Flash Fiction

SoCS — The Perfectionist

Fandango27 Comments

Wesley was a perfectionist. He took pride in making sure everything he did was done to the highest standard. Whether it was his work, his hobbies, or even his relationships, he wanted everything to meet his expectations perfectly.

In all of his activities, Wesley put in everything he had, always striving to do better. People who met him were always impressed by the level of dedication he had towards perfectionism.

Despite his endless drive and motivation, he often felt overwhelmed by the pressure he put on himself to do everything to perfection. This caused most of his interpersonal relationships to suffer. When his girlfriend told him she could no longer take his obsession with perfectionism and left him, Wesley decided that the price he was paying for perfection was too high.

He accepted that he could let go of his need to always be perfect in every facet of his life, and made a conscious decision to accept his own imperfections, and equally as important, those in others.

Wesley soon discovered that, as he allowed himself to be more forgiving and understanding of his mistakes, he was able to enjoy life more and to focus on the positive aspects of his accomplishments. He was also able to build better and more meaningful relationships as he learned to accept himself, flaws and all.

He learned that perfection doesn’t have to be the goal. He accepted that it is okay to make mistakes and that we all have our own unique strengths and weaknesses. The important thing, Wesley realized, is to find a balance between striving for perfection and recognizing our own human imperfections.

Written for Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt, where Linda has given us the word “perfection.”

I have a confession to make. I am still struggling in my recovery from a fractured hip to maintain the energy to write posts in response to prompts. So I opened up an app on my iPhone called ChatAI. It leverages an artificial intelligence technology called ChatGPT. I instructed the ChatAI app to “Write a story about a perfectionist.” This post is the result. Could you tell as you were reading it that it was written by a chatbot?

#WDYS — Hollow Man

Fandango21 Comments

Bit by bit, I sold myself to the lure of success.
I wanted to be king of the hill,
To reap the rewards of power and wealth.
So I sacrificed who I am to reach the pinnacle.
And when I got there,
Standing all alone
Looking back at the devastation I left in my wake,
I realized that there was little left of me.
Just the hull of a man,
Hollowed out by my pursuit of material things,
At the expense of my humanity.
Everyone can see right through me now
And recognize that there is nothing left inside
Worth saving.

Written for Sadje’s What Do You See prompt. Photo credit: Not All There – The Enigmatic Sculptures of Bruno Catalano.

The Term Paper

Fandango13 Comments

There’s a limit to how much a person can take
I hadn’t really considered what was at stake

I thought I’d be able to carry out a diabolic plan
But I ultimately realized that I had to take a stand

I just wasn’t ready to use an AI-generated content app
For my paper because it would surely turn out to be crap

I went to my room, smoked a joint, and got high
Thought about how to give a reversal a try

I am feeling vindicated for doing what is right
Now I just have to figure out for my paper what to write

Written for these daily prompts: Ragtag Daily Prompt (limit), Your Daily Word Prompt (diabolic), The Daily Spur (ready), Word of the Day Challenge (room), My Vivid Blog (high), JusJoJan (reversal), and Fandango’s One Word Challenge (vindicated).

And before you ask, as bad as this poem is, it was actually written by me, not by a chatbot.

We Need To Talk

Fandango8 Comments

Patrick’s life was shattered. After working for the company for almost thirty years, he just got laid off. He felt completely lost and overwhelmed and had no idea what to do next. He tried to tell himself that it was okay to feel that way under the circumstances, but he also knew he couldn’t stay in this state of mind for too long. He just needed to take the time to pause, reflect, and decide what to do next.

But that was likely going to be a daunting task. Trying to figure out, with all of the staff reductions going on in the tech industry, how a 55-year-old man could find something suitable boggled his mind. He had horrible visions of having to resort to taking a job as a greeter at Walmart and that made him feel sick to his stomach.

Even worse, how was he going to break the news to his wife? She would be disappointed and maybe even worried, but he was pretty sure she would also be sympathetic. But not so much his mother-in-law, who had moved in with them when her husband passed away last year. He could just hear her witch-like cackle as she once again reminded her daughter, “I told you that you should never have married him. He’s such a loser.”

“Listen,” Patrick said to his wife, Alicia, when he called her from the car after he left the building, “We need to talk about something that happened at work, but I don’t want your mother to be a part of that discussion. Is there something you can do to keep her distracted when you and I talk?”

“I just saw something on Twitter about massive layoffs at your company,” Alicia said. “Is that what you need to talk with me, about? If it is, don’t worry, we’ll get through this, even if I have to pawn my diamond engagement ring and some other jewelry to make ends meet. And yes, I’ll handle my mother. She’s the last thing you need to be concerned about right now. I love you, Patrick. We’ll manage.”

Written for these daily prompts: Fandango’s One Word Challenge (shattered), The Daily Spur (decide), Ragtag Daily Prompt (boggle), Your Daily Word Prompt (cackle), Word of the Day Challenge (distracted), and My Vivid Blog (diamond).

A Fantasy Story

Fandango39 Comments

Sarah had a strange premonition. She felt like something was about to happen, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. She decided to take a walk into town to clear her head. As she walked, she found herself in a dream-like state and she couldn’t shake the strange feeling.

Suddenly, Sarah heard a sound coming from a nearby record store that drew her to it. She walked in and saw a stack of old vinyl records. She was drawn to one in particular, and when she picked it up, she felt a strange energy emanating from it.

Sarah bought the record, took it home, and put it on her record player. As the music began to play, she felt herself slipping into a trance. She felt like she was being taken somewhere else, somewhere far away, but decided to close her eyes and go with the flow.

She found herself in a strange place. She was surrounded by a group of people wearing brightly colored clothes and dancing to the music coming from a nearby scud. She realized that she had been transported to a trendy underground club.

Sarah spent the night dancing and having a great time. As the night came to an end, she realized that the premonition she had felt earlier had come true. She had been taken to a place where she could be herself and have fun.

When Sarah opened her eyes she found herself in her bed wearing a sweatsuit and her favorite pair of socks, and smiled. She knew that she had experienced something special, even though it was just a fantasy vision, and she was grateful for the premonition that had brought her there.

Written for these daily prompts: Fandango’s One Word Challenge (premonition), My Vivid Blog (vinyl), The Daily Spur (trance), Your Daily Word Prompt (scud), Word of the Day Challenge (trendy), and Ragtag Daily Prompt (sock).

PLEASE READ THIS:

I have a confession to make. I did not write this post. I’ve been reading a little about ChatGPT, AI (artificial intelligence) writing apps, and I was curious if they were any good. I downloaded an app called Genie to my iPhone. Genie is an OpenAl ChatGPT powered by GPT-3. I opened up the app and typed “Write a story with the words premonition, trance, vinyl, scud, sock, and trendy.” This post is what Genie came up with. I’d be interested to hear your comments about this AI-generated post.