The Choices Characters Make
I had a dream about a short story last night. This story has
many variations and is attributed to many different writers and I’ve been
hearing it since I was a little girl. (If you know of writers/TV shows who are associated
with telling it, please let me know and I’ll list them on this post.)
***
Bill, standing at a bus stop, watches as a man in a bright yellow
Lamborghini speeds by him. The man is laughing and seems to be having the time
of his life.
“Man.” Bill blows out his breath. “I would do anything to
have a car like that.”
“You’d do anything?” An elderly man turns to him.
“I’d do anything.” Bill nods.
“What if I told you I could grant you your wish?” The elderly man leans closer to him. “You would receive a car exactly like that one. But.” He holds up one of his index fingers. “In payment for that wish, one hundred people you have never met would die before their time.”
“You’re not serious.” Bill scoffs at the outlandish offer.
The elderly man meets his gaze. An unnatural light gleams in his eyes. “I’m deadly serious.” An awe-inspiring power radiates from him.
F*ck. The man was serious. Bill stares at him. “I’d receive a Lamborghini?”
“You’d receive a Lamborghini.” The elderly man’s head dips.
“And I wouldn’t know the hundred people who’d die?” He wanted
that confirmation.
“They’d be complete strangers.” The elderly man’s head dips again. “Consider this offer carefully. Once you agree to it, it can’t be undone.”
Bill hesitates for a moment. “What is there to consider? I don’t know the people and I’d have a Lamborghini. I agree to the deal.”
“I suspected you’d agree to it.” The elderly man grins as a bright yellow Lamborghini rolls to a stop before them. “Thousands of complete strangers have already accepted my offer.”
***
When I first heard the story, I thought the message was to
not make deal with folks with magical powers. (grins) Like I mentioned, I was a
kid.
Now, I realize the true message. And I find it bizarre that
so many of us have to make a similar decision almost every day now. Maybe we
have ALWAYS had to make these choices. But now, they are emphasized with all
the discussions around mask-wearing, social distancing, limiting contact with others.
We are all Bill and we are all facing the same choice he did—our personal happiness vs the lives of complete strangers.
Note: If the universe is taking suggestions about which stories
to next bring into this timeline, I have a list of cyborg romances I wouldn’t
mind seeing unfold. (grins)
***
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Testing Truth
A fun-loving cyborg gets serious about love.
***
Truth lives each moment as though it were his last. The
cyborg warrior rushes into danger, teases beings he shouldn’t provoke, accepts
every call of adventure he encounters.
When a prissy little human princess floats into the Rebel
structure Truth is occupying, seeking a mercenary to assist her and her unusual
entourage, he volunteers to be her warrior. She claims their assignment is
dangerous, warns him he might not survive the task.
That is exactly the type of fun he has been seeking.
Princess Nanette of the planet Royaume must rescue her
estranged brother from an enemy prison ship. That is her duty, and she has been
trained to always place the needs of her planet and her subjects before her
own. Nancy doesn’t have the freedom to indulge her passions for a certain
dark-haired, gray-skinned cyborg. Not permanently and not publicly.
But she is unable to resist the warrior. Truth, with his
laughing eyes, smiling lips, and rough hands, tempts her as no one else ever
has. He could be her one fleeting act of rebellion before she’s matched with
the powerful ruler her planet requires.
If they survive their current mission.
Their love is doomed. Their lifespans are at risk. This
cyborg and his princess will need the help of every ally they have if they wish
to see another sunrise.
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