Congrats to Chris James, the readers’ choice in this week’s Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Challenge.
The winning entry is recognized with a special feature here today and a place in our collection of winners which will be published as an e-book at year end.
Without further ado, here’s the winning story:
The Adventures of the Cute Assistant
by Chris James
Pish yapped and scampered off over the rough grass. Sure enough, the woman followed.
She shouted: “What is it?”
After some distance, he indicated to her with a yelp. She turned to see a flash of lightning touch the tree they’d just run from. It cracked, split, and fell.
The woman looked back at Pish in amazement. “How did you know?”
Pish wanted to tell her, but that wasn’t his job. For hundreds of millennia and through innumerable hosts, his job had been to observe and teach. His line manager said he was wasting his time. Humans still had too far to evolve, and there were thousands of other planets with species which showed much better prospects. But Pish preferred Earth, and anyway his line manager was light years away.
Large, cold raindrops fell from the leaden sky, so Pish and the woman hurriedly took cover under a mature fir. She put her camera away, grabbed Pish’s head in her hands and cried: “I love you so much!”
Pish gave her a wide-eyed look and licked her face, so the love she gave him would go straight back to her. That was his job: showing lesser-evolved species that love is the most powerful force in the universe.
He knew he’d have to leave her soon enough, move to a different host, and teach another human. But while they were together, they had love. He’d share her joy, ease her pain, and protect her from lightning strikes she couldn’t see coming.
Congrats, Chris. Love wins out!
Thank you, Melissa!
What a beautiful story. Well done, Chris, and congratulations. 🙂
Thank you, Chris – Mr. Pish and I appreciate this very much. 🙂
A lovely story and a lovely tribute. Well done!
Good one, Chris. 🙂
Aww, that got me a little teary. Well done, and congratulations!
Thanks everyone for your kind comments, they’re much appreciated. I want to give a hat-tip to Melissa, as it was her first entry which inspired me last weekend.