Fiction | Writing Prompts | Fantasy

Humans

A speculative fiction short story

Hello! This piece of flash fiction is a response to Monday Mashup writing prompt #13, penned by Jonathon Sawyer. More about that below.

Jack awoke from uneasy dreams. As he sat up, he pondered how long he had been sleeping. It must have been a very long time. He felt… different.

He stood, and hurried to the bathroom mirror. A grizzled, stubbly human face stared back through the pretty novelty mirror adorned with Paris landmarks.

His own face.

All the same, he didn’t feel like himself at all. He growled at the face.

Just then, a noise came from the kitchen, and Jack charged through, howling and woofing. A pigeon was sitting on the sill of the window, which was open just a crack. “Jeepers,” said the pigeon. “What’s with you today, my friend? And where are my toast crusts?”

“I’ll throw a rotten fish at you if you don’t scat, Frank,” snarled Jack. But he calmed when he saw the morning sun shining benignly through, with a blizzard beyond, rapidly cloaking the city in white.

“Snow!” he yelped. He couldn’t wait to stick his face in it, to dig in it, to pee in it…

“Get yourself together, man,” squawked Frank the pigeon. “You’re gonna be late for work. Eat some chow, then you’d better get going.”

Five minutes later, Jack was outside, crouching and sniffing at each lamppost before moving on a few yards further through the soft powder. It made for slow progress.

“I do wonder why you are suddenly acting that way,” said Frank, settling on a bench up ahead, and eying Jack curiously. “Almost like a…”

“Dog! That’s what I feel like,” said Jack, standing up straight, then beginning to pant, his tongue hanging out.

“It could be the work of those gremlin folks,” mused Frank. “Outer space types. One that I spoke to said he was going to give everyone what was in their heart. Sounded like a deal. I mean, it worked for me...”

But Jack was no longer paying attention. He had charged off across the street; an oncoming car narrowly missed him as he ran. On the sidewalk opposite, Jack began sniffing at the rear end of a passerby, who looked initially shocked, and then reciprocated.

“Humans,” cooed Frank.

Thanks for reading! This is a response to the Kraken Lore’s fortnightly challenge, Monday Mashups. Perhaps Molly Freytag or Maaja Wentz would like to have a go, too?

How’d I do?

Main prompt:
You wake as an anthropomorphized version of your Spirit Animal! - 2pts

Constraints:
A rotten fish - 1 pt
A blizzard - 1 pt
The Eiffel Tower ('Paris landmarks') - 1 pt
Outer space - 1 pt
A "helpful" cameo from TKL's (in)famous pigeon, Frank – 2 pts
This score box - 1pt

Literary Device:
Include an example of juxtaposition.
The novelty mirror vs. the grizzled face
OR
The sunlight and the blizzard 
- 5pts

TOTAL: 14

One other little Easter egg you might have spotted: the protagonist woke “from uneasy dreams” in the first sentence. Anyone know what famous story this refers to? Answers in the comments!

Before you go, you can find more of my fiction here, as well as all of my advice and guidance on creative writing right here. Or avoid missing a thing by getting all my posts direct to your inbox! 🧠