”Why?”

Flash fiction, Dialogue

March 28, 2015

"Why did you do it?"

"Oh, come on, really? That's the question you want to ask? That's… I d—No. I'm not going to answer that."

"W-what the fuck? Really? That just makes me more suspicious, don't it?"

"Well, that's not… I didn't, okay?"

"He saw you!"

" Who?! You still haven't said that!"

"A friend, okay? You don't know him, why does the name matter?"

"Because I don't… He couldn't possibly have seen anything."

"Damn, you expect me to believe that. Really? You won't tell me what the hell happened?"

"NOTHING happened. I don't know how else to say it. We went out, we said goodbye, and left. How did he even see us? How did he know who I was if I don't know him?"

"He found me in the bar. I said my friend left and he asked me how you looked. The description matched, ok?"

"Okay, so you're basing it off a loose description? What did he say, a guy with black hair and a rough stubble? Sort of chubby? Wore an old polo shirt? Could be anyone."

"I don't remember exactly what he bloody said. That's… irrelevant."

"How do you even know he was talking about me, then?!"

"Why are you getting so uppity about him, huh?"

"Because you're accusing me of something I didn't do. I hate that, okay? I honestly hate being accused of… we just left, alright?"

"Just left? I… you need some time? If… you need to sort out some stuff, or—,"

"What the hell's that supposed to mean? Sort out—"

"I means you're lying your fucking face off!"

"I'm not l—"

"It means you can't even keep a straight face to me! It means that you can't let me leave here until you're absolutely sure I don't accuse you of something, when I know that you're not telling me what happened!"

"You just… who are you going to tell this to?"

" What?"

"Who are you going to tell this to?"

"I… You're seriously worried I'll just tell it to people? Dude, I went straight here. To talk to you. To confirm what he said. And right now you're acting real fucking weird about it."

"I did not do anything."

"Then what happened?"

"We left. We said goodbye, we shook hands, and we left. She went right, I went left. That is it."

"Then why would my friend say you didn't?"

"I—Don't fucking know, okay? I don't know who he saw or where or why or what the heck, but it was not me."

"You absolutely sure? Are you bloody sure? We had been drinking."

"Positive. One hundred percent. Jesus, how could I forget something like that, if that really happened? No chance."

"…Okay."




Thoughts:

I really like writing dialogue so I'm surprised it took me over a week to use this to write some. I like writing arguments and this one was an exercise in getting all emotion through only in their words--no "he said" or "he threw his arms up angrily", which I generally tend to do a little too much in other writing, so this was good practice in trying to get that type of emotion through only in how they are saying it.

Other than that, I feel the piece itself is ok to good. Not terrible and it's got some parts I like, but it's a little too... all over the place. I couldn't quite figure out how to place the characters fast enough and it shows a little, I think.