Crikey! Flash Fiction

So Veronica Scott challenged me to use the following words in a short story: crikey, chaos, defenestrate, copacetic, dog, and, obstreperous. She should have known that giving "crikey" to an Aussie would only mean one thing ... yowie! We were allowed to drop one word, so I resisted the temptation (and so did Charon) to defenestrate the hero. Enjoy :)

"Crikey!"

The chaos? Well, Cerberus was the sort of dog who caused chaos wherever he went. Thunderclap, the ogre toothfairy, crying in the corner, yeah, that was unexpected. But I’m an Aussie yowie. I can cope with anything.

I headed straight for Charon’s collection of romance novels—the only things unaffected by the chaos, shelved from floor to ceiling behind his desk. Of course they were copacetic. Charon is so bloody particular about everything. Shame about his desk being upside down. The computer lay in shards beneath it.

Thunderclap whimpered. “Charon’s gonna kill me. He said to keep Cerberus on a lead.”

The mutt shook its three heads, drool flying everywhere, then collapsed at the ogre toothfairy’s stony feet. A tongue licked a lichen-decorated nail.

I shrugged. “No sympathy from me, mate. Ya know Cerberus is bloody obstreperous.”

Ah, gotcha! Charon had tried to hide the Here Be Magic authors’ books on his top shelf. I leapt up, snaffled them, and landed silently on the broken desk.

A large hand settled with equal silence on my shoulder. A very large hand, calloused from handling the oars. Charon.

Thunderclap and Cerberus bolted for the door. It slammed shut behind them. Treacherous bastards!

Alone with Charon, my arms full of purloined books.

Crikey!