Who else is going to be brave and play with monkeys? I swear, they only bite a little... Come back, post your flash fiction, or links to your site in the comment section :)
It was just after lunch when the monkeys attacked.
With 26 seconds left to go, Jane hit the ‘open’ button on the microwave, and removed the tupperware square of reheated pad-thai. The container was bendier than it should have been, holding too much heat, and she wondered if she had grabbed a non-microwave-safe container by mistake. She stirred the noodles briefly, and lifted a forkful to her mouth. Her hand paused, an inch shy, as she caught a whiff of chemicals and burned plastic.
During that moment of hesitation, she heard the screaming. Not the playful yells of excited children, or loud verbal sparring of the capuchins. Those sounds were normal, as the employee break-room was tucked behind the monkey habitat, sharing a wall, actually.
No, this was fear, this was human, and due to the range of sound, there were adults panicking, not just children.
And the monkeys, they were shrieking, the noises so angry and dangerous it seemed baffling to think they could come from such sweet, adorable creatures.
Jane dropped her pad-thai on the counter, too high, too fast, and not carefully enough. It tumbled to the floor and splattered with a gooshy thunk and miniature hailstorm of peanut fragments.
Half-in, half-out of her uniform, Jane zipped up the side, grabbed the purple-felt covered, fiberglass hippo head, rammed it over her bandana and limp ponytail, and clomped out the door as fast as her thick, heavy-foam-covered feet could go.
Anxious, uncertain, and afraid, she had no idea that the monkeys had escaped and were rampaging through the zoo, throwing feces, biting, slapping, and clawing. The only concrete thought in her head was, she’d get fired if she was seen out of character, or without Hortensia Hippo’s head.
EDIT: by the way, this is the second time Hortensia Hippo has shown up on my blog ;)
EDIT: by the way, this is the second time Hortensia Hippo has shown up on my blog ;)
Nice wordplay. Good sense of character. Jane seems to be witty at all the wrong things, which makes her earn a little sympathy without becoming annoying. I'd like to see the actual monkey attack. What a tease... :p
ReplyDelete...the reader's imagined scene would always be way more eccentric/crazy than I could ever write ;)
DeleteMostly, I just want to draw hippos ;) Oh wait, I did that in an older post... :D
cute one! Don't think I'm gonna do one this week
ReplyDeleteNext time, I hope :D
DeleteJane is truly a character herself. Those crazy monkeys. Nice piece of fiction.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I had fun writing this, thanks (in a big part) to a writing buddy of mine who inspired the topic :)
DeleteI love the descriptions of the pad thai and the tupperware! Also, I think if there were capuchins running around a zoo, I'd actually want to be hidden inside a hippo costume!
ReplyDeleteI think my favourite line was the one when the pad thai fell with a gooshy thunk and the hailstorm of peanut bits :)
Delete...but then, I really like visceral words like 'gooshy' ;)
Variations on your theme
ReplyDeleteI woke up with the first three words in my head and carried on from there
The day opened with a clash of cymbals, the timpani keeping a beat in the background.
After that spectacular introduction, the sky parted apricot and lavender clouds to emerge in a beatific blue that captured the audience’s admiration.
Later after our lunch, the monkeys attacked their meal of bananas and berries. We laughed as they squished the berries on each other giving them a wounded appearance, covered as they were with blue-red splotches, then to stuff the fruit into their own mouths, smack their lips and stretch their tongues over every reachable surface in order to absorb as much of the succulence as possible.
After our refreshments, we all took a nap, the animals curled into each other with tongues still swishing for the last drops of juice The heavens returned to a dull grey metal like an old frying pan and we clammed shut our mouths against the pervasive sickly sweet odor.
Interesting and almost dazzlingly whimsical. I cannot even imagine the color "blue-red". A stylized violet?
Deleteit would be purple actually - thanks for the comment!
DeleteSuch nice uses of colour... and I loved the lip smacking ;)
DeleteNice ending, I loved that you surprised us with her occupation. And I'm not a fan on monkeys since I actually was been bitten by them as a child in India. They may look cute and innocent, but they're vicious little creatures. I have the scars to prove it.
ReplyDeleteNo worries, I am equally terrified, and equally murderous, towards those miniature ponies...
DeleteOne bit me as a child in a petting zoo, and I've never gotten over it ;)
"Gooshy thunk"
ReplyDeleteLovely :)
...could be used for so many things... ;)
DeleteYeah, all that did was feed my fantasy of conquering the world using an army of flying monkeys. Way to write. -Aaron
ReplyDeleteExcellent :) I've thought it it myself, but I'm not that ambitious. Just taking care of a cat and dog are enough trouble without worrying about a herd of flying monkeys, and the world (once I've taken it over).
DeleteI wish you the best of luck, and you know where to find me if you need any monkey-attack propaganda to be written ;)