Writing Resources from Fifteen Minutes of Fiction

A Matter of Choice

Ouch. I haven't felt this utterly debilitated in years. It seems someone must have taken a sledgehammer to my frontal lobe when I wasn't paying attention. I shall have to become more diligent, when I feel better.

Perhaps this same sprite of harm is also responsible for these two bottles on the table in front of me. What kind of trickery is this? Two bottles, small and innocuous looking, and each is labeled with one single word: "cure." The liquid in one is pale pink in color, and the other is a minty green. I feel a bit like Alice in Wonderland. Though there exists no simple directive of "drink me," each bottle may as well be saying exactly that. Which shall make me grow larger, and which smaller? Shall I drink them both and see?

However, I am not in the mood for adventures. I really just want to get rid of this blasted headache. Perhaps I feel more like Vizzini in The Princess Bride. Two cups of wine - which one contains the deadly iocane powder? I must choose. But only a great fool would reach for what he has been given. Oh dear. I've been given both.

Minty green. Well, that sounds nice. Maybe nicer for a stomachache, but curative, nonetheless. Pink, well, that reminds me of Pepto, though it is a lighter shade so it can't be that. And yet, pink is rather calming and soothing. And the minty green may not actually be mint. I'm just making that up because I enjoy descriptive colors. Or because I work in marketing.

All right then. I am not in the mood for sensual stimulation, but it appears I must make use of my other senses besides simply sight. I will grasp both of the bottles, and shake them a little, and swirl the liquid around. And all that I find from that little exercise is that they feel to be the same weight, and there appears to be no difference in the consistency of either one. No apparent odor, either. Oh goodness, gracious, does this kitchen light really need to be on so brightly?

Well, enough of trivialities. It appears I must make a choice. And it appears that it must be based on nothing more than how the colors strike my fancy. How unscientific. Very well, I will try them both. I will take both bottles, and switch them back and forth in my hands without looking, and then I will pick one. And that is the one I will drink.

Aha! Pink. I did so want it to be green. Best of three? Oh, nevermind. I'll just try it a little first. Then I'll try the pink one. I wonder what it will taste like. Hmmmmm... that's not minty at all. In fact, it tastes rather like------

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