Reality Check ~ Flash Fiction Friday

Johnny walked out of his building right behind the gangly teenager that lives on the floor below him. The kids pants were hanging down so far he was afraid that the boys pants were about to fall completely off the boys skinny hips.

‘Sometimes I worry about the degeneration of society as a whole when such things are acceptable in public.’ He thought shaking his head in disgust.

“Oh my god!” The boy screamed

“What?” Johnny had been lost in his thoughts and had not been paying much attention to what was going on around him

“Oh my god! He’s dead!” The boy was visibly shaking and was point to the body of the doorman of their building.

“I can see that quite clearly.” Johnny said standing over the body.

“Well aren’t you going to do something?” the boy asked his face pale.

“What do you want me to do?” Clearly the boy was not thinking straight if he thought that he could do something about the dead man laying on the ground with a knife sticking out of his chest.

“Well cant you bring him back?”

“Where in the hell did you get the impression that I can perform some sort of miracle and save people from death?”

“Well didn’t you do that for what’s his face?”

“What are you talking about?” his thoughts were racing about trying to figure out what the boy was talking about.

“Are you not the great Jack Sparrow? Are you not the one who was brought back from Davy Jones' Locker to stop the evil Davy Jones and save the world?” The boy looked at Johnny clearly confused. “You cut out that other guys heart and saved him from dying. Surely you can do that again now. All you need is a knife and that chest thing to keep his heart in.”

Johnny just stood there starring at the boy for a moment before pulling his cell phone out of his pocket.

“Yes,” He said when someone picked up, “I have an emergency. There is a dead doorman laying on the sidewalk out front of my building and there is a delusional fellow standing over his body.”

Cupid Trouble ~ Flash Fiction Fridays

When I looked up and saw Cupid with his bow, I knew we were in trouble. I was not the sort of person who got the whole falling suddenly head over heels in love thing. It was not that I didn’t believe in love but I certainly didn’t believe in Cupid and his magical bow and arrow.

“Well it’s your turn.” He said as he floated there just above my head as I sat in my cubical at the office.

“Shhh!” I whispered and quickly peeked over the dividers to see if anyone had noticed my strange visitor.

“I come to give you the one that you want, and in time for Valentines Day no less and the first thing you tell me is to shhh! Well I never!” He said folding his arms across his chest and pouting at me.

Yes you heard me, he was clearly pouting.

“Well can you at least keep your voice down? I don’t want the rest of the office to think I am a sucker for these sorts of things, or worse that I have gone completely crazy.” I hissed at him.

“Oh! Now you are going to insult me on top of telling me to shut up.”

“No! No! It’s not that, I just … um, well… You know don’t really… Oh never mind.” I said rubbing my face with my hands; clearly this was not going well at all.

“You don’t believe do you? That’s what this is all about!” His eyes grew wide as he stared at me in disbelief.

“Alright you got me. Now what do you want?” I sighed and leaned back in my chair.

“Why to change your mind of course! You seem to have become bitter in your years.” He said shaking his head and settling down on the edge of my computer screen.

“My what? Did you say My Years? Now who is being insulting?” I raised an eyebrow and stared at him suspiciously as I wondered if someone had snuck something into my coffee when I wasn’t looking.

“Look, calm down. I am just here to help. And help I will.” He said smiling at me.

“But I don’t need any help and I certainly don’t want any.”

“But you do! You do need help! And I am just the person to help you!” He said smiling a big toothy grin as he waved his bow at me.

“You aren’t real!” I hissed, “You are a figment of my imagination!”

“Oh! You poor, poor thing!” He moaned, “To live in such a state of disbelief! How do you ever get through a day the way you are?”

“I get through it just perfectly fine, thank you very much.” I said.

I was starting to get just a little bit angry with my tiny visitor and wished he would just fly away as fast as he came.

“Oh but you don’t! You just don’t know it!” He was almost in a panic waving his arms around like a mad woman.

“Oh but I do!” I said mimicking his tone, “And speaking of which I would like to get back to my day now. Thank you very much for stopping by, but I wont be needing your services.” I said grabbing my empty coffee mug and turning away to leave my cubicle.

