Flash fiction!
The
Author banged his hand on his desk. “Why can’t I write anything good!” He
ripped out a page of his book, crumpled it up and threw it in the trash.
“Maybe
it is because your stories aren’t interesting!”, a voice said from behind The
Author.
The
Author jumped in surprise. “Who are you?”
“I
am Nicholas, your character… The villain of your story? And I am your least
interesting character by far!”
“How,
what, why?” The Author stood, squinting at the young man in front of him.
“I
am here to make your stories better, and for another reason.”
“What
is that?” The Author asked.
“I
want to take revenge!” Nicholas replied while he unsheathed his sword.
“Oh
no!” The Author stepped back in surprise.
“Oh
yes David. Thou art my creator but thou art not my father.”
“What
does that even mean?” The Author hid behind his chair.
“You
tell me, you wrote it,” Nicholas strode towards The Author, sword raised.
The
Author bolted out of his office, bumping into many unhappy colleagues. He
bounded down the busy stairs. “Excuse me! Pardon me! Coming through!”
“Come
back and fight David!” Nicholas was on his tail!
“Stop
running this instant!” David’s boss ordered.
“Sorry
sir, but there is a slight problem, and I will not be able to do as you have
just ordered!” He ran past his boss and out the front door. The street was
quiet as usual. He turned to the left and ran down the street. His house was
blocks away from here, so he ran for dear life.
“You
are less fit than the characters you write about!” Nicholas was right behind
him now. He grabbed his checkered shirt and pulled him to the ground.
“Why
are you so upset with me?” The Author asked, trying to catch his breath.
“You
took my family! You took my home! You caused me more pain than anyone else! And
now you will pay!” He raised his sword again.
“Watch
out or you will be destroyed by…” Dave searched his pockets, “this!” he yelled
as he pulled out his pen.
“A
pen?” Nicholas lowered his sword and laughed. “You think you can destroy me
with a writing tool?”
“I
have this too!” And he pulled out a piece of scrap paper.
“Paper?
What are you going to do? Give me a paper cut?”
He
wrote something on the piece of paper and Nicholas’s sword vanished.
“How
are you doing that!”
“I
am a writer, that’s what I do!” He wrote something else on the paper, and
Nicholas became short.
“Stop
that!” Nicholas tried to grab the pen from his hand, but he suddenly became a
giant and Nicholas could not reach the pen.
“Why
are you so big?”
“I
am not big; however, you are small!”
Nicholas
looked down; he was smaller than half a ruler. “How dare you!”
“Sorry
but that’s how it works! If you hated that you are going to hate this!” The
Author wrote something down.
Nicholas
started dancing. “NO!”
“I
have one more surprise!” He wrote more things on the piece of paper.
Nicholas
started dancing the Macarena. “You are a monster!” he exclaimed.
“You
are the one who tried to kill me!”
“Fair
point,” Nicholas kept dancing while he roared with laughter at him.
“Okay,
I will make a deal with you. If you promise not to hurt me, I will let you grow
big and stop dancing. But then you must tell me how to make my stories better,
deal?”
“Deal!
Anything to stop this torture!”
The
Author wrote on his paper and Nicholas grew large again and stopped dancing.
“Thank
you,” Nicholas replied.
“Now
come along we have work to do!” The Author started back for his office,
Nicholas right behind him. They strode into his office and sat down. “Now, tell
me what my story needs.”
“It
needs a lot of things! But the main thing is more humor, it is way too serious;
kids would get bored. Secondly, you need more action, less sadness, and more
adventure! And better characters, these are terrible! Your good guys are more
villainous than me!”
“You
have a good point.”
“Of
course, I do!”
“Boring
you say?”
“That
I do.”
The
Author wrote something down on his papers. “There, better?”
“Much
better!”
“Now
my main characters are better. You are more villainous, there is more action
and adventure!”
“How
did you do that so fast?” Nicholas asked as he read through the story.
“A
pen is a very powerful instrument. It is much more dangerous than any sword or
weapon!”
“Why?”
“A
pen, as you have seen, can cause many hilarious, dangerous, and fun
adventures.”
“Yes,
I see now that a pen, as well as words, are much more dangerous than any
weapon.”
“Now
my job is done.” Nicholas said with a satisfied sigh. With a glint in his eyes,
he said “Now return me to my home before I kill you.”
The
Author quickly wrote down a simple sentence and Nicholas shrunk and disappeared
inside the papers.
“Boss,
I have finished my story!” David called.
David’s
boss came storming into his office. “This better be good, the previous ones
were terrible!”
“I
assure you, it is,” David handed his boss the papers.
His boss’s face lit up. “This is brilliant! It
must be published as soon as possible!”
