Fiction

Karma’s Bite

This story is (weirdly) for a friend, (kind of) by request. I was writing it with two prompts: the one included below, and one conveyed through a private conversation with my friend about a frustrating relationship. I promised a literary assassination, and here it is.

Granted, it’s brief. Blame the prompt. And me, but only a little. I started a much longer revenge tale yesterday, but it just wasn’t working. One, it had too many details about the subject. If you ever decide to include someone you actually know in a story, be careful with those details. Nothing about the fictional character should easily point to the actual person. But, two, it was too clunky. It was headed in the same direction as the much shorter story below, but its longer, meandering path simply wasn’t as effective.

As for the idea of using fiction for revenge, I think that’s just fine. I use fiction as a form of therapy on a regular basis. Sometimes that includes blasting the people, ideas and things I hate. Sometimes it doesn’t. I don’t particularly want to be a hateful person, myself, so I don’t devote a lot of time and thought to brooding. But when I find I can’t easily let go of ill feelings, yes, I will butcher you in fiction. Quite literally.

Slayed, slayed and filleted.

Think of it as the more creative alternative to writing an angry letter that you never send. I recommend it. It’s cathartic.

On to the prompt, once again courtesy of The Prediction:

100 words maximum, excluding the title, of flash fiction or poetry using all of the three words above (‘quilt’,  ‘grumble’ and ‘tug’) in the genres of horror, fantasy or science fiction.

karma’s bite

She tugs the skin, trying to make the edges meet. They don’t, but it doesn’t matter. She has nothing to use for stitches, and her leg would look like a quilt if she did.

What the fuck is a fucking Komodo dragon doing in the neighbor’s fucking yard?

She can hear it moving. She holds her breath, but her stomach grumbles. Loudly.

I’m going to die hungry and alone, she thinks.

The giant lizard rounds the corner, and she sees it for what it is. Not a huge ass carnivorous reptile, but karma. And karma has a nasty bite.