Theodore Jerome Cohen 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:
Pronghorn
by Theodore Jerome Cohen
“Hey, Rico, take a look at the muscle car that just pulled around the corner onto County Line Road,” shouted Antonio, the pronghorn. They’d been grazing on the range between Alpine and Fort Davis, Texas, watching the racing crowd gather for the night’s festivities.
“You mean the blue one? The Chevy?” replied Rico.
“Yeah. It’s a 2019 Camaro. Last I read, the top-of-the line—”
“Whoa, whoa, good buddy. What’s this ‘last I read’ stuff?”
“Well, the hands down at the Dawson Ranch left a copy of Car and Driver at the barn yesterday,” said Antonine, “so while I was helping myself to some water at the trough, I paged through the rag and read up on the latest reports. Anyway, if that’s the ZL1, the car has a supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 that’ll reach 60 miles an hour in 3.5 seconds.”
“That’s pretty good. It’d certainly give me a run for the money. Last week I overheard a woman along the fence say she clocked me doing 57 miles an hour when I raced that big red monster—”
“You mean the Dodge Challenger? You didn’t stand a chance, Rico. The limited-production Demon is rated at 840 horsepower.”
“Sheesh! Somedays it doesn’t pay to stop grazing, Antonio.”
“I know. Oh, look, Rico! The Camaro’s being challenged by a Ford Mustang. But even the 526 horsepower Coyote’s going to have a rough time of it.”
“I know. I think I’ll sit this one out!”
“I’m with you on that!”
Congratulations, Ted!