The Flea

Look at me: bedridden, legs all smashed up, in plaster. The wheelchair in the corner wags a finger it doesn't have for the hubris I had in spades. I flew so high, like Icarus, only to come back down to earth with an crash.

It started when I built a teleportation device. No one would use the bloody thing. Too many sci-fi movies, in my opinion. In the end, sure (arrogant) that my device was good, I tested it on myself. And it worked beautifully! I became famous. I was on talk shows talking about my invention. Assuming a magnanimous air while I dumbed down the physics for the gormless masses (sorry, yes, you). I was soaring higher, metaphorically, than I ever had before.

I've never been muscly, but one morning I woke up with an absolutely terrific pair of legs. Defined calves, powerful thighs, sleek. Man, I could run. It was less running and more leaping, like how Superman flies.

Each day, I was finding I could run faster, leap further, and it wasn't that my talent was growing as such. Oh, no. It was more that I was pushing myself a little bit more each day, and hadn't yet discovered the limit of what I could do.

Oh, foolish me! I should've stopped. Slowed down. Questioned where this ability came from. Instead, I showed off. Other scientists fought over me, wanting to analyse me, my amazing pins, my DNA. It seems a flea had got into the device with me, and our DNA sort of spliced. Amazing jump-er, your average flea. Told you: Goldblum. (I'm dumbing it down again; you're welcome.)

TV channels were in a bidding war to claim me for their reality shows. The BBC won, and I was off to Europe, to leap over the Eiffel Tower live on television.

You see where this is going, right? I didn't. A smart man like me, and I didn't see the obvious. I'm kicking myself.

I hadn't attempted a jump that spectacular yet, but I was confident. And I did clear it you know, with room to spare no less. But the splintering sound of my bones on impact will haunt me forever.

++++++++++++

Word count: 366

Submitted on 31st January at 16:08

*Quick Author's Note*

Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment so I can reciprocate. Your thoughtful engagement is appreciated. If you enjoyed this, the best compliment you can give is to share it, or read another.

The story behind the story: YES, this is a tongue-in-cheek rip-off of "The Fly" starring Goldblum. I am not sorry. 😁

My "story every day" project: I'm writing a story every day this year. This one makes a 31 day streak. You can find all of them in my Index post, which you can find here. It's also pinned to the top of my profile.

If you're joining me on this "story every day" madne adventure, please leave a link to yours in the comments. Whether you're on a creative bent, like me, and writing mostly microfiction/stories, or whether you have your own, self-imposed criteria, I'd love to see what you come up with for today. I'll try to come back and edit this to link to your piece at the bottom.

If you'd like to buy the cow, (or get more free milk on Kindle Unlimited):