By Tracy Royce
The little girl standing before Seymour’s vendor booth wore a green sweatshirt with a cartoon flying saucer and ‘I Heart Unidentified Flying Objects’ emblazoned on it. She smiled. Seymour didn’t. Adjusting his glasses, he said, “Actually, they’re called ‘UAPs’ now.” Seymour could see the girl’s lower lip begin to tremble, but he went right on anyway. “It stands for ‘Unidentified Anomalous Phenomen—’”
When the lights in the convention hall came back on, Seymour’s booth was empty. Only the smell of ozone remained. And the little girl, in a voice sounding almost insectile, replied, “No one in the galaxy likes a know-it-all.”
Good one, Tracy! That last line is great.
So glad you liked it!
Love the sense of humor and the twist on who the true expert is. Not a day goes by that I don’t wish for the power the “girl” in the UFO sweatshirt has!
Thanks so much!
I admit that as a kid I was a bit of a “Seymour” myself…
This is sexy brain writing, full stop AND I think I’ve got every right to say that post craniotomy this week ?????? Love you!
Wow–thank you SO much. And best wishes for a speedy recovery!
The power we wish we all had in the hands of a little girl? Yes, please. There is a sort of joke among my fellow neurospicies that when our divergence shows, that it is our human suit slipping. This story speaks to that.
I love that way of seeing it! Thanks so much for reading and for sharing that.
Growing up sucks! I heat being Seymour. As a parent to young children you get to be in their world until they become teenagers.
So glad it resonated!
You packed a lot of imagery into few words!
Thanks so much!
Spicy and insightful. Thank you.
So glad you liked it. Thanks!
Loved it. A great twist that met what I think is a standard. It was a complete surprise, but totally believable. And fun,
I’m so pleased you appreciated it–thank you so much!
Erm hold on just one second! Seymour is right! UAP is the correct term. this poem is a disgrace to science itself!! Delete this or you WILL hear from my lawyers within 2 buisness days. *sigh* some people…
Love it! Very unique!
“voice sounding insecty” loved it.