Friday, November 25, 2011

No Permanent Address - Flash Fiction




Bones were the last thing he expected to find as he excavated the foundation for his shed. Roots, rubbish, treasure, maybe, but these were decidedly not in those categories. Ulna humerus funny bone hip bone's connected to the thigh bone and now that tune will be stuck in my head all day. He should call the police but then there would be questions, explorations, and maybe the discovery of a serial killer and media trampling his lawn. Perhaps a horde of of musty spectacled scientists and their eager assistants would show up and declare the site of scientific interest and bang would go the new shelter for his shiny John Deere. Nope, they were just hunks of mineral deposit maybe they'd be good for the garden and best gotten rid of.

He tossed them into the underbrush with only a nanosecond's thought for the granite mausoleum which awaited his own exceedingly valuable mortal remains.




Photo credit: 
Author: Cheselden, William, 1688-1752.
Engraver: Van der Gucht, Gerard, 1696-1776.
Engraver: Shinevoet, Mr., died not after 1733.
Title: Osteographia, or The anatomy of the bones.
Publication: London : [William Bowyer for the author?], 1733.


 

15 comments:

  1. I'm with Alex...and whose bones...and why? Now this makes for a great mystery.

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  3. The previous post was removed due to several horrible typos. :-)) I know, I know, it could be expanded 10 different ways. What do YOU think? Ancient remains? Serial killer? Abandoned/forgotten graveyard? Then there's the question of what you would do in the same circumstance: report it? Forget about it so it doesn't impact your life? How does culture/belief affect how people feel about mortal remains

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  4. It's hard not to be curious about the bones, but I think the story worked great as it is. I'm can see why he would toss them to the side like that. I'm also fan of peace and quiet.

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  5. I'm also curious about the bones, but there's so much in this brief narrative to explore a hundred different permutations.
    Adam B @revhappiness

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  6. Intriguing! It certainly does open up a lot of questions. :)

    Great writing.

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  7. Hope they're not the ones I buried .... I sometimes pick random places a mile or so off the interstate.

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  8. Open to so many possibilities... the story could go in so many directions... yet it also works well just as it is!
    Great post!

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  9. Intriguing story and so many possibilities....the special one seemed not to have single humane bone in his body....liked this piece.

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  10. and someone out there is looking for answers maybe...hey as long as it doesnt inconveniece us eh? smiles...

    nicely stated ma'am.

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  11. Great intrigue here. I'll have that song in my head now...

    Just a reminder that RomanticFridayWriter kicks off again this Friday. Hope you can share in the fun!

    Denise

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  12. Oh dear, how sad he selfishly tossed them aside, as mere rubbish. His or her poor parent/spouse/child, now they will never know the fate of their loved one.

    A wonderful piece of writing, dear lady, very thought provoking.

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