“It’s a—maze—ing how convoluted and tortuous your thinking gets when you refuse to concede a point,” Liam said, refusing to back down this time. “Which, by the way, is always, no matter how obvious it is that you’re wrong.”
“Not true.” Melanie glared, not used to this kind of persistence from her cousin. Usually, he backed down or simply gave up when she out-argued him. He was just being a sore loser. “I’m usually right. In fact, I’m almost always right.”
Was that a flicker of doubt in Liam’s eyes? Melanie pushed the point. “I get it. You’re tired of being wrong. But, really, look at how it goes, not just with you, but with everyone. I make my argument. You try to refute it. I dismantle your argument with deductive reasoning you can’t counter, and you stop arguing.”
As always, she couldn’t resist driving the final nail home. “Name one time that hasn’t happened.”
Liam rolled his eyes, seeming ready to walk away.
Uh huh. You do that Cuz. Melanie could smell triumph.
“Right now,” Liam said, glaring back. There’s no actual substance to your argument—just a tangle of words meant to confuse the issue and make me tired of the fight. People don’t lose to you, Mel. They just decide to exit your labyrinth.”
For once, it was someone else driving the nail home. Liam headed for the door, throwing back, “You should hear what we say to each other after. It’s a riot!”
This week’s Wake Up and Write prompt required writing a story involving a literal or metaphorical maze in under 250 words. I came in at 249. Squeak squeak!
You can see the prompt here (and write a story yourself, if you like), along with a few great stories written by Justin Deming.
Do you have anyone in your life who likes to argue? Someone who won’t concede when they’re wrong? You can vent in the comments!
It’s a running joke between my husband and I. “Never wanting to admit we might be wrong or right about something. He might say something like”I’ve been wrong once before,” and we laugh.
I have an acquaintance like that. She used to be a friend, but I demoted our relationship when I got tired of always being in the wrong with her.