For this weekend’s Trifextra Challenge, we were instructed to write 33 words about a beast in an unusual place. As it’s nearly Hallowe’en, I decided to write this one for you. Why? Because flash-fiction horror is fun! Here’s “Seeing is Believing.”
“Mom! Can you come look at my eye?”
“What for?”
“It feels weird.”
“Did your brother poke you again?”
“No, Mom. Just come look.”
“Coming. Now, what THE HELL IS IN YOUR EYE?!”
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.”
“Do you still dream?”
“I thought that I was dreaming now.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I suppose I do.”
“Do dream, or do know?”
“Either.”
“What do you dream about?”
“When I remember?”
“Yeah, when you remember.”
“Do you want me to be honest, or do you want me to tell you what I think you want to hear?”
“Both.”
“I dream about you.”
“Really?”
“Really. Not like sex or anything. We’re just together. Spending time with each other.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. I had a dream about a week ago with you. We spent an afternoon just lying on our backs in a field.”
“That sounds really nice.”
“Yeah, sunshine and everything. It was beautiful.”
“Sounds like it.”
“What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Do you still dream?”
“No.”
“Not at all?”
“As rarely as possible.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean I really don’t like thinking about you all that much anymore.”
“…”
“No, I…not that…”
“Then what?”
“I just…it hurts too much to think about you anymore.”
“I guess that makes sense.”
“Yeah…I mean, it was good and all.”
“You don’t have to say that. I should be apologizing.”
“Yeah, you probably should, but I don’t expect you to.”
“Ouch.”
“Well, I mean, I’m just trying to be honest with you.”
“I know.”
The Swords of the Ancients 