John D. Ottini is the winner in this week’s Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Challenge. Please note, this week we had a tie, and the IU rules state: In the event of a tie in the voting, the entry which posted earliest will be chosen as the winner. You can read all the rules here.
The winning entry is rewarded with a special feature here today and a place in our collection of winners which will be published as an e-book at year end.
Without further ado, here’s the winning entry:
Tom’s Turmoil
by John D. Ottini
“What the hell was that?” I say turning towards the sound.
In the distance I see two men dressed in camouflage gear, carrying weapons, but they don’t look like any hunting rifles I’ve ever seen.
Maybe they won’t spot me, I think.
No such luck. One man waves to the other then points towards me.
They begin sprinting towards me. My instinct is to stay put and see what they want, but these dudes look pretty intimidating and I’m not about to get myself killed in the middle of nowhere.
I run for dear life.
As I clear the first row of trees I hear a popping sound and something flies past my left ear.
“What the hell’s going on?” I scream, as I reach the river’s edge. It’s to turbulent to traverse by swimming, so I begin jumping from boulder to boulder hoping to make it across before they get here.
Halfway across I hear a voice say, “Hands up Johnny.”
I freeze, raise my hands over my head and reply, “This is a big misunderstanding boys. My name’s Tom, not Johnny.”
“Bull.” I hear one of them say as he discharges his weapon.
Something strikes me in the back and I tumble into the cold stream.
I pop up out of the water terrified and watch as they pull off their masks and begin to apologize.
“Sorry man, we really thought you were Johnny.”
“Am I gonna die?”
“No” they reply smiling, “It’s just paintball.”
lol – nice twist, and congratulations!
Thank you A.C Flory
I’d like to congratulate Terveen Gill and Joe Wocoski. Either one of your stories were good enough to be the winner.
Congratulations John!