And, shall we say… proclivities

d’Verse prosery

“Ezekiel, we’ve assigned eight of our best to the transport, and the prisoner will be securely restrained and blindfolded. They’ve been briefed on Elijah’s history and, shall we say… proclivities. We’ve ordered them to keep their distance. So, if all do their duty, they need not fear harm. Nobody could possibly escape those shackles!”

“Great, Major. Seems you won’t be needing me then. So, I’ll just…”

“Sit down, Sergeant. We’re assigning you to the transport.”

“No. Forget it!”

“Now, Ezee, we know that nobody knows Elijah like you do. Sergeant… We need you on this one. Once he’s locked safely away at ADX Florence, Chief says you’ll make Lieutenant. We just can’t take any chances is all…”

“Major, put me on that transport with a gun, and it won’t be Elijah you should be worrying about because I’m gonna blow the bastard’s brains out.”


The prompt

d’Verse prosery is flash fiction with a beginning, a middle and an end, in any genre of the author’s choice, no longer than 144 words. This very short piece of prose must include an assigned line from a poem, within the 144 word limit. Writers may change the punctuation of the assigned line, but they may not insert words within the quotation.

The assigned quotation was:

So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.

-from William Blake’s poem ‘The Chimney Sweeper

50 thoughts on “And, shall we say… proclivities”

  1. This is a wonderfully entertaining piece, David! I love how you’ve used the names of the Prophets, which adds an element of satire, and there’s also something of Hannibal Lecter meets Con Air about it – lots of fun!

    1. 💛 Ron 💛 ~ thank you!

      BTW, please feel free to call me ‘David’ – that’s my first name.

      The word ‘ben’ just means ‘son of’ in Hebrew… I know my pen name is confusing – I’m sorry!

      Yours,
      David

  2. I don’t know the story of Elijah and Ezekiel. I know a little about Moses. Sounds like “Ezee” has good reason to take the prisoner out en route. Excellent story even without knowing the peripherals on the names.

  3. Hmmm This must not be the Elijah deemed as important as Moses. Now I’m confused! Ezekiel seems focused, however!

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