Lucy and The Old Man

A short story about chance encounters.

“Good day, young lady.”

Looking up from her book, she looked at him with a puzzled look.

“Yes it is.”

The old man nodded to himself, and then turned to the young woman again.

“You're going to die today.”

This time the woman dropped her book and stared at the man with horror.

“What do you want from me?”

The old man gave her a gentle smile.

“I want nothing from you. And I have nothing to give you, but information.”

The young woman started to get up in a hurry.

“I don't care what kind of information you have. I don't want it.”

The old man sat back with the same gentle smile.

“Your name is Lucy Arden, you were born in Little Rock, Arkansas. Your mother is a born again Christian, and your father is a recovering alcoholic.”

The young woman stopped and blinked for a second.

“Are you stalking me? How do you know that about my family?”

The old man took off his hat, and sat it down beside him.

“Lucy, when you were eighteen, you ran over your neighbor's dog. You didn't tell anyone, and to this day no one knows.”

The young woman started to walk backwards.

“Their's no way you could have known about that. I've never told anyone that.”

The old man stretched out his hands and placed them down on his knees.

“I know more than you think. Lucy, sit down and talk to me for awhile. We have something to discuss.”

The young woman, turned, and started to run away.

“Leave me alone, you crazy old man!”

The old man watched intently as she ran away. Then he turned towards the other direction and began to count down with his fingers.

“5...4...3...2...1...”

The sound of screeching tires and a crash come from the distance. People can be heard yelling and screaming in horror.

The old man put his hat back on, and gets up to walk away.

“I love it when I do that.”

Reviews

[R. H. Watson]

It's an interesting idea, but I'd like to see what would happen of you cut back on the action beats and let the dialogue carry more of the story. For example, delete the first and last paragraphs so the story starts with, “Good day, young lady.” and ends with, “I love it when I do that.”