Calibrating the schmoop-meter...
Sep. 15th, 2003 02:54 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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ds_flashfiction... I think this one falls somewhere between 'unmistakably' and 'unbearably.' 227 words.
Ray sighed, and fished his keys out of the inner pocket of his parka, where they rode most of the time, next to his heart. A whole handful of metal, kept safe and warm. House keys, apartment keys, car keys, locker keys. All obsolete now; he had the key to the house and the key to the jeep on a key ring with a little plastic tab in the shape of the state of Illinois, and that stayed in his outside pocket where he could reach it easily when he needed it. The jeep and the front door didn’t mind if the keys were cold, after all.
He passed his keys to Fraser, who smiled his thanks and handed them to the toddler on his knee. The kid immediately jammed half of them in his mouth and Ray had to lean over. “You take after your dad, buddy, you know that? Everything goes right in your mouth.”
The kid just grinned at him and waved the spit-covered keys in his face, a loud jangle that drew the attention of half the other people in the auditorium. Fraser leaned over and whispered in his ear, like everybody wasn’t watching them. “And here I’d just been thinking he took after his father’s unhealthy fondness for overstuffed keychains.”
Ray grinned. “Well, Frase, six of one, half dozen of the other.”
Ray sighed, and fished his keys out of the inner pocket of his parka, where they rode most of the time, next to his heart. A whole handful of metal, kept safe and warm. House keys, apartment keys, car keys, locker keys. All obsolete now; he had the key to the house and the key to the jeep on a key ring with a little plastic tab in the shape of the state of Illinois, and that stayed in his outside pocket where he could reach it easily when he needed it. The jeep and the front door didn’t mind if the keys were cold, after all.
He passed his keys to Fraser, who smiled his thanks and handed them to the toddler on his knee. The kid immediately jammed half of them in his mouth and Ray had to lean over. “You take after your dad, buddy, you know that? Everything goes right in your mouth.”
The kid just grinned at him and waved the spit-covered keys in his face, a loud jangle that drew the attention of half the other people in the auditorium. Fraser leaned over and whispered in his ear, like everybody wasn’t watching them. “And here I’d just been thinking he took after his father’s unhealthy fondness for overstuffed keychains.”
Ray grinned. “Well, Frase, six of one, half dozen of the other.”
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no subject
Date: 2003-09-15 07:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-09-15 09:13 pm (UTC)baddifferently good. Sooner or later I will learn this...no subject
Date: 2003-09-15 09:25 pm (UTC)Kids and keys, you'd think that metal on teeth would hurt, or do they not have nerves in baby teeth?
Why are you awake?
no subject
Date: 2003-09-15 09:30 pm (UTC)I'm gonna guess he's not really *chewing* on the keys, just sort of. Sticking them in his mouth. Otherwise, yeah, that would hurt.
Why are you awake?
Flipped my sleep cycle, and much to my delight my body's okay with this version - I sleep in the morning and early afternoon, right after I get home from work, and up in late afternoon and evening, which means I get to a) go to sleep in the dark and b) have daylight when I'm awake and at home. It's nice.
no subject
Date: 2003-09-16 02:05 am (UTC)vive le shmoop!
Date: 2003-09-15 07:38 pm (UTC)This is good stuff!
Re: vive le shmoop!
Date: 2003-09-15 09:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-09-15 07:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-09-15 09:15 pm (UTC)I mean, unless you're actually *melting*. That would indeed be scary.
spontaneous generation
Date: 2003-09-15 08:20 pm (UTC)Re: spontaneous generation
Date: 2003-09-15 09:21 pm (UTC)"Ray, we're actually well outside of the cultivation zone for cabbage."
"All right, all right. So there was this stork that landed on the roof of the cabin--"
"There aren't actually any stork habitats nearer than Vancouver Island, Ray. Also, I don't think we should lie to him."
"Fine. I'll tell him the truth. The truth is, we don't know where you came from. Dief dragged you up to the cabin one day, covered in mud and howling like a banshee. I was all for whacking you over the head and tossing you in the stewpot, but Fraser said, 'Ray, Ray, Ray, Ray, that's much too large and misshapen to be an Arctic hare. Let's clean it off and see what we've got.' And then when we figured out you were a baby, Fraser wanted to adopt you. I wasn't so sure, but I gotta keep him happy, so here you are."
...
"Dad?"
"Well, I don't recall the involvement of a stewpot, but that is essentially accurate."
Re: spontaneous generation
Date: 2003-09-15 09:30 pm (UTC)Re: spontaneous generation
Date: 2003-09-15 09:40 pm (UTC)Re: spontaneous generation
Date: 2003-09-16 08:16 pm (UTC)Re: spontaneous generation
Date: 2003-09-16 02:37 am (UTC)Re: spontaneous generation
Date: 2003-09-16 08:18 pm (UTC)Re: spontaneous generation
Date: 2003-09-16 05:34 am (UTC)Thanks for recalibrating. ::big happy grin::
Re: spontaneous generation
Date: 2003-09-16 08:14 pm (UTC)Re: spontaneous generation
Date: 2003-09-16 04:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-09-15 09:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-09-15 09:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-09-15 09:22 pm (UTC)And yes, definitely, for kids and keys in church. I was one of five, so we were all over that.
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Date: 2003-09-15 09:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-09-15 09:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-09-15 09:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-09-15 11:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-09-15 09:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-09-15 11:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-09-15 10:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-09-15 11:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-09-16 01:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-09-16 08:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-09-16 08:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-09-16 08:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-09-16 04:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-09-16 08:03 pm (UTC)