One Short Of A Pair

a flash fiction piece with metaphorical meaning- thoughts welcome :)

 

One Short Of A Pair

I was missing a slipper yesterday. It was damn annoying Wondering around like a fool, one foot feels like it's on carpet, and the other could get splinters on this s****y wooden floor. I searched everywhere- under the bed, wardrobe, chair, the living room, the kitchen, I even checked outside for Gods sake. I sat in the living room chair in a huff. Stupid things so old and saggy I'm surprised it didn't swallow me. That damn barefoot was mocking me- sat totally exposed on the coffee table- I turned and looked around briefly, just incase I'd missed it. Mum turned the radio on- does it every time I sit down to watch the sodding telly. She came through looking horrified, to tell me “that Loretta girl” I used to know died in some car bombing in London. I can't remember when the last one was, either two or three days ago. Shows how much that woman knows, she was called Lorraine not Loretta and she was only in my maths class. I shrugged and asked her if she'd seen my other slipper. The blue one obviously, those red ones you gave me are disgusting. Honestly. One decent programme came on and Mums started crying. What now you silly woman, what now?! “Cousin Alan died in the London car bombings... he was out with his Mum as well, oh God is she dead to?!” Yeah I bet she is- and Nanna and Aunty Lou to. I tend to let it go now. What else is on the news? Oh bugger that, it's all bombs and war. I wonder where that other b*****d slipper's gone?

Reviews

[Legion]

You and I should work together on something sometimes. We think alike. Check out my short story "A Glimpse Into the Tail End of an Argument and the Big Bang Theory". I think you'll understand it very well. Now, about your story. This was brilliantly done in such a weird way. Takes one out of the bigger scheme of things into a simplier life and how they are affected (or disaffected in this case) and our own problems we think are so important when they are nothing. Kudos and I am duly impressed.

[Nicole Renee]

Hmm, this is very interesting. I never head of a flash back writing before, so it was new to me to see this. But I could never do a flash back piece because I tend to get into depth with things too much. Lol. Good piece. :]

-Nicole Renee

[bluessadmood]

oh yes ,we became so detached from this world and completely absorbed by our own affairs ,i really can not see how people can ignore such brutalities and cruelties that are going on in this world around us .
You know some days here there are suicidal bombings that take a toll of lives mounting to sometimes 400 innocent souls and at least three times that number ,only through last week ,3 car bombing occured in my town mosul,each took toll of some 40 people ,and you hear the news it says everything in iraq is going well and fine, and at last things stabilized,i could almost feel my heart cut and bleeding at such cruel words as if those people were just animals and not fit to live ,in one accident 7 children were vapourized into smoke they were having ice cream on the curb right near their home,7 children only the mother and father remained ,the mother came the next morning to collect some of the hands and parts of legs of her children ,the oldest is 2 y old,thank you

[Raef C. Boylan]

Very good contrast between trivial issues and mortality. I think it's either a commentary on the new self-absorbed generation, or on how we become desensitized to 'tragedy' when it occurs daily.
Bleak future you've painted here.
Thanks for sharing it.

p.s.
"Wondering around like a fool" [Wandering?]
"oh God is she dead to" [too]

[Samuel Dickens]

Well, little things certainly can throw one off, can't they? The demon dog stole one of my slippers the other day, and I walked around like I had a flat tire for hours. Couldn't write a thing. A profound little story, Gertrude. Sam