The elevator doors opened, creaking.
Margaret entered and gestured to her sweater with a misshapen Christmas tree in goose-turd green. ‘What do you think?’
‘Very festive.’
‘You don’t like it?’
‘Not particularly, sorry.’
The elevator jolted to a stop. Margaret stormed out.
My phone buzzed. Horoscope (Scorpio): Today, your honesty will be appreciated.
Afterword
The mission was to write a story of exactly 53 words about ‘nonsense’.
A few ideas rose to the surface. Of made up words and of rhymes (think, Dr. Seuss). Of a drunk person explaining something complicated. Of silly street signs and warning labels on products (e.g., a fish hook packet saying, “Harmful if swallowed”).
But, a horoscope prediction, awkward elevator encounter and a bit of Christmas inspiration (it was the season) fell together into the above flash fiction piece.
Image attribution: thanks to Mahad Aamir on Unsplash.