A whole world on a single page!
The short story morsels of One Page Worlds are flash fiction adventures of all flavors. Every Wednesday will feature a complete story in one page, or the first page of what could be a novel or novelette.
Sharing the fun and geekery is the best part of writing! Please tweet or comment with your guesses on what genre, character, and job is central to each tale. Enjoy touring new universes each week with One Page Worlds!
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Class rolled off the man’s suit and waistcoat the way the scent of money fills a bank. He trudged through the slush and approached the lady in the faux fur coat on the curb. She eyed a single, rusty red stain beneath the muck on his shoes, but he was too busy smirking at her curves to care.
Frigid air whipped the woman’s coat open at the chest, and she tugged it tight a moment after he’d caught a glimpse.
“You’re not what you advertise,” he uttered, voice like whiskey poured over gravel.
“And you just had a hit,” she purred, tucking back a strand of hair. She scrutinized every face among the foot traffic until they passed. “You’re hungry for more than these little old sins.”
The man glanced at his shoes. With the sun sinking, he’d been in too much of a hurry to be thorough. Missed details killed the way poison did. He tasted her perfume as he seized her coat in both fists. “You police?”
“Naw,” she said, a whiff of southern accent steaming out. “I sell to a dirty one sometimes. You seem like a smart man. Guess what I want.”
“Fuel to be what you are.” A chip of ice glinted in his eye, and he nodded at the same moment she cocked her head. Heart thrilling, he added, “Dirty ones for you.”
Her sin-red lips quirked. “Clean ones for you.” Wrapping her leg around his, she rubbed the stain off the man’s shoe with a sodden slipper, then breathed into his ear. “Stay sharp.”
He thumbed the blade in his pocket, turned, moved into a shadowed trinket vendor’s doorway. Stenciled letters on the glass read, “Artists United.”
Neither needed to see the other’s smile when the officer rounded the corner.