Submitted to: Contest #306

RECYCLABLE

Written in response to: "Tell a story using a graduation, acceptance, or farewell speech."

Crime Drama Friendship

This story contains themes or mentions of suicide or self harm.

Mica Dowry sits at a desk as the stream of sunlight hits her like it's watching her. She is hunched over, pen scratching across pages like soft icing on a cake. Her thoughts are steady, weary but raw with truth.

I HAD A DREAM - that two little girls with chipped nail polish and secondhand shoes would rule the world through song.

I had a dream we would rise together and be untouchable.

That the sound of our laughter in my grandmother’s living room would echo all the way to Madison Square Garden.

That the teddy bears who sat in our audience would one day be traded for stadium lights and screaming fans chanting Lola's name.

I had a dream that my best friend, Lola Yves and I, Mica Dowry would never break that bond and that our friendship would last a lifetime.

I had a dream where loyalty meant forever, where our sisterhood was unshakable, where love—real love—could survive the pressure of spotlight heat.

But somewhere along the way...

my dream curdled into a shadow - into darkness.

I had a dream that when Lola sang, angels leaned in to listen.

Because when she opened her mouth, the air changed. Time slowed. She made people stop to watch her and move their souls.

Hearts cracked wide open.

And I—

I had a clipboard. A calendar. A computer. A backstage pass.

I now had purpose. I had power that was undeniable.

Most importantly, I had her trust through it all.

I had a dream that she would always need me.

In my head, that I mattered.

But I learned something ugly in the hollows of "green rooms" and contract meetings at the labels.

I learned that the music industry doesn’t dream, it's a billion dollar business—it takes prisoners and devours them if the rules are not followed.

It tells you who you belong to, who to dazzle, who’s decoration (eye-candy) and who’s disposable.

And I?

Later, I was never made to razzle and dazzle the industry, nor my friend.

I had a dream where I could be enough.

I should have learned that I needed to be enough for me.

But they told her I was holding her back.

I was a bottleneck. A blemish. A burden to her.

“I look too average and didn't dress the part.”

“I was not the brand.”

I had a dream where it was time to fight back.

I studied the game, mastered the pitch, worked harder than the rest - the men.

And still, I was the girl they asked to wait outside the fitting room or looked at like the “housekeeper” at Lola's VIP table.

That would be the straw that broke the camel's back, as I watch Lola bow-down to ignorance executives that treat women like a trophy.

I had a dream where she did defended me.

Well at first she did—.

“Where Mica goes, I go,” she said.

But later, I saw her eyes widen with obedience—

The slow, creeping shame of having to carry me with her.

Like I was her cross, not her crown.

I had a dream I could save her.

From the pressures. From the pain.

From the miscarriage that took her spirit as I held her on the days she cried.

From the lovers who used her name as a marketing ploy to get ahead.

I had a dream that my remedies where Lola called my “Mica Magic”—were healing her voice.

A little ginger, a little honey, and just a whisper of arsenic.

Just a whisper I said. It was intensional.

Enough to keep her close and control her too.

Enough to keep me necessary.

Enough to gain more power.

I had a dream that no one could take her from me.

Not the label - the lies.

Nor even her own wings.

But then came that night— at the show I booked for her called "Unstoppable."

It was her return to glory - for the fame, glitz and glamor once again.

She was consider the "golden girl." Glorious. And then in the mist of the last note of the first song-

Lola dropped.

I had a nightmare.

The sirens screeched to a halt. The flashing lights.

The court room, attorneys.

The death certificate.

My prints on the arsenic bottle.

It was not only her downfall but mine as well.

I had a dream they would understand - I was lying to myself.

I needed to someone would see how broken I was beneath the control.

But no one dreams for the villain.

I had a dream I could explain it.

That I did it out of love.

That I didn’t mean to become the thing I feared most - jealousy.

But my intentions won’t bring back the dead.

I had a dream where she would forge ve me.

Where we returned to the living room.

Back to hairbrush mics and sock-sliding dances.

Back before fame.

Before envy.

Before I mistook possession for love of my best friend.

I had a dream...

That my truth would matter.

So this—this confession—is all I have left.

This is my “I have a dream” speech, not in triumph but in tragedy.

I dreamed of having a life of harmony.

But I left only silence and shame.

(She raises the letter, places it on the table.)

If there’s a heaven, I hope she’s there with open arms for me.

I hope she singing again—without pain, without pressure, and without me.

I had a dream once.

And now, it's time to let it all go.

In the jail cell, Mica places the journal in a sealed envelope. She addresses it: “To whoever finds this — the truth.” She rips her bedsheet into two. One, she folds her bedsheet into a noose and ties it to the top bunk. The other, is used to wrap around her ankles tightly. She takes a deep breath. A single tear falls.

Her feet violently kicked due to lack of oxygen.

In memory of a fallen icon — and all the voices silenced by an industry where loyalty is expendable but the talent is RECYCLABLE.”

Posted Jun 13, 2025
Share:

You must sign up or log in to submit a comment.

4 likes 3 comments

Riot 45
21:06 Jun 18, 2025

This is a beautifully tragic and well constructed plot, and I liked the poetry-prose approach taken. Right now it feels like a lot of flashing images with no follow-able thread to pull them together, so the reader has to do a lot of work, but if that was intentional, it's brilliant. You've got a really great story here, and striking imagery that was gripping. Massive well done!

Reply

19:14 Jun 13, 2025

I wanted to take one of my favorite movies and twist it up a little. "Sparkle" - Even though it wasn't a blockbuster, the storyline about the music industry gave us a look into the trails and tribulations artist go through in getting seen. The music was top notch as Whitney Houston and E'vogue made hits out of them. Watch Sparkle - it's one of the best.

Reply

19:07 Jun 13, 2025

Story left me wanting to read more. Like the story line.

Reply