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Inflection Point

a microfiction

By Matthew J. FrommPublished 10 months ago 1 min read
Inflection Point
Photo by insung yoon on Unsplash

Ten…

Nine…

The wire cutters hovered over the intertwined red and blue wires. Ralph wiped sweat from his crimson brow.

“Cut the red wire.”

There were children at risk. Maybe his children. He looked at the device–a mess of wires attached to a display. For all Ralph knew, it was a hoax.

Six

“Cut the red wire!”

How could Ralph be certain this caller was with the bomb squad?

What did the disembodied voice know about what was happening in front of Ralph’s eyes?

Ralph set down the phone, and slowly, passively, backed away.

The clock ticked down to zero.

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A/N:

If you've enjoyed this, please leave a like and an insight below. If you really enjoyed this, tips to fuel my coffee addiction are always appreciated. All formatting is designed for desktops. Want to read more? Below are the best of the very best of my works:

ClassicalFableMicrofictionMysteryPsychologicalSatireShort Storythriller

About the Creator

Matthew J. Fromm

Full-time nerd, history enthusiast, and proprietor of arcane knowledge.

Here there be dragons, knights, castles, and quests (plus the occasional dose of absurdity).

I can be reached at [email protected]

Reader insights

Outstanding

Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!

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Comments (8)

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  • ThatWriterWoman9 months ago

    Omg you left us with the mystery Matthew! What an excellent premise though - someone has a bomb to deal with but is taking advice from a mysterious person....

  • Lamar Wiggins10 months ago

    I’m with Ralph. I would be reluctant to trust anyone who wasn’t there. Hope he ran the f**k out of dodge.

  • D.K. Shepard10 months ago

    Well I guess that’s one approach. Left in the lurch, but I suspect things go south for Ralph and the kids

  • Mother Combs10 months ago

    Oh, man. Everyone knows red means dead

  • So what happened? Or am I missing some context? 😅😅

  • This comment has been deleted

  • Stephen A. Roddewig10 months ago

    I'm choosing to interpret this as a metaphor for tariffs and what just happened with said tariffs.

  • JBaz10 months ago

    I’m saying this nicely, but please note my inside voice is swearing at you. This was tense and well written for such a short piece.

  • Paul Stewart10 months ago

    Awesome, I was gripped and then...deflated lol. Well wrought as all the cool kids say!

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