Camber

[rowyn]

A small blue motorcycle pulled into the gas station just after dawn.  The rider, a short plump woman neither young nor old, dismounted and took off her helmet.  She hung it off the handlebar by the chin guard and reached for the pump. The scrolling LCD display beside it read, Please swipe credit or debit card.  To pay with cash, see attendant

Comments

[terrycloth]

Heh. I had to reread it twice and then search to find the word of the day in there. 'Camber' doesn't stand out and shout 'hey, I'm not really a word' like the rest of them have.

[tuftears]

Indeed, but it does make sense in context!

[rowyn]

It doesn't have much to do with the story, but I guess I shouldn't feel bad about that since "pellucid" didn't have much to do with its story, either. :)

[terrycloth]

If you wanted to make this a collected series you'd probably want to fix that. Acecia was in the right vein.

[minor_architect]

Ooo! Is this the same lady who gambled away all of her memories in the "Conduce" story? :)

[rowyn]

Yep, it's her again. No guarantees whether she will or will not pop up again later. :) I am pretty determined to have each story be self-contained, though. Or at least not feel like it's dangling and waiting for a continuation.

[jordangreywolf]

Ooo. Wicked-awesome-cool! Of course, you know, you're just teasing us with so many mysteries here:

What happened that she was willing to give away her memories?

How far, seriously, can she hope to get on a motorcycle, with a wallet of bills, and no references, no job, no connections?

What sort of world is this - with modern trappings, and matter-of-fact monsters? Is it just an "our world, but with monsters"? Was it like our world, but something happened and monsters appeared (or were always there and only recently chose to reveal themselves), but people adapted and life went on?

I don't want to selfishly pressure you to write more on this - these things work best when they come naturally, I think - but I found the continuity to be a pleasant surprise. (An "Easter Egg"? ;D )

[rowyn]

I suspect I'll do more in this setting. I like the matter-of-fact-monsters, and one downside to flash fiction is that I'm more likely to write fiction in a 'real world' setting because it requires no explanation.

The monsters kind of want an explanation, but they don't require one. Or at least, I haven't provided on and it seems to be working anyway. Anyway, of the stories I've done so far, this is the only one that's made me want to explore the setting and characters further. :)

[sythyry]

Is this #2 in a series?

[rowyn]

It's #5 in a series! But yes, the nameless woman here is the same one from "Conduce". :)

[detroitfather]

I remember reading about camber in a little How To Drive A Sports Car" book I had when I was a kid.

I can hardly remember a time when the phrase "negative camber corner" wasn't in my head somewhere.

[rowyn]

Hee, of course not. It doesn't count as an obscure word in your line of work *or* hobby! :)

[koogrr]

Shasa: "This makes absolutely no sense at all!"

Kinsha: "It does, you have to think about it."

Shasa: "I did, five seconds worth."

Kinsha: "... That's not much thinking."

Shasa: "I think really fast."

Ess flicks out her tongue.