Friday, 7 March 2014
Blameless
The first time it happened I blamed my brother, two days later he slipped on a roller skate on the first landing, he fell headlong down the stairs, breaking his neck along the way.
The second time it happened I blamed my parents, before the day was over an unattended frying pan caught fire, which rapidly spread through the house claiming both their lives.
The third time it happened I thought it must be a government conspiracy, within hours an accusatory email landed in all of the ministers' in-boxes, the ensuing ass-covering, in-fighting and back stabbing brought about a political bloodbath that resulted in their downfall.
The fourth time it happened I blamed society itself, a few days later a lab spillage released a contagious bacteria which rapidly spread throughout all of humanity, killing everyone it touched, at least the bug must have taken care of the guilty party this time.
And now there is only me left... And it just happened again.
©2014 Stephen. J. Green.
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But what?!?! Great piece :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Laura. :-)
DeleteOh grim Steve - he's blamed himself hasn't he? ^_^ Thought provoking
ReplyDeleteHi Helen. I think even though there's only him left, he's still going to look around for someone else to blame. :-)
DeleteUh-oh, who's he going to blame this time? (I know, blame the Devil, and watch Hell freeze over!)
ReplyDeleteI should think he'll blame anyone but himself, Larry, including the devil. :-)
DeleteNow that certainly is some power. And it wasn't good for him. Good story!
ReplyDeleteHi Clara, and welcome. That sort of power is probably not good for anyone.
Deletewe live in a blame culture, but he just removed the culture! This was fun
ReplyDeleteThanks Marc. I did actually write this with dark humour in mind, but wasn't sure if readers would view it the same as myself, glad that you could see the fun side of it.
DeleteEgads! Methinks there's a metaphor in there... :D
ReplyDeleteHi Catherine. Like many of my posts it does leave much to the reader's interpretation. :-)
DeleteThe narrator thinking about it on his way down the elevator shaft?
ReplyDeleteHaha!! Dunno about that one John, he probably thinks he is immortal too :-)
DeleteThere's the universe left to blame. The outcome will surely wipe him out too and bang!, there will be no more of nothing and no one. Ha!
ReplyDeleteI like how he's more concerned about probably having to take the blame himself this time and not of the utter chaos he caused over his lfespan. Cool story and concept.
Thanks Cindy. I think he may have been taking "buck-passing" lessons from politicians. :-)
DeleteExcellent idea here, Steve. The ending cracked me up. Like Helen, I first thought he blamed himself, but thinking about it some more, maybe he's blaming me, the reader. I said, maybe he's bl—
ReplyDeleteHaha!! Thanks Stephen, for the kind words, and the giggles.
DeleteNooooo... Stephen, it wasn't your fault, I'll take the bla.... (Heheh!!)
I love the ending and the way the effects of the power are explained but not the power itself. I had to read it twice to make sure I hadn't missed something. Really great as usual Steve.
ReplyDeleteThanks Casey. I really like writing these "short and vague" pieces, it is always interesting to see how readers interpret the unexplained bits.
DeleteThis was actually pretty scary. What is this "it" that keeps happening? Great structure and tone to go with the events.
ReplyDeleteHi Katherine, and thank you for the kind words.
DeleteThe truth is, I never decided on what the "It" could be, I thought I would leave it up to the reader to decide. :-)
Karma took its time but it eventually caught up with him ;)
ReplyDeleteHiya Craig. Yeah, it was bound to come down to him eventually, wasn't it?
Delete