Welcome back to another Friday of fiction!

Up for your reading, consuming, devouring, or just perusing pleasure, I have a short piece that I wrote recently for a writing competition. As I didn’t quite cut it on to the longlist, I thought I could potentially post it here.

While I’m not sure that I should be doing so just yet, I won’t add any indication of what writing competition it was just yet. Regardless, this is for sharing to my readers to provide some entertainment and insight into my writing, not the writing competition.

I aim to do a fun post in the near future highlighting some of the writing competitions that I have entered or look forward to entering, and that can perhaps provide you, my dear reader, with a great resource of places to send your writing. Perhaps I will make it known down the line what competition this was for and go into detail regarding how the story came to life. But let’s leave that all for a future day.

For now, I would like to offer you my writing sacrifice: Living Your Life.

I did have a lot of fun writing this piece, and I believe this is a better showcase of my current writing—compared to my previous post, which was rather dated—and I think it lines up well to show this as it also sits within the realms of horror. Or, at least, that’s how I intended it.

This will be a rather short post and a quick read for you as the story is only 500 words long. A nice little nibble to set your reading habit up for the weekend ahead.

Anyway, enough rambling … Here you go. Enjoy!

Living Your Life

Steve Jobs once said, ‘Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life’. Now, if only that was as easily done as said. You see, I have a curious problem with that.

This guy is getting creepier by the second, she thinks, the sound bouncing around like an echo. I reach out to grab her hand, to nestle it within my palm.

‘There will be other people there’—the lie forms easily on my lips—‘so you won’t be alone with a total creep.’ I shoot her my nicest smile, the one I practiced in the mirror.

She cringes in front of me, slowly reaching for her handbag on the empty chair next to us. Ugh, why do I always pick up the weirdos. Again with the bouncing. Her eyes dart around to take in her surroundings, trying to find an easy excuse to leave quickly. Yes. The connection is strong. I don’t have much time left.

The café isn’t too busy right now, but if she makes a fuss, I’m sure the burly dudes she notices in the corner will step in. Can’t have that now, can I?

I ease off—retracting my hands and leaning back in my seat—letting her feel that I’m not too pushy. She can sense it; she knows now that I’ll let her exit.

With a quick snatch of her bag, she stands, her chair scraping slightly as her legs push it back from the table, though it will be hard for anyone else to hear over the whoosh of the espresso machine. Nobody notices the brisk steps she takes towards the door, quickly offering an apology that she forgot she had to be ‘somewhere else’. Of course, I know she has nowhere else to be — I’m focused on her thoughts.

Following her out, I pick up my pace to catch up. The street seems rather empty, though that was by design. It’s a quiet part of town with only a few small businesses and office spaces around.

The panic starts to set in as she realises I’m following her. Don’t worry, sweetheart, that panic will soon be gone. If only thoughts went both ways. Perhaps then I wouldn’t have to start my new life in a state of fear.

An alleyway nears on the right and it will be the perfect one. I scoped it out beforehand. It has some clutter—a large waste bin and some old, abandoned pallets—that will do well to hide us from prying eyes. I quicken my step.

Within a few breaths, I’ve yanked her by the arm, tugging her into the alley with me. She’s too shocked to scream at first, though she doesn’t know why. Her thoughts are getting tastier.

Hidden now, I pull her closer. My form disintegrates into a fine dust that envelopes her as I hear her final internal scream while my consciousness takes over. Yes, she does have a nice life. I’m going to love living it.