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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“You don’t want to be a knight anymore?” Sephona shouts, aghast.
Armor plates clank together with each step I take down the bright-lit stadium tunnel. The racket devours Sephona Gene’s footsteps and the echoes of her voice. With the visor up, it’s easy to see her ivory sequined dress standing out against her dark skin. She’s got to be wearing enough perfume to drown the horse I’m set to mount in a few minutes.
Every sight, sound, and scent that comes with being a knight cancels out everything the world-famous G Seph is about.
Her attitude.
Her glamor.
It must be a relief not being the star.
I stop halfway toward the stadium’s lists. Muffled speeches by the actress queen swirl with the audience applause flooding into the tunnel. “They might advertise it’s a one-night event, but they feature actresses paired with knights once a month. More if they’re greedy.”
Sephona’s onyx eyes rake me up and down. “Oh, piss on that. Everyone ends up getting used. At least you get to be buff Sir Gethard Raxton some days and ol’ small town Rax on the other days. Be thankful for that.”
I hoist the red-and-black checked shield on my left arm. “You see this design?”
She cocks her hip. “A company logo. Oh drat. You worked all your life to get dressed up so some dandies can dance you around. Every athlete wears brand name stuff, includin’ me.” Raising a bracelet so I can see it, she stabs the G Seph logo over and over with a finger. “Don’t want to be a knight anymore? Be the knight. Knock each of them other knights on their asses tonight and then build your own show. Then you can tour my set any day you want to get away from being a knight.”
Sweat needles both eyes. I reach for the visor. “You’re saying I should get so good at being what I love that I don’t answer to anyone.”
G Seph steps out of the tunnel’s shadows and into the stadium lights. No one applauds any more than they already are.
For once, the people’s attention is on the act, not the actress. “Get so good they let you be you.”