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Literature Text
I suppose I’ve just seen one too many pictures of skinny, perfect models. I’ve had enough of being this weight. It doesn’t help that my new colleague is a size 6 and gorgeous. The sort of woman who can get away with wearing that ridiculous t-shirt with the octopus on the front, even though she’s not exactly young.
So. My mind is made up.
Should I be losing weight this quickly?
Saw the doctor but I got the usual: leave it a couple of weeks… If you’re still worried, I’ll refer you for some tests...
Yeah, I get it. Go away… Go away…
Today, nearly everyone I bump into seems to be on a diet. Mina from the office down the corridor, John at the newsagent’s, my neighbour Pauline. Me and Pauline joke about how well we’re doing.
Everyone always wants to be thinner but it suddenly feels like weight loss has turned into a craze. When I get to work, I think about asking my colleague if anyone she knows is losing weight too but we’re not really on those sort of terms.
Well, why would someone like that want to be friends with me?
Story in the news about a child that had died in hospital from malnutrition. Not anorexia or abuse: couldn’t digest the food or something…
The first adult died today.
I don’t know why I keep coming into work. Don’t have the energy to do anything. A need for routine I suppose.
I idly watch my slender colleague working at her desk.
“You haven’t lost any weight,” I say.
And she looks up and smiles at me.
So. My mind is made up.
Should I be losing weight this quickly?
Saw the doctor but I got the usual: leave it a couple of weeks… If you’re still worried, I’ll refer you for some tests...
Yeah, I get it. Go away… Go away…
Today, nearly everyone I bump into seems to be on a diet. Mina from the office down the corridor, John at the newsagent’s, my neighbour Pauline. Me and Pauline joke about how well we’re doing.
Everyone always wants to be thinner but it suddenly feels like weight loss has turned into a craze. When I get to work, I think about asking my colleague if anyone she knows is losing weight too but we’re not really on those sort of terms.
Well, why would someone like that want to be friends with me?
Story in the news about a child that had died in hospital from malnutrition. Not anorexia or abuse: couldn’t digest the food or something…
The first adult died today.
I don’t know why I keep coming into work. Don’t have the energy to do anything. A need for routine I suppose.
I idly watch my slender colleague working at her desk.
“You haven’t lost any weight,” I say.
And she looks up and smiles at me.
Literature
Escaping with style
There were no blaring sirens or flashing lights as I dashed down the corridors, but there might as well have been. Data streaming across one side of my goggles told me that I had successfully triggered the alarm when I took the hard drive stack. I knew I had four and a half minutes until the security forces arrived. When I reached the security door I was already sending signals to my devices connected into the system. A crude video relay looped images of the empty corridor into the security camera feeds. The data mining box cut the stream of keyword-laden signals with which it had been scattering the building system’s attention. Grinning at my own ingenuity, I hit the unlock button. How many other thieves would have got in by manipulating the mood of a building’s computer systems? But then, how many other thieves understood the emergent emotional states of high end electronics? This was why I'd been hired. The door failed to hiss open. Frowning, I slapped the button again. Still
Literature
coda
under tangerine skies,
you pulse and I
fall short
seeking diamonds
from the whites in your eyes
and finding sacred
how your back talks to me.
you drop your bits of nowhere
for me to scavenge,
never rash enough to hunt
but I think I'm done
whetting the leftovers
of your summer -
I think
my leaves look fine
without your color.
Literature
Lost in Translation
Things were not going well. He'd knicked his hand on a sharp edge at the first hotel and had to swap to this one at the last minute. He had also forgotten his lucky pick, and his second set was missing a crucial tool. No, Adrian was definitely not having a smooth run of it today.
He was still jimmying the lock several minutes later, and the noise was attracting attention. A tourist -- recognisable by the wide-brimmed hat and extra large sunglasses she wore -- was staring in his direction. Adrian swore under his breath, affected a grin, and waved at her.
"Locked myself out," he called, bringing forth a slight blush, and thanking the Gods tha
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272 words.
Written for Flash Fiction Month 2015: Day 23.
Today's challenge:
ELEMENT ONE: Terror!
Write a Cosmic Horror story, demonstrating a fear of the unknown and the unknowable.
ELEMENT TWO: Tentacles!
Be it a gargantuan sea monster rising from the deeps, or just a rather delicious entree of octopus soup, throw some tentacles into your story for a bit of added flavour.
ELEMENT THREE: Through the eye of the beholder.
Your story must be told from a first person limited point of view.
ELEMENT FOUR: Something is not right here... -
Your story must include at least one suspicious character. Secrets are being kept, lies are being told, and you have a feeling they know more than they are letting on!
Well, I tried.
Written for Flash Fiction Month 2015: Day 23.
Today's challenge:
ELEMENT ONE: Terror!
Write a Cosmic Horror story, demonstrating a fear of the unknown and the unknowable.
ELEMENT TWO: Tentacles!
Be it a gargantuan sea monster rising from the deeps, or just a rather delicious entree of octopus soup, throw some tentacles into your story for a bit of added flavour.
ELEMENT THREE: Through the eye of the beholder.
Your story must be told from a first person limited point of view.
ELEMENT FOUR: Something is not right here... -
Your story must include at least one suspicious character. Secrets are being kept, lies are being told, and you have a feeling they know more than they are letting on!
Well, I tried.
© 2015 - 2024 SCFrankles
Comments10
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I'm a bit surprised this one doesn't have more comments. It's one of my favorites from your FFM month. 
Because I didn't take the challenge this year, I didn't know what the elements for this challenge were. So it was nice to come to that slower, more uncomfortable realization that the story was heading a bad direction.
It's outside your typical humorous pieces, and you did a nice job.
Because I didn't take the challenge this year, I didn't know what the elements for this challenge were. So it was nice to come to that slower, more uncomfortable realization that the story was heading a bad direction. It's outside your typical humorous pieces, and you did a nice job.