Unidentified Black Male
"Time is the only commodity we deal with which cannot be counterfeited, stolen or placed in inventory. Remember, time is irreplaceable."
“Hey is this her? Here you are, ma’am. I found this little girl wandering off across the park. Said she was lookin' for her momma.”
“How old am I? Sixteen tomorrow! Some big plans in my future. Might even get a license and whip around in daddy's car.”
“What? Ohh, no, Little girl looked lost and scared, that’s all. Pastor Thomas says to take care of those that look lost and he's a godly man.”
“Give her something? No, no way. I saw her crying, so I asked her where her momma was. Then we walked around till we found you. We was walkin' toward you! Why would I slip her something?”
“Steal her? You got it all wrong, ma’am. Your daughter was crying when I found her. We walked all around looking for you!”
“She ain't scared. why you think I was scaring her? Look, I just tried to help. I gave her a candy to try and stop her crying.”
“I forgot I gave her some is all with you coming at me. Slipped my mind. I didn't lie. No lie, I’m sorry. Who cares if I gave her some Skittles?”
“Intimidating you? Really? I tried to help. I just wanted to get her back to her momma. Promise. Have a nice day. I hope I never see either of you ever, ever again.”
“I’ll be going. Have a nice day. I didn't want a scene. Here I was just trying to help out a little bit.”
“No need for that. Come on, put the phone down. I'm going. Don't grab my arm! What the hell?!”
“Jesus that hurts. What the hell, lady? You tell those pigs I was trying to steal her? I helped her! She was lost and all scared by herself. Maybe you should have kept a better eye on her. Maybe then she wouldn't be wandering around looking lost.”
“About time officers. This lady is crazy. She's lost it. Grabbed my arm and shit. I was just trying to help out.”
“Get down? Why?”
“You’re listening to her? She’s crazy. She lost her! The girl was lost and crying already. I did nothing wrong. Shit I didn't even do anything!
“Look, here’s my hands. I wanna go home. I didn’t try to steal nobody! I had some Skittles in my coat pocket. That's all. She was scared!”
“I gave her Skittles. I’ll show you!”
...
“Please… Momma… Why?”
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Author’s Note
I played fast and loose with the prompt on this one. Still, I was interested in exploring the idea that a single moment, miscommunication, or misunderstanding could lead to a stolen lifetime, either in absolute terms or in the taking of wholeness that can come from the proximity to trauma.
Sadly, the type of stolen lives, innocence, time, and opportunity arising from a lack of empathy and understanding occur daily, and ignorance of them does not force them to disappear because they are too uncomfortable to address head-on. The victims are all too real and deserve our attention. This is as relevant today as when I first came up with this idea. Apparently I really like dialogue only, single POV.
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About the Creator
Matthew J. Fromm
Full-time nerd, history enthusiast, and proprietor of arcane knowledge.
Here there be dragons, knights, castles, and quests (plus the occasional dose of absurdity).
I can be reached at [email protected]
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Comments (16)
Outstanding work, Matthew!
Great take on the challenge. This is eye opening and thanks for bringing awareness, situations like this have sadly happened before.
Far too accurate and very well done.
“Karen’s Kid” could be the subtitle. Wow, I’ve never hated a character so much so quickly. Extremely well done.
Sadly this is an all to true event. Reacting without listening. Having preconceived ideas and being unwilling to adapt. Well done and I really enjoyed the one Perspective of speech.
Such an amazing read, very eye opening, scary to think that things like this happen, you've captured it perfectly
I like your take! At first I was confused, thinking the voices changed but you did a great job with the voice consistency that it cleared up quickly. AND with a message, well done, my friend
Bigotry- its everywhere. I never thought of the one voiced side of the prompt. Very interesting.
Fuck. sad reality. well told. sorry i missed this first time around. stunning, truly.
Stylistic and one-sided commentary of the event pushes the concept and allows the reader to imagine how the intermittent interactions played out in their own way. Well done!
Interesting article. Beautiful. Thanks for sharing. :)
Interesting take on the challenge and it is always great to see new perspectives. Excellent work
I agree with your author's note, misunderstandings happen all the time. There are so many innocent people in jail right now that didn't do it. Groups like the 'Innocence Project' are out there listening to the stories of the innocent and doing something about it. I enjoyed this. Thanks for sharing.
You did a great job with this piece, Matthew! The one-person point of view was the best way to convey your concept.
Unfortunately, this happens all too often. This story is heartbreaking but revealing. Great piece!
Very intriguing viewpoint! Well done!