From the void came a wind.
It blew in all directions.
Lord Foster licked his finger and held it to the wind.
He sensed… something…
There. There it was.
The void.
And he walked into the void.
His manservant Drake watched as Lord Foster vanished into the darkness.
He didn’t follow. Foster had told him to wait.
So, he waited.
For hours. Days.
Before he ran out of food or water, he ran out of patience.
And he’d only been hired for the week.
He yawned, picked up his folding chair, and went back to the car.
And drove off.
Danny will dance again
It’s been three years since Danny last danced.
He’s sitting there, on the edge of the dance floor, watching all the dancers dancing.
But day after day, he’ll watch, and then get up and go home.
Without dancing.
The next day, he’s back there at the edge of the dance floor, sitting.
And watching.
Sometimes, he smokes a cigarette.
Other times, he pulls out his phone and calls someone.
Once, a dancer walked up to Danny and asked him to dance.
He shook his head and smiled.
Maybe one day, he’ll dance again.
Or maybe he won’t. Nobody really knows.
Snowball fight
Looking at all the sports at the winter Olympics and all the different competitions with teams and individual achievements, I wonder if they just wanna have a big snowball fight. I mean, it’s winter, you have a bunch of kids, there’s some rivalries, so why not snowball fight? You don’t have to keep score, you don’t need referees and you don’t need rules. And all the equipment you need is a good hat, a good jacket, good boots and snow pants, and really good gloves that keep your hands warm while letting you get a good grip on the snow
Three car washes
I like to get a car wash after I go to the beach.
It’s really to vacuum the sand up from my floormats, even though I wrap my shoes in a towel and put on slippers to avoid tracking sand in my car.
I could do that at home with a shopvac or my dustbuster, but whatever.
Yesterday, I had three car washes.
First time around, the attendant told me the soap didn’t quite dispense, go back around.
Then the vacuum system was offline, so he sent me to their other location.
For a third car wash. And a vacuum.
Box it up
At the end of every contract, they mail out a FedEx label to put on a box to send their laptop back, and sometimes I like to put a little something extra in there like some candy or whatever promotional material they’ve sent me or in the rare cases they’ve acknowledged my existence, the awards were branded hat, or bottle or whatever or tote bag. Especially if it’s a shirt or some other clothing that acts as an advertisement. I seal it all up, slap the label on, and head to the Fedex store to start the next career chapter.
Weekly Challenge #1037 – Dear everyone
- Lewie
- Lisa
- Lizzie
- Richard
- Tom
- Serendipidy
- Norval Joe
- Planet Z
The next topic is The noisiest place in the universe.
LEWIE
Dear Everyone,
Except for the guy in the back, in the yellow shirt.
Being of sound body and mind, I hereby declare that you are all immorally dressed. Nobody will receive anything of mine. Except maybe Francis. I haven’t decided yet. I leave it up to the guy in the yellow shirt.
Everyone looked. Nobody was present.
“Wasn’t Uncle Joe colorblind?” Francis asked.
“No.”
“Nancy has a yellow coat!”
“It specifically said, ‘Shirt… and guy.`”
“What’s that even mean?”
A courier stepped in with a package.
He wore an almost yellow shirt.
It was probably the lighting.
“Is Francis here?”
LISA
The Letter
“Dear Everyone.” The letter began.
“By the time you read this I’ll be gone.” For an eight year old he sure was dramatic I
suspected Chat GPT had helped.
We shifted uncomfortably and caught each others eyes. The Mother was inconsolable. The father still hadn’t answered our Calls.
“Don’t try and find me.”
We’d asked if there’d been any arguments, whether he was happy at school. The usual questions but with no explanatory answers.
Then, in he sauntered with a ‘Whaaaaaaat?”
His mother held the letter out asking what it was.
“My homework? To write a serious letter. He smirked.
RICHARD
A girl’s best friend
This wasn’t going well.
We were shopping for an engagement ring, and she was thinking money was no object, whereas I was very much of the opinion that we were on a strict budget, not that I was prepared to tell her that.
“How about one of these” she said, pointing to some large diamonds.
I looked. They were all so dear, every one of them, without exception.
“Aren’t they a bit ostentatious?” I suggested, “Wouldn’t you prefer something less vulgar… understated, yet elegant, just like me?” I smiled.
“Don’t you mean, cheap and tacky, just like you!” She retorted.
