Friday 17 February 2012

Friday Flash Fiction - Lucky

Among the superheroes and villains of this city, they called me "Lucky", and I never quite fit in with either group. Oh, I could have, I just chose not to. I didn't want to run around in a mask dressed in bike spandex fighting crime, but likewise I didn't want to use my powers for evil and cause all those spandex-wearing wannabes to come after me just to make a name for themselves. Mostly I used my powers just to have really good luck at an ordinary life. I won several "Ten-Thousandth Customer!" competitions as I did my ordinary shopping, the bank was constantly making errors in my favour, and I always got good traffic, good job offers, and generally good timing. I led a charmed life, when I used the luck.

When I turn it off again, probability kind of snaps back into place. Like a rubber band, you eventually have to let go, and there's a sting in the tail. The longer it's been on, and the less likely the outcomes I've been experiencing, the harder the fall. Once I won $20,000 in a radio competition, then crashed my car on the way to pick it up. Broke both my collar bones. Still totally worth it.

It was just that one time, the casino weekend that stretched into a week, then a month. I kept winning, of course, but I also kept drinking, and I had to keep the luck turned on to avoid getting caught by the casino thugs who don't like winners. I thought it would be fun, just to stretch the power and see how far it could go, really test my limits. Now I think it's just gone way too far, and it's too late to turn it off, or something awful and probably fatal will happen immediately. I'm up in the casino's hotel penthouse for now - they're hoping I'll spend away my winnings rather than bankrupt them - and looking out the window over the city. Behind me, I'm sure it's my doom being examined on the TV.

"A week ago, astronomers noticed the asteroid, called BES-0114 or 'Bessie', hurtling towards Earth on a direct collision course. Debate still rages over whether it's big enough to cause any damage, and whether it will hit us at all, but as the days go on, the measurements get more precise..."

I know exactly where it's going to hit: right where I am. But maybe, if I'm lucky, it will be too small to hurt anyone else.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - I'd like Lucky to be a reluctant member of a superhero group.
PPS - I don't have a story for them yet, though.

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