“STOP!” He cried in his tiny voice as he flew into my path in an effort to prevent me from leaving him.

I shooed him out of the way and headed for the small kitchenette at the far end of the room.

“Please would you just listen to me?” He said flying along beside me.

I ignored him and kept going.

“Please let me have one chance to prove to you that I am for real before you completely write me off as a hallucination.”

I got to the coffee maker and put my cup on the counter, before looking at him.

“If I let you do your thing, and prove to me that you are real will you go away and leave me alone?” I said eyeing him.

“Yes, yes. Of course, if that is what you truly want.” He said heaving a huge sigh and let his shoulders slump.

“Alright then, but remember you said you would leave me alone.” I said waggling my finger in front of him.

“Fine, fine. Just watch this ok?” He said pulling a fist full of arrows out of his quiver and loading them all at once into his bow.

“Wait a second. What are you doing?” I asked, feeling a sudden sense of panic and dread rising up from the pit of my stomach.

“I am doing exactly what I told you that I would, proving to you that I am real and not just a figment of your imagination.” He shrugged as he took aim at the office full of unsuspecting people.

“Wait a second. Just wait.” I said holding up my hand to stop him.

“Why? You seem to think that I am only a figment of your imagination. So if that is the case then what is it going to hurt if I shoot all of these arrows out randomly?”

I stood there for a moment chewing my bottom lip. He did have a point. He was just a figment of my imagination right? So if that was the case why did I have this feeling of impending doom in the pit of my stomach.

“So?” He said as he drew back the bow full of arrows.

“No wait! I believe. I believe!” I wasn’t sure if I really believed at that moment or if I was just not wanting to end up being wrong about this whole Cupid thing.

“Now what?” He said, the arrows once again returned to his quiver.

“Just one arrow. At him.” I said pointing to the new account manager from down the hall.

What the heck, he was single and he was cute. No harm done.

Obsession ~Flash Fiction Friday

John Walker was your average police officer. He had been working on the force for the last twenty years and he had come to be known as a one of the rock steady and dependable ones on the force. The senior officers looked at him with pride and the younger ones looked at him with respect.

But he was ashamed of himself. He knew he shouldn’t be doing what he was doing but it was like an obsession with him. He lived the normal life with all the respect and glory. He preached about the difference between right and wrong in his day to day life. About taking care of yourself, and eating right.

He was however, leading a double life. And he felt ashamed. He knew he was a human and that it was human to sometimes fall from grace. But he still knew that if anyone found out about his double life and the things that he did in it they would never let him live it down.

It was not illegal the double life he lead, but he knew that it was immoral and he had learned over the years how to hide it. How to cover up for it if anyone got close enough to his secret, but every time he did he felt the guilt and shame wash over him like waves.

Why did he have this double life you ask? What was so bad that he had to hide it from his family and friends, but it wasn’t so bad that it was illegal?

Well he didn’t want to face the ridicule of being just another member of the force who had succumbed to this level. He didn’t want to be the cliché.

But he couldn’t help it. He had to do it. He had to have one. They called to him, some days to the point where he could hear nothing else until he fulfilled his needs.

They were deliciously sweet. The more he thought about them the more they called to him. He was feeling a need once again.

He got in his car and drove a mile and a half to the coffee shop and bought himself a Boston Crème donut.

The Tale of The NaNoNut Case Part Two: The Great NaNoNut

The Tale of The NaNoNut Case
Part Two: The Great NaNoNut

“Sooo What is this nut thing all about?” The Girl Voice asked

“Its not a nut thing. It is THE NUT. The nut that is above all the other nuts.” I replied in a hushed voice as we left the building and headed down a back alleyway.

“Is it something that ya eat?” The Girl Voice asked “Because I hope that it is. I am starting to get hungry with all of this running around.”

“Oh my.” I stopped utterly horrified.

“What? What did I say?” The Girl Voice stopped and looked at me.

“You cant be serious!” I stared at her.

She wasn’t serious? Was she? Could she really not actually know?

“Serious about what? I do not understand what you are talking about!” The Girl Voice made a face at me.

“You really don’t know anything about the nut do you?” I asked as I sniffed and peered at her face.

