John P Marentay is the Readers’ Choice in this week’s Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Challenge. The winning entry is decided by the popular vote and rewarded with a special feature here today. (In the case of a tie, the writer who submitted an entry first is the winner per our rules.)
Without further ado, here’s the winning story:
The Dome
by John P Marentay
A true internet love story, living lives separated by light years, baring our souls through the buffer of a BBS-197. We claimed our love was purer, more true than those distracted by the physical form. We got to know each other.
Our pieces fit. We ended each other’s sentences and made each other laugh. We had our own ‘in’ jokes. Shared stories.
So we took the next step and exchanged pictures. She was beautiful. She said she thought I was cute. We took 3d scans and got to know the curves and crevices of each other, getting intimate with simulacrum where we imagined the souls of our lovers would reside.
In tune, in touch, in love. I asked her to marry me in the old fashioned ‘death do you part’ way. .
So she came. We went from the port to the justice. Swore the contract. A deputy threw rice.
I took her home. We made love, but something was off. She didn’t smell right, didn’t taste right. She wasn’t as responsive as she was in my head. I wasn’t as smart or clever as she thought. Nothing was right. We didn’t fit.
It would have been better for her not to have come.
What a great story! Congratulations…
Thank You Judith! I’m honored and honestly, a little baffled.