please may i have an assignment?

[slave ruthie]

umm what do i need to do please?

[SheepishJaina]

Howdy! I'll get you out an assignment in just a bit

[slave ruthie]

okies, thanks

umm, my assignment was...

"You've finally gotten the chance to go on your dream vacation. You're all packed and ready to go, but when you get to the airport there's a problem.

I'd like your story to be about the problem and what the outcome of it is"

i thought about it and came up with this first draft. its in third-person not first, and sort of jumps ahead of the original idea slightly...and i wanted to make it short to see how it scans - is this any use?

__________

COLLATERAL

"But it isn't mine!"

The expression on the airport official's face clearly showed he did not believe her. "You can tell that to the police when they get here, miss." Such a shame, such a waste, he thought, as he gazed at her pretty features. Possession was bad enough but quantities like this would guarantee a life sentence. By the time this girl got out she would have lost her looks and any prospect of a normal life. And if she was convicted of trafficking...well, at least the rope would prevent her from rotting away into old age. She had begun to cry.

"We take a dim view of this kind of thing in my country." The girl kept looking in shocked bewilderment at her belongings strewn across the table, at the cut open lining of her suitcase, and at the slim, plastic bags containing white powder.

"Please, this isn't right!" The man folded his arms and watched her impassively. "I'm on my way to visit my aunt in Canberra. Please listen to me! I'm only here on a stopover because it was the cheapest flight. Look," she nervously ran her fingers through her auburn hair, "this is a terrible mistake. Please will you contact the British embassy and tell them..."

"They will be notified when you are charged." Two stern-looking policemen pushed past the grinning airport guards. The girl shrieked in fright as they grabbed her arms, cuffed her, and then dragged her away.

"How do you do it? Are you a mind reader?" His assistant watched the struggling westerner being carted off. "Too bad she will hang. She is so beautiful, so young."

"You must not show pity. She deserves to die." He glanced at a nervous oriental woman with a large suitcase, who was waiting to be searched. She caught his eye then quickly looked away. With a dismissive wave, he motioned her on through to the boarding desk.

'Why not that one? See how guilty she looks!" His assistant frowned.

"She is fearful, not hiding anything. Trust me - I know the signs."

Yes, he had recognized the secret signal from the drugs mule pointing out the unwitting girl decoy in front of her. The trick worked every time. His bosses were happy. He was the hero of the Customs Department.

And he would soon be able to retire early with his share of the gang's lucrative trade...