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Thursday, August 2, 2018

Sibling Who Scream At Each Other - A Short Story [#17]

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            The two siblings stood at opposite ends of the room. They never broke eye contact, nor did they actually look the other in the eyes. Laura and James rarely got along. Mainly because Laura saw James as a complete slime ball, and James thought no better of his sister.
            "Dearest sister," James greeted his sibling, "how's your job upstate going?" He smiled, but James always had a twisted smile so that didn't mean anything.
            "Fine," Laura answered, "how is your scummy factory going?" Laura scowled, but she always had a scowl so it didn't mean anything.
            "Profits are on the rise, as always," James boasted.
            "But for how long?" Laura sniped, "How long before you run another business into the ground?"
            "Better that than living paycheck to paycheck and waking up every morning hoping you haven't been fired," James snapped back.
            "Better that than living in a glass house waiting for my workers to strike," Laura countered.
            "I'd rather live through that instead of living on the street," James raised his voice.
            "I'd rather live on a street than live through that," Laura did the same.
            "I'd bathe in my factory's run off before spending one minute at your stupid job!" James yelled as he forced his into her personal space.
            "I'd rather spend the rest of my life at my "stupid job" instead of one minute in your factory," Laura yelled in turn. The two siblings arched into the other's face as they continued their screaming match.
            "I'd sooner eat off my factory's floor before I'd ever eat any of that junk you cook!"
            "I'd sooner eat mud before I'd ever smell your rotten factory!"
            "You're a stuck up grouch who's never had fun in her life!"
            "You're a twisted moron who's only emotions are greed and ego!"
            "You're a complete idiot!"
            "You're a warped piece of dung!"
            "SCREW YOU!"
            "SCREW YOU!"
            After the last exchange both siblings finally paused to take a breath and gave the other some space. They both turned away and refused to even look at the other. Eventually, James spoke up again, "So everything is normal then?"
            "Yeah pretty much," Laura agreed, "want to get a drink?" James nodded and the pair headed off for their favorite bar.

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While less over the top than my previous story, this still continues my streak of light hearted and silly tales. To be honest the original draft contained a lot more profanity, but I challenged myself to find alternatives. There are a few points where it's blatantly obvious that I switched to the "PG-13 version."
Part of me misses the old version, but I think that this helps highlight a certain degree of immaturity in the character's argument. Like they've been arguing constantly since they were children and never really evolved their dialogue, or maybe I'm reading to deep into my own work (is that even possible?).
Regardless, Read, Comment and Enjoy.

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