“No. And I don’t know why you are making such a big deal about it either. I mean seriously if you want me to know all about this whole Nut business and you are such the expert on the subject then you best get to it informing me so you can stop treating me like a bloody idiot.”

I just stared at her in wonder. I could not believe that there was anyone out there that did not know about the Great NaNoNut.

“I mean after all I cant be all that dumb ya know. I did find a way to get ya out of that room of yours.”

“This is true. You did do that.” The more I thought about it the more it started to make sense.

If I told the Girl Voice about the NaNoNut then she might be able to help me in my quest to locate it. It had to be found before it fell into the wrong hands. No telling what would happen if it did.

The world might end.

So I had to make the decision if I was going to trust the Girl Voice or not.

She was standing there staring at me with narrowed beady blue eyes, a strand of straight dark hair hung down over her half her face. I could feel my body start to sweat under my fur.

“To tell or not to tell. That is the question.” I said nervously.

“So what are ya gonna to do about it?” She asked straightening herself up and crossing her arms across her chest.

“Well I suppose I could tell you.”

“But?”

“Well you would have to swear that you will not tell anyone.” I said solemnly.

She started to laugh. Great big gales of sound roared out of her mouth, and it gave me quite the fright. I did not know if she would ever stop. And then as soon as it started she stopped again, gasping for breath.

“Who am I going to tell? Seeeeriously!” She giggled. “Who is going to believe that I know a talking squirrel, let alone anything you can tell me about this nut of yours.”

“You know you do have a point there.” I said thinking about things a little more. She was right. What did It matter? No one would believe her, given the circumstances.

“So? Are ya gonna tell me or not? I cant just stand here waiting all day ya know.”

“Alright. I will tell you but no talking about it to anyone. Do I make myself clear?” I asked sternly.

“Ya, Ya, whatever you say there Squirrely” She said rolling her eyes at me.

“Alright here goes.” I said as I took a deep breath and began, “There is a Nut out there some where. It is called the Great NaNoNut. They say it holds the key to all creativity. If it falls into the wrong hands it could mean an end to the world as we know it.”

“Wrong hands? I don’t get it. Who else in their right mind would believe in something so far fetched as that?”

“Well there are others out there who, like you, would not put it past an animal to be able to talk. People with open minds who might use the Great Nut to their own advantage instead of protecting it.”

“And that is what you want to do then? Find it so that you can protect it?”

“Well yes, that about sums it up. See there is this guy who—“

“Wait, what guy?”

“He is a really bad guy. He is out there as we speak looking for the Nut.”

“Alright, who is this guy and how do you know for sure that he is looking for the nut?”

“Because he is the reason you found me in that cell to begin with!” I exclaimed. This whole explaining thing was starting to become exhausting even for a squirrel with as much energy as I had.

“Ok I think I got you now. There is a Great Nut out there somewhere that is the key to creativity and there is some Bad Guy out there who is trying to find the Great Nut to fulfill some sort of personal need of his, and he has tried to stop you from finding the Great Nut first by locking you in a cell.”

“Yes exactly.” I released the breath I had been holding as she had gone about reciting the events that lead up to present. “That is it exactly. I am so glad you understand me now.”

“So.”

“Yes?” I looked at her cautiously.

“So do you want me to help you find this Great Nut of yours? So that we can save creativity for all of mankind?”

“Well not just mankind, but yes that would be lovely, if you wouldn’t mind?”

“I guess I really don’t have anything else better planned.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem, we best get to it then.”

The Tale of The NaNoNut Case ~ Flash Fiction Friday

Part One: The Great Nut Escape.

Alone in my tiny room I paced. Back and forth I paced, with a quick step. Stuck, that’s what I was with no hope of ever being set free. They wouldn’t let me claimed that I was too nuts for them to release back into the wild.

“But, but, but!” I remembered exclaiming as they slammed the hard metal door of my cell. “That is exactly what this is all about! Nuts”

They nodded and smiled in their kind way and proceeded to close the door anyways.

Muttering to myself I paced back and forth. They had to let me out.

THEY JUST HAD TO!

Coffee, there had to be coffee somewhere. I started sniffing around the room. I checked every corner of the padded walls to see if they had hidden some in there somehow. I didn’t really expect to find some but there came a time in a young squirrels life when you just have to think outside of the box and believe that there might be a chance at the impossible being able to happen.

