Day 33 Writing Short Stories

Go Away

You keep making the same mistake again and again. Mind you, the odds are stacked against you. You know that, but you expect better from yourself. You know that the little slips you keep making are costing you more than you think.

“Shit,” you let out, and lean against the wall just in the view of the cameras. You ignore them, knowing that the little time you have still left in the jammer will keep you hidden. But at the same time, you know, there’s not much time left.

You push yourself up and keep moving, knowing that the state police are looking for you. You know where you are going. You have always known. The man named Sticky is your salvation, but it’s a far stretch. You don’t exactly have a good reputation any longer. You know you sold your friends out. But you had to. They need to trust you.

You get to the end of the alley, and you press the doorbell next to the steel door. The buzz of the buzzer feels like the mechanical dogs the cops have screeching. It sends shivers down your spine. You press again, counting the seconds, until the jammer stops working. The little eyeball over the door clicks as it turns to face you.

“It’s me, Sticky,” you let out. The streets flash with neon colors. The words go away, burn into your retinas.

“I know what I did, Sticky, I know, but they are after me, man, please!” You know you sound pathetic. You are pathetic. You keep making the same mistakes, but the odds. It’s all down to the odds, and you were born wrong both in your head and in your circumstances.

You press the buzzer again. The words flash over the street again.

You keep pressing and pressing. You know, once you leave the alley, the cops will get you, and you will be taken to the camps, and they will modify you and your behavior. They make you watch their endless programs, and they beat you until you are broken. They all break. So did your mother and father break. And your sister, too. Sticky knows that. The same happened to his parents.

And the door opens, and you stumble in just when the timer stops.

—
I’m back. The visit from my nephew and his best friend went well. I was surprised that he was willing to spend time with his aunt. We went climbing together. It made me happy to see what kind of adult he is growing into. I have time off next week due to a family visit.

Taking a break from writing made it harder to get back into writing. I think the doubt from earlier is still pressing on me, and I’m not sure what to do with it. But once I got the flow going, it was easy to build on the momentum. The starting was just the hard part with all the questions for the tone, where the story is going, what words to put down, and so on and so on.

Today’s prompt was to write a comic-style dystopia with rebirth in second person. We never got to the rebirth part. But at least the protagonist is flawed.

See you tomorrow!

Thank you for reading! Have a flawless day ❤