I wrote a little flash fiction piece this afternoon as a writing exercise to get the creative juices flowing. This one took a bit of a dark turn, but it was a lot of fun to write. Basically flash fiction is something where you have a picture and/or a challenge for you to write about.
Here is my picture
And here is the challenge: Defying Stereotypes: Take two typically stereotypical characters and make them your own in 500 words or less.
And here is my story (entirely unedited or read by me so don't get judgy)
The technician walked into the room. A young woman with pale
hair and skin sat with her chin down on her chest that lifted and sank softly with calm even breaths. You wouldn’t know it by looking at her—the
destruction she caused. One had to be removed, but which would the doctor
choose?
Two minds waged a war for domination inside of the petite
frame. Two voices struggled to be heard without making a sound. One dress, one
body, and one chance to choose the correct personality before both were lost
forever. The Hyde to the other’s Jekyll lurked beneath the passive exterior.
There could be only one though two choices remained.
The woman’s head snapped up when the doctor entered the room
as if she had known not to bother with the technician. Her hooded, dull eyes
looked straight through him to something beyond before her head jerked to the
right.
“Help me. I can’t fight her any longer.”
Her head whipped to the left. “I was here first. She is the
abomination.”
“Please,” she begged to the right. “Please help.”
“Don’t listen.” The woman snapped back to the left. “She
speaks only lies.”
The woman looked right through the young technician with
bright, glossy eyes. “Why is she doing this to me? Please you must help me.”
The technician took a step toward the patient.
“Do not approach the subject,” the doctor said his voice
flat and impersonal.
The technician stayed his feet.
The woman’s head rolled to the left. “Destroy her.”
“Please, please help.” She looked down and to the left her
lower lip quivering.
“I have seen enough,” the doctor stated, nodding to the
technician.
The young man approached her cautiously, though she was
restrained, with his cart. She had murdered six people, tore their bodies apart
like a wild beast. The leather straps at her thin, pale arms didn’t give him
comfort. One by one he place the cold, gooey electrodes on her. She didn’t
struggle or speak though her eyes stoically followed his movements. He oh so
carefully placed the bite guard in her mouth. When he finished he backed away
as far as the cords would allow. The doctor stepped closer.
“I know which one of you are,” he said squatting down in
front of her.
Those dark eyes rose to meet his. She blinked and head
tilted to the right then it tipped to the left. He gave the signal to the technician
and electricity coursed through her body, making her muscles strain and snap
and her teeth clench against the guard. His fingers hovered over the button
waiting for the single to stop, but the doctor didn’t give it. He shifted and
chewed on his lip. His fingers twitched over the button. They’d kill her if
they didn’t stop soon.
“Now,” the doctor said.
He flipped the machine off and the woman went limp in the
chair. The doctor waited a couple beats before he moved closer and undid the
leather straps at her arms, she slumped in the chair. One by one her removed
the electrodes then retrieved the mouth guard as well.
Her eyes snapped open and her teeth sank deep before she
tore them away and spit out a hunk of flesh. The doctor’s scream gurgled in his
throat as his useless hand pawed at the spraying wound.
The woman stood, knocking the doctor out of the way, turning
toward the technician. Her white dress and deathly pale skin spatter with blood
as her black eyes found him. The doctor had chosen the wrong.
A slow crimson smile spread on her face. “I want to tell you
a secret.”
The technician blinked.
“There is no Dr. Jekyll.”
His screams echoed down the empty hallways.
-Liz