Microfiction 006 / "Is he the one?"
A magical realism/romance short story by Lindsay Elizabeth (with author's notes)
“Is he the one?” by Lindsay Elizabeth
At a traffic light, I mull over the psychic’s reading. “You’ll know your soulmate by the cheetah.” So much for getting clarity.
“What’s your favorite animal?” I ask.
My boyfriend’s brow scrunches. I hold my breath, waiting. “Sharks are cool.”
My sigh’s cut off by a loud BANG. In the mirror, a man crawls out from beneath a motorcycle. I undo my seatbelt, jumping out.
“I didn’t see him!” exclaims another driver.
I kneel on the pavement. “You okay?”
He sits up, removing his helmet. He chuckles—winces. “Yeah. Thank God for this.” He taps the helmet bearing a cheetah logo.
AUTHOR’S NOTES
The following prompt inspired this short story with the challenge to write 100 words in 24 hours:
Genre: Magical realism
Action: Receiving a cryptic message
Word: Mirror
I rewrote this one several times, not landing on the final concept until the end of the day. The only thing I knew for certain was that I wanted a psychic to deliver the cryptic message. What that message was and the circumstances surrounding it went through several iterations until I landed on this one.
The title is the question she asked the psychic (to which she received the cryptic cheetah answer) about her boyfriend. I think most people have found themselves in a similar predicament at some point in their romantic life: She’s in a relationship she’s not sure about, and she’s looking for external guidance to help her make the decision she already knows in her heart but doesn’t want to accept.
The title is also the question on her mind when she sees the cheetah on the crash victim’s helmet. What’s the answer? I’ll leave that up to you.
Thank you so much for reading! I’d love to hear what this story made you think and feel, so head to the comment section if you’d like to join the discussion.
Feel free to use the prompt to inspire your own short story. Please tag me if you publish it or share it below so I can read it!
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The way your stories always leave us with more questions than answers is incredible. Amazing!
Interesting story. There are some different ways the story could go after it ends and I find that intriguing. Thank you for sharing it.