Ficlets

The Flying Lie

“You know why flying cars sell so great?”

“Why is that?”

“I’ll tell you,” he says with that used-car-salesman tone that implies the word if is on its way. “But,” dammit, “you can’t tell Hodge I told you.”

“Okay.” No point in telling him Hodge was dragged to death behind a very-much-earthbound car yesterday.

“Okay. Here it is: flying cars are easy sells because nothing ever goes wrong with them. Absolutely no practical downside to owning one of them.” He smiles, all upper teeth. “Dream come true.”

“Except. For the, you know,” I let it hang there for a second, but he doesn’t see it, “fact it’s not true.” He squinted and shrugged, then went for his coffee. “The part where they don’t exist.”

He slurped off the top of his mug. Under the table, push the recorder closer to him. “Well, like it says on the brochure, we sold a dream. An experience.”

“No,” I correct him, finger pointing up between us, “you told them they could take these cars home.”

“And McDonald’s tells people that a clown loves them.”

Comments

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The Flying Lie
Laine P. Grey
Posted 3 months ago

Haha, I liked the way the salesman is trying to “sell a dream”. How much does a dream cost?
The Flying Lie
Angelwingstofly
Posted 3 months ago

What an interesting ficlet! I laughed at the part about McDonalds because it is very true. Awsome job : )
The Flying Lie
Eckhouse
Posted 3 months ago

This would be a cool ficlet even without the mystery of Hodge, which pushes the whole thing into even more sinister territory.
The Flying Lie
Seth Miller
Posted 3 months ago

You know, you snookered me. I thought I had this one pegged and you threw me for a loop.

Sheisters are all the same, aren’t they? Insulated by willful ignorance and righteousness of purpose. At least that’s what I got.

Process point: you get the fact that Ficlets take place “in media res” and I need to do that more often/embrace that. Thanks for The Flying Lie.
The Flying Lie
THX 0477
Posted 3 months ago

Odd little tale about truth in advertising. A few missed quotation marks, but a fun little story with twists as Seth pointed out.
The Flying Lie
Will Hindmarch
Posted 3 months ago

Thanks for the heads-up, THX . I corrected the one missed quotation mark I could find.
The Flying Lie
flute faerie
Posted 3 months ago

I liked the part about Mcdonalds too. Very true, and very funny. This was a very enjoyable ficlet.
The Flying Lie
Lone Writer
Posted 3 months ago

Hahaahaha! McDonalds. LOL
Reminds me of this quote.
“Hi, I’m Kevin Jonas and I’d like to sell you a car!”
LOL
Sorry OJD .
LoA
The Flying Lie
SKermitgorf
Posted 3 months ago

Clowns don’t love us? Quirky good read.. and another down side to flying cars.. mid air crashes and falling parts and bodies and into buildings.. sure glad they dont exist unles its controlled like in Star Wars fashion. Congrats on Featured Ficlet.
LoA
The Flying Lie
howhardlifeis♥
Posted 3 months ago

haha that was funny..mcDonalds…so true.

And congrats on the featured Ficlet
The Flying Lie
Caffeinated
Posted 3 months ago

I like it :) The mcdonalds is true, I quit it a couple years ago, haha. It was interesting and I like how it started and ended.
The Flying Lie
kaellinn18
Posted 3 months ago

I really enjoyed this. I think you captured the salesman perfectly: you only describe him by a few actions he takes and his smile, but I swear I could almost see this guy. Killer ending line, too.
The Flying Lie
JMBauhaus
Posted 3 months ago

Ha! I love the last line. I enjoyed this. Great dialogue, and good characterization in a small amount of space. Well done. Congrats on the featured ficlet.
The Flying Lie
Saint Chuck
Posted 3 months ago

I don’t want no clown loving me! That thing has always scared the living daylights out of me… Great dialogue, way to sum up the average salesman in such a small amount of words. Nice work.