LIZZIE
“Dear Everyone, I…” And that was it. The letter was never completed. The police tried to figure it out. Everyone? Who? What statement would follow that lonely “I”? And where was the author of the letter? The police searched the house. They searched around the house. They canvassed the entire neighborhood. They opened emergency phone lines. The tips were worthless. After a month, the police gave up. A year later, a neighbor received a letter saying “I remember now.” No sender address, no fingerprints, no DNA, no clues. Just that one line, written in the unmistakable handwriting of his neighbor.
SERENDIPIDY
Dear everyone,
This is my manifesto.
Now you know something bad is coming. Any time somebody writes something headed, ‘My Manifesto’, it’s always a very bad thing.
You can almost visualise I’m sat alone in front of my computer, surrounded by loaded automatic weapons, combat knives and a stack of home-made pipe bombs.
You’re already making assumptions about my childhood and how I was bullied at school.
It’s all going to turn out very badly, and basically, you saw it coming.
Coming to think of it, I can’t be bothered writing a manifesto. You already know what it contains.
NORVAL JOE
“It’s a long story,” Billbert mumbled. “I’ll let Mandi explain.”
After Linoliamanda had told her story, Sabrina scowled and stepped toward her. Sabrina raised her hand as if to slap Mandi. Instead, she swiped the magnifying glass from Mandi’s hand.
Sabrina looked through the glass at the items on the table. All the arcane objects disappeared, except for two; the locket and a small diary.
“Hmm,” Sabrina grunted and picked up the diary.
She opened it and began to read, “Dear everyone, or at least, those who are left. You have journeyed this far and now you must move on.”
TOM
Mea Culpa
Dear Everyone:
It is with deep sadness I stand before you as the chief architect of this morning’s disaster. I could easily make the case the times justified the action, but someone most fall on the sword. I have drawn that lot. While history may be kinder than you all with pitch forks and the tastes of blood on your lips let me beg one last request. Safe passage for my family to the green zone. May you know a brighter day.
Secretary Dem Orton Thorwell
The letter was pinned to his suit as he turned slowly in the wind.
PLANET Z
They pulled Sally‘s body out of the river. In her pocket was a note that said dear everyone, but after that, it was an illegible smear. The coroner said suicide, case closed. The next day, three more bodies pulled from the river. The same note in their pocket, dear everyone. On the third day a dozen bodies. the corner noticed that it was the same handwriting on the notes. Was it a cult? A serial killer? Police watched the river, but never caught anyone. this morning, they pulled 100 bodies out of the river, and there’s still more out there.
Keep turning left until you’re right
They say hateful things, The Hateful.
They hate anything that they don’t agree with.
“You disagree with us?” they say. “Then we hate you.”
And anyone who disagrees with that, they call haters.
They claim the right to hate whomever they want to.
And if you call the Hateful haters, well, then you’re a hater, too.
They will hate your employer until they take away your job.
They will hate your bank until they take away your money,
They will hate your family until they leave you.
Until… they realize they are haters. And stop.
Then, they become the hated.
The dictator
When the occupying Army caught the dictator, we announced it to the press.
And the press cheered.
People took to the streets and cheered, firing their guns in the air.
Tearing down posters and pulling down statues.
Burning police stations and army bases.
Destroying all of the books in libraries and schools.
Looting stores and banks.
It was absolute chaos.
The interim governor asked the dictator for advice.
“Sound like a you problem, not a me problem,” were his last words.
His supporters in the prison rioted, and they took over the prison.
Finding his body, hanging in his cell.
Dee
It’s been a long time since Dee died.
Her kidneys failed, and she’d been on dialysis, but needed a transplant.
Her family didn’t match, but her brother was a match for someone, and that someone’s brother was a match for her.
So, they arranged an exchange, and the surgeries were a success.
Except, her body rejected her kidney.
I was also a match, but she died before anything could be arranged.
A few years later, I came down with kidney stones.
And those are really painful.
A pain worse than death?
Probably not, but it helps me sleep at night.
The days
So, it’s May.
Mother’s Day came and went…
My father’s birthday coming soon…
Then father’s day… and my mother’s birthday.
Last year, they were making their moves to trap and exploit me.
This year, they’re dead.
All I wanted was to forgive them for everything they did.
But they tricked me… they manipulated my emotions.
They fucking used me.
I still have twitches and a bit of PTSD from it all.
But in the end… it will be okay.
And if I am condemned to Hell for what I did to protect myself, well, I’m sure I’ll see them there.