Short Story - PURPOSE

Hullo, hullo everyone!

It’s been a while since I came up with a little short story, but I wanted to share it with all of you. There was a challenge to create a 250 word piece. Now, THIS WAS REALLY HARD. Even 500 word stories were hard for me. It was a real kick-in-the-balls to have to chop that word count in half.

But I did it.

I give unto you: Purpose.

PURPOSE

On March 24th, 9086, he stopped shrinking.

He didn’t mean to. It wasn’t an “on purpose” thing. It just kind of…happened.

Algonians came from the gargantuan Oppa trees, even larger than the mighty K’daps, but without shrinking, how was he supposed to fit in the Adult City, huh? How was he supposed to cope with this, huh???

The short answer is: He wasn’t. Like a brat with a snotty nose, he scrunched over his petulant knees, towering next to the city and blocking out the sun while the mini-men around him shouted through megaphones.

So, he picked them up.

What else could he do? They were so cute and squeaky! Though he changed his mind when they poked him in the eye.

“I’m basically a teenager,” he boomed.

“Then get over it and find purpose!” they cheeped back.

Purpose, purpose. That’s all the Algonians ever went on about. “What were you born for?” “Why are you here?” When he was nothing but a mountainous toddler, his speck-like nursemaids sing-songed about it incessantly as they climbed over their scaffolds and wiped him clean. What could the purpose of unshrinking be?

That’s when he truly saw it. The horizon. He’d scanned over it countless times, but for once, he took in its vastness. The world was so big. Like him, but endless. It called voicelessly, threading his heart with a sudden wanderlust. A desire to find. To learn. To know.

It was time to explore.

Maybe he had purpose after all.