My entry in the latest round of the Flash! Friday weekly contest. The photo below was the prompt and you had to include surgery in some fashion. 160 word max as usual. My story received an Honorable Mention this week and with so many amazing stories entered, I’m rather ecstatic with that result. You can the the judge’s comments on all the winners here.
Photo by Boston Public Library
He sat in a chair in front of a lighted mirror and stared at his reflection before his transformation into a nobody. He had his father’s mud-colored eyes and his receding hairline. They had the same blotchy skin and crooked nose. A shared face and a surname tethered them, but they weren’t equals.
Benny deftly smeared the white makeup on his cheeks. He was groomed to become his dad: An unethical tyrant, a cultured reptile, a predator in a hand-tailored suit.
He craved none of that.
A father that chased the dime instead of playing catch in the yard. A father clinking glasses at the clubhouse while he struggled with his homework. A father that loathed clowns.
Benny wedged the purple wig on his head and popped on his red nose.
“Alex is out of surgery, we’re heading over soon. You about ready?” his boss asked.
“Almost done.”
He blasted his horn at the revealing mirror. “I’m not you.”
Wisp of Smoke 