Justice Ranes was lost. Spelunking! he thought. He considered his predicament. “Lost in a fucking cave is what I call it.” His words bounced off rock walls pressing in. He picked a direction. His torch would hold an hour at best. The way seemed familiar.
A turn unremembered. Back track? Determination overcame reason. He pressed on.
Ahead shadows. Switching off his light he detected a faint glow. Stepping forward the light increased. At the mouth he stopped. The sought for entrance was instead a cavern. He was doomed.
Justice was undone by a fallacious bioluminescence lurking beyond the passage.
* * *
A flash fiction challenge at The Carrot Ranch: A flash piece, 99 words (no less, no more — just like the tombstone in… um, Tombstone), where you use “the light at the end of the tunnel.” Without the cliché.
Life in Portofino 
Ha! Love the name of your character! Your short, chopped sentences are perfect for the mood of this. I knew he was doomed with that foreshadowing, “Determination overcame reason.” Good job, Charley.
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Thanks! A quick and dirty tale… and many dealing with Justice are. Glad it worked!
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Great allusion with Justice! The light we want to see might be the end of us when we don’t know what is real light and what is not.
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And how can we know (cue Pink Floyd, Us and Them)?
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Yes, that is the most, well, *fascinating* part of it all. As far as I can tell, nobody here but us chickens.
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Well done! Enjoyed Justice’s downfall (sorry, Justice). And great redo of the tired cliché. That made me laugh.
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Moral: stay out of caves. Especially those of our own making.
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Good moral, I say.
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Oh, Justice… you lost your objectivity and your reason. Into the dark, led astray by fallacious bioluminescence.
If I had a nickel…
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Glad you liked it!
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Beautiful and damning all in one story. And I loved “fallacious bioluminescence.”
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Yeah, that just sort of appeared… like a lightbulb coming on. I’m glad you liked my story. My flashes don’t get much traffic on the blog.
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Thank you!
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Love this short story. Justice does not always win.
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Not always… perhaps seldom now than ever. Glad you enjoyed it!
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