The Anatomy of a Slip

Tim gazed curiously at his reflection in the mirror, his moral slip weighing heavily on his already fractious mind. Laughter from beyond the bathroom pierced through flesh, sinew, muscle, and marrow—straight to his metaphysical conscience.

How could he have been so selfish? Of course, he knew the answer.

When does a slip transcend into something more? Is it merely context, circumstance, or something deeper? When the intent behind it is crooked and decrepit, a slip is anything but simple.

A slip becomes the unravelling of a man. The making of the person they become.

Forgiveness is never beyond our reach. Tim had heard that, read that, knew it. Still. How can he receive forgiveness for something he took great pleasure in doing?

The evisceration of his conscience was painful to bear, but really it was his due. Through the agony, he accepted the ecstasy that came from what he had achieved. Beyond forgiveness, life was difficult, as what little humanity remained within him raged on, fighting battles he no longer wished to win.

A smile cracked across his grief-ravaged face, as he walked towards the laughter. Lies would be told, hearts broken, but he was happy.

Happy in his abandonment of any servitude to good and humanity.

Elation, for Tim, came from knowing he had surpassed such rudimentary notions.

No good or bad, just bad and worse. And why stay bad, when you can be worse?

*

Thanks for reading!

Author's Notes: For my ABCommunities Challenge, Fiction was next. I've obviously written lots of fiction, so was going to either finish a story that was too long for the Absurdist Awakening challenge or do something else. I did something else. The above.

As a warning, teaser whatever, as Fiction is this week. The week from 16/04/25 to 22/04/25 sees me land in the Filthy community. Be warned, be very warned. Or teased. Or intrigued.

Here are other things:

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