It’s Week 78 over at Trifecta, so here’s yet another one-word prompt story. “Pedantic.”
“It’s dull.”
“What?”
“Your story. Dull. Boring. Dreary. Pedantic. Drivel.”
“So, you didn’t like it?”
“I didn’t say I didn’t like it. Just that I think it’s shit.”
“What the hell, man?”
“Hey, you asked me what I thought of it. I’m just being honest.”
“Yeah, and an asshole.”
“An asshole who is happy to be brutally honest with you.”
“Apparently so.”
“But seriously. You can write better than this. This is uninspired. I’ve seen what you can do. Who were you trying to fool with this stuff?”
“What? Fool? Why the hell would I be trying to fool anyone?”
“Beats me, but this bit of ‘story’ that you handed me an hour ago is nonsense. Unimaginative. Dull. Bullshit. Pedantic. Did I use that one already?”
“Yeah, you did, actually.”
“Well then, I guess it counts double. Go rewrite it. Better yet, throw this away and start from the beginning. Forget you ever had this idea.”
“Fine. FINE. I’ll scrap it.”
“Good.”
“Is it really that bad?”
“Oh yeah.”
“Hmph. Fine.”
“Please, just…try harder this time.”
“Alright. But you know something?”
“What?”
“Next time I ask myself to read something I wrote, I’ll do it without all of this talking to myself nonsense.”
“Sounds like a good plan.”
“Good. Now, shut up and let me write.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“Yeah, I know.”
The Swords of the Ancients 