The Selection

The lumpy, disfigured gourd grimaced in the pumpkin lot.

Sarah grimaced back. “Sorry, you’re too ugly.”

Then she smiled, realizing it reminded her of old Uncle Desmond, with his one big eye, hilarious boil and bad manners. Oh, how he swore like a drunken sailor.

She pointed. “That one, please.”

Thank you for reading my 50-word story. Comments are welcome!

I wrote this story when I used to run a weekly micro-fiction contest. The prompt was “pumpkin.”

The story makes a statement, I think, about tolerance and acceptance. Life is too short to spend it finding fault in others or judging people on superficial standards. This is a difficult and divisive time in history, and I for one am looking forward to calmer times, when we come together more than we drift apart, and we love one another for our differences.