Ficlets

Closing Time (Challenge: Mundane Object)

I hate closing time. That last call for all those who have nowhere to go and nothing to lose. I used to pity them, staring morosely into the bottom of a beer stein as if scrying the future from the froth.

Now I was one of them. I flipped a coin, watching how the light caught it as it spun in the air.

“C’mon buddy, you need to get out of here. Bar’s closed.”

I looked up at the earnest young man in front of me, probably using tips to pay his way through college. He didn’t have that jaundiced look that the lifers get after pedaling alcohol for half their lives to frat boys and alcoholics.

“How much have you ever lost with the toss of a coin?” I asked, holding the coin up in the air. A quarter.

“Okay dude, I think you’ve had enough to drink,” Mr. Earnest replied. “Just take a cab home and sleep it off.”

I smiled slightly. “Would you ever bet everything? Imagine, an entire fortune resting on the outcome of a single statistical probability.”

Getting up, I tossed the coin to him. “Keep the change.”

Comments

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Closing Time (Challenge: Mundane Object)
THX 0477
Posted 9 months ago

Fabulous! Love the scrying the future from the froth line. And overall, nicely philosophical in a compact setting.
Closing Time (Challenge: Mundane Object)
m8ryx
Posted 9 months ago

Mr. Earnest. sweet. Doesn’t it all boil down to a single statistical probability?
Closing Time (Challenge: Mundane Object)
One Time, One Chance
Posted 9 months ago

lol “keep the change” very nice =]
Closing Time (Challenge: Mundane Object)
SKermitgorf
Posted 9 months ago

Awesome terse/ tense /philisophical dialouge, I like the how coin was central throughout even up to the end. Great job. One Of my favorite of your ficlets!!!!! You really did a fantastic job with this challenge.
~
The style was film noirish. My compliments to you on this ficlet.
Closing Time (Challenge: Mundane Object)
Alexa ♥
Posted 9 months ago

Bet heads. It’s more than 90% likely.
Closing Time (Challenge: Mundane Object)
Stoner
Posted 9 months ago

Absolutely superb! What’s so excellent is what isn’t said. Everyone knows what the bar looks like, the smell, what both were wearing, etc. I can see it in my mind as if I were there witnessing it.
Closing Time (Challenge: Mundane Object)
Mistress Elsha Hawk
Posted 9 months ago

This was a great ficlet! I really enjoyed this story. It made me think, what would Mr. Earnest do with that quarter and that idea planted in his head?
Closing Time (Challenge: Mundane Object)
Blossom Ruoqen
Posted 9 months ago

a very nice idea, what inspired you to write about a quarter in this way??...I wonder