Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Paula's Prompts: Wednesday Words

On June 5, 2019, P.T. Wyant posted at ptwyant.com a Wednesday Words prompt, 'You find a pair of binoculars, but whenever you look through them, you see the future, not the present.'

This story was the result...

I picked up the binoculars waiting for viewers, ready to see what lay below the tower. Hoping to get a closer look at the green hill and the monument standing upon it, I raised them and focused on her proud figure. 

Only the statue was missing her head. Sprayed across her torso in red was the word, “LIAR”. 

“When did that happen?” I lowered the binoculars. The statue receded into the distance, but I could see the haughty lifted chin of the town founder. Yes, she still possessed a chin along with a head. 

“What exactly was that?” I raised the binoculars to my eyes, only to see the decapitated monument, the word “LIAR” and another smaller scribble beneath it. “TYRANT”. 

“Neat, aren’t they?” A girl grinned at me, exposing a gap in her teeth. “Those particular eyes don’t see what is. They squint out what’s to come.”

“You mean these binoculars can see the future?” I might have my doubts about our town founder, but I wasn’t sure if she’d earned a beheading. Not that I wasn’t certain all this was some prank being played by the kid grinning at me.

“One possible future.” She placed a finger upon her greasy, freckled nose. “This is the future that’s most possible for you right now.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I didn’t bother to hide my suspicion. 

“Why, the future is always changing, isn’t it?” She winked at me. “You might make a decision to change what you just saw.”

“Oh, I will, will I?” I bared my teeth in a pretense at a smile. “Why would I do that?”

“Didn’t seem like you liked what you saw just now.” The girl gestured to the binoculars. “Those give you a sneak preview to prepare yourself for what’s to come. Maybe to stop it.” 

“You want me to stop that?” I gestured to the statue. “How am I supposed to stop an act of vandalism.”

“Don’t know.” The girl shrugged. “Maybe you’re to stop it or maybe you’re to think about why it happened, eh? It’s up to you.” 

She sauntered away to talk to someone else, who was lifting a pair of bincoulars to her face. Were all of them like the ones I’d just used? Offering us glances of what was to come? Warning us about what might happen? 

I shivered in the chill breeze, trickling its way through the tower. Once more I gazed at the figure of the founder.

Why would anyone want to take her head? Why would she be called a liar and a tyrant? 

I wasn’t sure of that either, but now I was going to try to find out. 


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