When I didn’t find any coffee in any of the corners I thought maybe I might find some yummy nuts hidden. So back I went around the room to see if there might be some. I didn’t find any of course, but then that reminded me of what I really should have been thinking about.

Nuts!

I had to get out of there. To find the nut. Not just any nut you see. The Nut. Yes the most beloved and prized possession in all of Nut History. It was the NaNoNut.

Laugh, go ahead. Everyone does when they first hear about The Nut.

But once you are done laughing would one of you out there be willing to help me find The Nut?

No? I suppose not. Talking squirrels are a bit strange aren’t they? Never mind back to my story and how I really did find a way to get out of that cell.

Well I didn’t actually find a way out. It found me when I think about it. There was a loud banging on the door to my cell.

“Let me out! Let me out!” I screamed at the banging.

“Let me in! Let me in!” Came a voice from the other side.

“Why ever would you want to be stuck in here?” I called to The Voice.

“Its better than being stuck out here with all the crazy people!” The Voice replied.

“You have a point.” I said as I sat back down on the cold floor.

“I know, so now would you please let me in?” The Voice called out again.

“I would if I could. I would love to help. But you see I am stuck.” I said scratching my head.

There was a great big silence then. I thought maybe The Voice had gone away.

“I see. We have to do something about that.” The Voice said. “I think I might have just the trick.”

“Really?” I said my ears perking up.

I heard a soft clink sound and then a loud crash. Then I heard some scratching at the door. Then silence again.

“Hello? Did you give up?” I called to The Voice.

“Nope. Still here. Working on it.” The Voice grunted as the scratching sound returned.

I waited with my ear against the door and then suddenly a loud thunk came from inside the door and it swung open almost knocking me off my feet.

“Let me out! Let me out!” I screamed.

“Let me in! Let me in!” The Voice screamed too.

I scurried away to a corner and stood there looking at the looming figure in the door. Looming to me wouldn’t be so big for you people, but then again I am a squirrel you are not.

“You are a girl!” I said to The Voice.

“Yes I am and you are a Squirrel.”

“But your hair is blue!” I stammered. “You don’t look like any girl I know.”

“And you can talk. That aint acting like no squirrel I know either.” The Girl Voice said and put her hands on her hips.

There was some more of that odd silence thing before she spoke again.

“So what do we do now?” She asked standing there looking at me.

“Well.” I said my mind working a mile a minute. “Maybe we should just leave. I mean you did say that there was crazy people around right?”

“Yes, that is why I wanted in here with you. You seemed to me like the only normal person around and here I come to find out that you are not a person at all but you are a squirrel.”

“Yes, well I am aware of the fact that I am a squirrel. But that still does not tell me what we should do now.”

“You aren’t going to eat me are you?” The Girl Voice asked peering closely at me.

“No. I am a squirrel I do not eat people. I eat nuts.” Then my mind remembered why I had to get out of there in the first place. The NaNoNut! “I know! We can go find The Nut.”

“The Nut?” The Girl Voice scratched her head and looked at me strangely, well more strange than one would look at a talking squirrel.

“Never mind that now. Come on lets go.” I said striding across the room and taking her hand as we left.

And that my friends is how I made my Great Nut Escape.

The Doorman ~ Flash Fiction Friday

It was the same thing every week. Day in and day out he stood there watching the people in the building come and go. There were all sorts of people who lived in his building. Some small families with young children, some couples who were just starting out on their lives together, older couples who had enjoyed a long life together and had seen there children grow up to be adults with families of their own. They were all nice to him. They always remembering that he was the one that held the door for him with a polite nod, a smile or a kind word. The children were the best of the bunch, some of them were now old enough to leave their parents side, run up to him calling his name, all smiles and giggles and then wrap their tiny arms around his legs or waist.

Then there was the old woman. He only saw her every Sunday morning when she left for church, and then when she came back from running her errands.

