TBC Publishing Pride Month Flash Fiction Challenge, 12 of 30
Title: Am I Heard
Author: R. Scott Tyler
Genre: Mystery
Word count (500 max): 494
Benji heard him talking to himself again.
“Why is it me? What’s wrong with it being someone else sometime?” Nicholas said quietly as he got out a bowl for oatmeal.
Clicking the button to heat up water, he continued, “Maybe if I had not lost that last job, things would be different. But I did my best, didn’t I?”
“I’m just not good with people. I’m not a salesman; I’m a technician. Why does everything have to be about trying to sell something?” he continued, murmuring and shaking his head.
Benji walked up behind him and put his arms around his boyfriend, laying his head on his back. “Hi, Nicholas, how are you this morning?” he asked.
“Same as usual, looking, asking, wondering, over-thinking,” Nicholas’ replied.
“Come out in the yard and look at the poppies with me while you wait for your water,” Benji replied.
Nicholas put his hand in Benji’s and resigned himself to being led out to Benji’s garden. Yesterday it rained hard and beat all the petals off the flowers, but today there were three new blooms. They were orange, wide open, and smiling up at the sun, ignorant of the beating they took yesterday.
“This is what I like about poppies,” Benji said. “Every day that there is sun, they open fully, no matter what happened yesterday. They seem to live for the day, live for the sun.”
“Yeah, well, maybe if I were full of opium I’d always be happy, too,” Nicholas replied, smirking.
“I’m pretty sure they don’t produce opium for themselves, directly, Nicholas,” Benji said. “Although I suppose it is to their benefit in some way.”
“What way, do you think?” Nicholas casually asked, not wanting or expecting an answer, even though he knew he’d get one.
“Hmmm, I’d guess that when birds eat the poppy seeds, it affects them in some pleasant way, so maybe they want to eat more,” Benji supplied an answer, absentmindedly. “Almost everything done happens for a purpose, I think.”
“Why would a poppy produce seeds that birds enjoy eating?” Nicholas mused. “What do they get out of that?”
“Well, poppies can’t walk, can they?” was Benji’s reply.
“So?” Nicholas quipped weakly.
“So, how are they going to go from inside the fence of my garden to the field where we take the dogs for a walk?” Benji answered. “They need a helping hand, a free flight, so to speak.”
“Jeez, you have an answer for everything,” Nicholas said, turning around and pulling Benji back toward the kitchen. “I’m sure my water is boiling.”
Nicholas poured the water on his instant oatmeal and waited until it was thick enough to eat, still muttering to himself about his current situation.
Benji sat next to his boyfriend, hand resting on Nicholas’ thigh, while he looked out the window at the day. He couldn’t answer all of Nicholas’ random questions about himself or the universe. However, he could listen to him, and he did.
#IAmPrideToBeTBC
#TBCWritingChallenge2025
The Six of Pentacles. This card represents a person that is gtiving. This can be time, money, or talents. The most expensive gift you can give someone is your time. You can never get more of it and once it is used, it is gone forever.
Discover more from R Scott Tyler
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
