Taking Up Space
A story created from a title prompt
“She’s old, and it’s about time she died!”
Angus recoiled in horror at the suggestion. “Don’t talk about her like that, Frank!”
Frank laughed in Angus’s face. “Don’t be stupid. It’s not like she’s offering you anything anymore. She just sits there, like a lump, taking up space.”
Angus shifted closer to his brother, glaring. “You really are an asshole. That bike and I won the Tour de France together. I’d say she’s done a lot more for me than you have.”
Ignoring Frank’s sneer, he set the forty-year-old-bicycle onto a golden stand, displaying it prominently in his rec room.
Another 100-word story from the BMAC vault, “Taking Up Space” provides a nice twist. My aunt’s (at the time) husband used to think it was funny to say things like, “It isn’t worth buying her a Christmas present, she’s going to die soon anyway,” about my grandmother. It wasn’t true and it wasn’t funny. I thought I’d take that and set readers’ expectations on end.
If I owned a Tour de France winning bike, I’d treasure it like a beloved family member too! Growing up, my friends and I were obsessed with Greg Lemond and pro cycling. We’d watch the Tour live in the middle of the night on our friend’s parent’s fancy big-dish satellite TV
Nice twist 🪢