Tell It Again

A missing part of an ancient myth

“Tell it again,” the Minotaur said. “I’ve told it six times,” the boy said. “Do you want to live?” the Minotaur whispered. The boy licked his lips and began again. “Once upon a time, there was a boy who lived in a place with long straight hallways where he could always see where he was going.” “And the parents.” “And both of his parents were human, one man, one woman. And they loved him very much, and they came to see him everyday, and sometimes they touched him.” The Minotaur sat motionless in the moonlight for a long time, as still as the stones in the tall and twisting walls around him. Then his breath chuffed involuntarily into the darkness. “Tell it again,” the Minotaur said. “And this time, make me believe it.”

THE END

This story tied for first place in the Annual Ultra-Short Contest sponsored by UMM’s The Binnacle (2004).

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