She was the exact opposite of the rest of them. When every one else was nice and polite to him, she was rude and spiteful. She never had a nice word for anyone else in the building but all the things she spoke to him were worse still. She complained about everything and managed to find a way to blame him for everything that was wrong with her day. If he failed to hail a cab for her in time she would blame him. If it had snowed the night before and the building maintenance had failed to shovel properly, it was his fault, and he would be told that he should have taken care of it.

She was the only reason he had to hate his job. He had wished that she would just hurry up and kick the bucket already. She had to be in her eighties or nineties and she certainly couldn’t be any younger than that. She had lived enough of a life of making people and it wasn’t like there was going to be anyone who missed her.

He knew that he was not the only one who had problems with the woman. He had heard whispers amongst the tenants that she was a trouble maker for most people as she complained to the property manager about the other tenants, and had even called the police several times on some. He had seen her make some of the children cry with her sharp tongue. Even the building maintenance disliked her.

Today was Sunday, and going to be different. She was not going to be coming down. They were all going to be rid of her and her crankiness. She was not going to darken another person’s day ever again.

A week ago had been the final straw. She had almost growled at one of the tenants daughter for having been laughing at her mother too loudly for the old woman. That night there had been a small meeting of men. They had all talked of how to get the old witch to back off. No one had come up with something that another had not already tried. In the end they all decided it would just be best if she left.

And they all knew that she was far too well off and too in control of her faculties to be convinced to leave. There was no way for them to put her in an old aged home. Then there was the fact that no one had ever seen any family or visitors of any sort come and go into the building for her at least. So there was no one there who would be able to help them talk her into leaving. No the only way for them to get her out was for her to die. Then they would be free of her forever. It had been settled. He was the one to take care of it.

And he had obliged.

It was Sunday and the sun was just starting to rise. Today was going to be different.

The Client ~ Flash Fiction Friday

The man was guilty. There was no doubt about it in her mind. She knew her client had done what the prosecutors said he had done. The look in her client’s eyes had told her all she had needed to know when she had asked the question of him on their first meeting.

She shivered as she thought back to the conversation. It had been in one of the city jail’s bleak interview rooms. Her client was an older man, in his mid fifties with charcoal grey hair and piercing blue eyes. He had been waiting for at the small table in the middle of the room. His hands were cuffed and chained to the table top. His legs were in irons and chained to the floor.

“So are you guilty?” She had asked and watched his reaction. She always made it a habit to ask her clients of their guilt or innocence. It managed to give her a starting ground on which to build their defense. They all thought they were not guilty and each and every one of them that she had met over the years had told her the same thing. They were not guilty.

To some of her client’s credit there were some who were definitely not guilty of the crimes that they had been accused of. They had simply been caught up in something that they had no business being involved in, in the first place. Then there were of course the guilty ones, who just didn’t want to admit that they were indeed guilty of the crimes charged to them. And there were more still whose guilt was unknown. Those were the hardest of cases for her.

Some would think that they wouldn’t be as hard, but they are. Not knowing was worse than knowing one way or the other.

He had said nothing when she had asked him. He had simply sat there smiling at her.

She then had begun to read to him the charges. As she had she had watched from the corner of her eye to see his reaction.

What she had seen then had made her stomach turn.

With every count he had licked his lips. At every victims name he had grinned. His eyes were alive and sparkling with a gleam that could only be described as evil. He however said nothing which only served to make his reaction more vile.

It was as if he was enjoying the obvious fruits of his labour.

She had had to force herself to keep reading the charges as it was what was customary and expected. There was well over one hundred charges, and over fifty victims. Those were the ones that they had found.

How she was going to be able to defend a man such as this she had no idea. She hated her bosses at the firm for having put her in such a position. But she had drawn the short straw on this one and had been sent to deal with the man before her.

Once they were done reading out the charges they would have to go over each and every one of them and he was going to have to explain.

She found the room hot as she continued to read. She felt the man’s hot gaze on her as she bent over the pages. She did not want to look up. She did not want to see the look on his face as he stared at her.

She came to the last name on the list and that’s when he finally spoke for the first time since she had sat down.

“Wait.” His voice was as smooth as silk. Low and sultry.

If she had been anywhere else she would have thought it was sexy. But here it only served to make her skin crawl.

“Yes?” She said finally looking up at him again.

“That last one? That was not mine.” He said and he smiled at her.