Here's my entry

"Voices," as inspired by this photo on Clarity of Night for the short fiction contest.



"Don't touch."

"What? Why not?"

"You heard me newbie. Put your hand down."

"Okay - no need to get testy, dude. Putting hand down. Have you always been so bossy? And why are we whispering?"

"I keep us alive."

"Us? There’s more!? Dude, that's friggin' awesome! We’ll have kick-ass parties!"

"Great. Juvenile delinquent. Just what we need."

"Whatever, dude. Sounds like it was a little boring in here before I arrived! Face it. You NEED me!"

"Great. Narcissistic too."

"Narsi-what?!"

"Nevermind. The rules: hands to self, talk low, and speak responsibly."

"So many rules! Why haven’t I heard anyone else speak, BTW?"

"Listen, "dude," shut it for 10 seconds, and someone would have a chance to speak."

"Sorry. It's just so AWESOME! You know he talks TO me! Sometimes he DOES what I SAY!"

"Yes, so you must be careful. We whisper because our voices hold great power."

"Really?!"

"Watch through the eye. 'Get it! Is it sharp enough?!'"

"Dude, wow. He is sharpening it! You didn't even tell him to do that! That's friggin' AWESOME!!"

"Power of suggestion. Whisper."

"Oops - sorry. Will he do bad things?"

"Not all of us speak responsibly; we've spent years silenced in result. We can endure silence, but that's hell for him. He needs us."

"You actually care?”

"After several decades, he grows on you."

"You know, you're a cool old dude.”

"I'll take that as a compliment."