Fingers – A 100 Word Story

storytime.pngYup, it’s flash fiction time again!

As always, this is based around Laurence Simon’s weekly challenge for the 100 word-stories podcast. It’s a great exercise for writers – writing a good drabble is a lot harder than it appears, but is still a "small" task so you can get around that idea of it being too much work. And then you get a random (and often bizarre) writing prompt to shoehorn you out of writer’s block! Go read the rules for the Weekly Challenge and participate! Heck, Chris the Nuclear Kid does when he remembers to (and I can drag him away from video games)!

The player below should have the audio for this week; if it doesn’t, you can find the audio here to download. You can also read and hear the rest of the entries at the 100 Word Stories podcast site!

Implements of torture"They don’t sound like twigs," I say, snapping its pinkie. "don’t you agree?"

The sociopath screams, and for a moment I think I made a mistake. But it’s charming and superficial – one of them. No conscience. No empathy. No remorse.

"Brian," it shrieks, "let me -"

I silence it with a smack to the mouth.

"They say," I tell it as I apply the brand, sizzling flesh, "torturing a person can make you a sociopath. Without empathy. Without feelings."

I lean close as the light goes out of its eyes. "So tell me, when do the emotions leave?"