Lifestyles of the Homeless and Rotund (Stovohobo's challenge).

by FourSeven

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Donny dropped his avoirdupois down on his stunned opponent’s chest.

“One!”

slap

”Two!”

slap

“Three!”

slap

Donny turned, confused. A homeless man with a boutonniere in the pocket of his torn white tee shirt had called the fight between swigs from a brown paper bag.

“Ding, ding ding,” said the homeless man. “Get away from my stuff.” He gestured toward a shopping cart full of dirty rags, a grocery bag half filled with crushed pop cans, and a makeshift cardboard cowcatcher taped onto the front.

“Placement in the line at the recycling plant is a-competitive,” said the homeless man. “You need a good spot or else you wont get as much money for the cans. Gotta mow people down sometimes-a.”

“Why don’t you sell your cart, too?” inquired Donny inquisitively.

The homeless man pensievely stared straight ahead, lost in thought.

An old lady started playing show tunes on her gramophone in a nearby window.

Just then a meteor struck the city and destroyed all life on Earth.

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Comments

Average Reader Rating: 4.0 stars out of 5

  1. Lifestyles of the Homeless and Rotund (Stovohobo's challenge).

    FourSeven's Buddy Icon FourSeven

    Posted 11 months ago

    4.0 out of 5 stars

    for anybody keeping score, this masterpiece began in media res

  2. Lifestyles of the Homeless and Rotund (Stovohobo's challenge).

    artistsrunwild's Buddy Icon artistsrunwild

    Posted 11 months ago

    is the homeless man canadian?

  3. Lifestyles of the Homeless and Rotund (Stovohobo's challenge).

    FourSeven's Buddy Icon FourSeven

    Posted 11 months ago

    4.0 out of 5 stars

    nah, he just has a nervous twitch

  4. Lifestyles of the Homeless and Rotund (Stovohobo's challenge).

    SKermitgorf's Buddy Icon SKermitgorf

    Posted 11 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    hysterical, made me think of the Fisher King for some reason.

  5. Lifestyles of the Homeless and Rotund (Stovohobo's challenge).

    THX 0477's Buddy Icon THX 0477

    Posted 11 months ago

    4.0 out of 5 stars

    Kind of struggling for an ending there, were you? Funny stuff, especially the cardboard cowcatcher—very inventive way to get that word into your urban setting.

  6. Lifestyles of the Homeless and Rotund (Stovohobo's challenge).

    FourSeven's Buddy Icon FourSeven

    Posted 11 months ago

    4.0 out of 5 stars

    i did not struggle for an ending. i have seen the future. this is a prophecy.

  7. Lifestyles of the Homeless and Rotund (Stovohobo's challenge).

    THX 0477's Buddy Icon THX 0477

    Posted 11 months ago

    4.0 out of 5 stars

    You are so wonderfully odd, FourSeven. More power to you.

  8. Lifestyles of the Homeless and Rotund (Stovohobo's challenge).

    Stovohobo's Buddy Icon Stovohobo

    Posted 11 months ago

    “Donny dropped his avoirdupois down on his stunned opponent’s chest.”
    ~
    Haha, ouch. Anyway, nice entry, and I liked the “cowcatcher”, “gramophone”, and obviously the “avoirdupois”. Technically, “in medias res” should’ve been…well, in medias res of the ficlet. Nice job anyway.

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