I’m a creepy, lonely man!?

Flash Fiction

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by Stan Faryna

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Duran Duran, Come Undone

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I’m a creepy, lonely man!?

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That question rocked his being.

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That’s what she’s thinking about me. Right now.

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He reflected on her words, weighed each one like it was a roll of one ounce, gold eagle coins. And he cringed, at the same time, like he was sucking on a lemon.

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What made him… so creepy?

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Unembarrassed by his reply of silence to her playful comment, she smiled at him. Then she lifted the champagne flute to her lips and took a sip.

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The Nobel Prize meant nothing. Three New York Times Best Sellers didn’t matter in the slightest bit.

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The framed picture of him shaking hands with the President could not redeem him from her seemingly impetuous epithet.

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Is my hair creepy? My smile? The sound of my voice? The folded Doctor Who scarf draped over the railing

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“What do you want to do in five years?” she asked – hoping to get the conversation going again.

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He let a minute pass by in silence. It felt like an hour. To both of them.

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“I’m just going to be me,” he finally answered. ‘Hopefully, more truly me. With the grace of God…”

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He knew it was the wrong answer. It was an honest answer. Courageous. It was even a profound answer.

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It was still the wrong answer if he had wanted to live what truth and beauty would out. In a first kiss…

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Maybe, I should have said, founder of the Facebook killer. Inventor of hyper-intelligent eye wear. The genius that engineers Yahoo’s comeback.

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This was prolly the last time he’d answer a personal ad seeking “a real man, an honest and sincere man, a man of character, passion and wisdom…”

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Because when you are a creepy, lonely man, those things count for nothing.

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Right? 

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“Can I be me too?” she asked softly.

“Can I become undone?”

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“Why not?!” he replied.

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She gave a big sigh of relief, stood up and slipped off her dress.

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Then she unzipped her shoulders and her six wings slowly unfolded to their full, silvery magnificence.
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If you enjoyed this flash fiction, you may enjoy my novella, F.A.B. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071S75DWB

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Note: My attempts at flash fiction are mostly inspired by John Magnet Bell of Start Your Novel.

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Stan Faryna
23 July 2013
Fairfax, Virginia

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