marriage. I can relate to the feelings expressed in the song. Next month, Ron and I will be married 38 years. I think I’m fully recovered. LOL!

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