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Life's a Zoo, by Jim Bartlett

2/8/2018

 
Milt, being one with nature, loved all creatures, great and small.
At least until the monkeys came along.
With all their energy, he thought for sure they'd be more like the industrious goats, who trimmed the hedges, clipped the grass.
Or maybe like the giraffe, lending his talents to putting the dishes in the high shelves. Cleaning the cobwebs along the ceiling corners.
The spotted leopard made the bed each morning, the sheets tucked so neatly, nice and tight. And the floors had never been so clean until the tortoise and iguana took up a broom.
But the monkeys...
They played their music way too loud; stayed out until untold hours of the night. Left trails of banana peels on the stairway. Walked around the house in their underwear. Wrestled on the sofa, the recliner, the loveseat.
Hogged the TV remote. Looked at who-knows-what on the Internet.
And then the hippo told him of the bathtub, its water overflowing, running down the hall. The final straw.
He ran some, swam some, to the bathroom, finally turning off the faucet and pulling the chain on the plug. Enough of this monkey business, he stormed to their room.
But, alas, they were gone, closet empty, carpet torn, paintings missing from the wall.
He leaned his head against the door, letting out a long sigh. Now that he thought about it, it really wasn't much of a surprise.
Their rent was a month overdue.
Carol
2/8/2018 05:22:48 pm

Jim's stories never fail to make me smile. As an added bonus this little beauty also made me chuckle. Thanks for that Jim.

Jim Bartlett
2/8/2018 05:27:50 pm

Thanks, Carol!! With all the serious out there today, I'm so glad to hear that chuckle. ;-)
Jim

Lynn
2/8/2018 05:44:13 pm

Made my morning. Thanks Jim

Jim Bartlett
2/8/2018 05:52:48 pm

Awesome! Thanks for reading, Lynn!!

Mike
2/8/2018 06:18:26 pm

Just what I needed to start my day!!
Thanks Jim!! 😊👍

Jim Bartlett
2/8/2018 06:37:05 pm

Thanks Mike! Glad it helped get your day going! ;-)

Tom
7/8/2018 11:43:20 pm

So the Monkeys are teenagers? Made me chuckle as well.

Jim Bartlett
7/8/2018 11:58:38 pm

They sure acted like some of the teenagers I've known along the way (maybe even having been one many, many, many, many moons ago ;-)). Thanks for the read and comments, Tom!!


Comments are closed.

    Longer
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    Longer Friday Flash Fiction Stories

    Friday Flash Fiction is primarily a site for stories of 100 words or fewer, and our authors are expected to take on that challenge if they possibly can. Most stories of under 150 words can be trimmed and we do not accept submissions of 101-150 words.


    However, in response to demand, the FFF team constructed this forum for significantly longer stories of 151-500 words. Please send submissions for these using the Submissions Page.

    Stories to the 500 word thread will be posted as soon as we can mange.

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    One little further note. Posting and publishing 500-word stories takes a little time if they need to be formatted, too.
    ​Please note that we tend to post longer flash fiction exactly as we find it – wrong spacing, everything.

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