Boy Toy
Sometimes you can't sleep. You get up and read the news.
World's Largest Internet Pedophile Ring Busted-
240 children rescued, 184 arrested, including teachers, police officers
and scout leaders, over 70,000 website members - all will be questioned.
You should be glad they're shut down, but you're hung up on a quote about a man turned on by boys wearing diapers.
The next day, at the local burger joint, you see a man eating ice cream. He pulls his spoon out of his mouth. Curls his head to his shoulders. The smooth, green mound of mint oreo glistens as he waves to your three year old son, seated on your lap.
You return the man's stare, wondering -
Is he one of them?
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9
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127 words
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Author's Note
This was up at Postcard Shorts in May.
In this and other subjects, I've had these moments by the fistful.
Well done. fave
Yep - I find I wonder that a lot. Very good piece.
Emily, A painful topic for many of us, parents and children in equal measure - but this is very good work. fave
Yes, we need to be vigilant. Cautionary paranoia. Still, it's not all creeps. There are many, many good and decent people in the world.
Important subject. Important piece. Glad you wrote about it.
*
Thank you for the fave, Robert. Glad it resonated with you.
Thank you, also Gill.
I appreciate your comments and fave MaryAnne.
I agree with you Bill, we need to be vigilant and cautionary. And yes, this piece teeters with paranoia - of course there are many wonderful people in the world too. Thanks for reading and sharing your comments.
Sometimes you can't help being paranoid, it's the nature of a loving parent to be suspicious ... hard to draw the lines.
fav
Thanks, James. Life is a constant redrawing of lines, isn't it?
I remember this piece from the RT...the weight, and the leap from the news article which is disturbing enough, to the local burger joint...that moment of "intimacy" with a stranger that can happen by just shared looks...and the wonder, the can't help it (parent or not) of the what ifs. You have captured this so eloquently in such a microscopic manner.
Fave.
Awe. Thank you, Robert. I think your comment may be more eloquent than my piece - but I thank you all the same.
It's a scary world and you've nailed it with reverberating precision. Good work. *
In just 127 words you manage to expose so many of our fears by making it personal. This, for me, is the power of Flash. Good work *
nicely done.
I couldn't sleep so I got up and started reading. You captured my attention and held it with your story. *
"Is he one of them?"
People give me that look a lot, especially parents with children. I usually ignore them, especially the children. Which is kinda sad; but I don't blame them. They should be cautious. The world is strange, stranger than fiction.