DAY 3 OF FLASH AUGUST FICTION. I had no idea where this one was going. I really didn’t. I just knew the general idea and who knows what the heck was going to happen. Usually there is at least a little bit more of an idea than this. Something tells me it’s going to be absurd. Also. I don’t know what the heck happened yesterday with the production of the podcast. Things got all out of whack. I’m very frustrated with audacity and I’m having a hard time finding something simple to work with. There really should be something simple but there is not. Help me find a coder for StoryCheetah and we can fix that.
BALONEY MONGERS!
655 WORDS WRITTEN IN ABOUT AN HOUR
Flo had to redo her face. She needed a more frightening, panicky appearance to convince the viewers of the seriousness of the situation regarding the idea that her candidate wasn't looking very good. She had been told that if her candidate didn't win, her gravy train would come to a stop. One of the ways she's controlled is through her payments. They get the teleprompter readers into a lot of debt, so when the paychecks stop, they are ruined.
Flo is in the makeup room talking to Beau, who is getting the lift on his hair reinforced.
"What are we going to do?" Flo says. "People are actually having thoughts, and it's really hard to compete with that."
"Tell me about it," says Beau. "My wife is not talking. It's really scary when she goes silent." I have no idea what's going to happen. "The people she knows, you know?"
"I'm glad I don't have those problems." Flo responds, "But what am I going to do if we can't pull this off?" I got bills, you're all paid up on your shit."
Beau responds. "People trust us less than they trust Congress; I'm not sure how much longer we can keep this up." My wife has been doing a lot of whispering on the phone, it's making me really nervous."
"Make my face whiter! Bring out the darkness in my eyes! Put heavy eye lines on it!" I need to scare these people!" Flo screams at her makeup artist, who is doing her best to hide Flo's dark skin skin in order to create a frenetic sense of urgency.
As his stylist opens another can of mousse for his hair, Beau is nervously looking at his phone. He fidgets in his chair and reels his head back and forth. "She keeps sending me these cryptic messages." He says it quietly, almost under his breath.
"I can't believe they missed." Flo says assertively. "What the hell is going on? How am I supposed to sell this as a psy-op?!"
"What's that?" Beau asks. "Oh, nothing; I'm just talking to myself over here."
She continues. "What are we supposed to do with the people out there all starting to wake up?" They're all starting to talk together and listen to one another." This is going to screw everything all up. "We can't live like this!" She says.
"Well," Beau says, "they're going to have to learn how to be grateful for what they're given." We can't afford to let the conversation the people are having interfere with the plan. We have to stay the course." They'll accept it, or it will just get worse for them."
"Shiiit," Flo says. "It's gonna get worse for them anyway." They feel like they don't have anything to lose by speaking out."
"Well, that's their decision then." Beau says. "They'd better think better of it."
Flo's make-up artist turns on the show light and hands Flo a mirror. Flo angles her head in several poses and then tilts her head with a gigantic saccharine smile that allows her thinly veiled anger to show through. "I think that will do." She says. "They'll get the picture."
Flo turns to Beau, who has a forboding despondence that is growing more obvious by the moment. She asks him, "you OK, boo? "You need me to get you something?"
He doesn't notice that she's talking to him. She reaches over and touches his shoulder. He jumps, "Wha.. wh..what.. what's wrong?" His phone is jarred loose, and he fumbles it, but it lands in his lap.
Flo answers. "I said, Are you OK? Do you need me to get you something?"
"Oh," he responds, no, it's ok, I keep it in my drawer, but it's ok, the safety is on."
Flo is taken aback. "Whaaat?"
"Nothing, break a leg out there." He says.
"OK, you too," she says. "Say hi to Mila for me."
The End.
Catherine Valentine is the Politics Editor at Substack.
Baloney Mongers