Hello! It’s Friday and time for another short snippet of fiction. This week has been… a lot. You know how they say “when it rains, it pours?” as a euphemism for things going all good or all bad? Yeah. It sucks. Just everything. But never fear! I wrote a happy, cheerful microflash of only 246 words.
*Checks Notes* Oh. Oh, no. It’s… kinda not happy. Or cheerful. It is, however, microflash! That’s gotta count for something, right?
Anyway, the photo came courtesy of a FB group I’m in and included the prompt of “What\’s going on at this dock? Standard loading and unloading, organized crime, you tell me!” I’d played with a lot of ideas over the last few days, but this one kinda flowed, so it’s what you get. Enjoy!
If anyone else wants to play along, feel free to paste yours in the comments below, link to your own site, or on my Facebook page.
The Hunter
She peered over the retaining wall and smiled at the lights and the noise and the people. A great metal beast sank its talons into the sand. Its claws gripped the metal boxes off the ships and stacked them onto massive, wheeled serpents. Each creak and groan hurt her sensitive ears and echoed through the water. A perfect day for hunting.
A shallow-bottomed boat disgorged its passengers onto the pier. Tourists. Her smile grew. Unlike the locals, the tour groups paid attention to everything. Unfortunate when they pointed their bits of plastic and metal at the sea and captured a vivid blue fin rising from a feminine back or an amethyst fluke too large for any fish capable of surviving in the bay. Fortunate for a hunter seeking a meal for her family pod.
She swam closer. The first group huddled together like the prey they were and scurried onto dry land. The next had young, a small female and unknown infant. She was a hunter, not a monster. Besides, they were barely a snack and not at all worth the hassle of taking them to her home.
There! A large male had wandered away from the group distracted by the yellow paper in his hands. She began her song in a whisper, a coaxing promise of pleasure and joy beyond his imagination, until he stood on the very edge of the pier. Smiling, she rose from the water and held out her arms.
He jumped.