“A femur you say?”
Detective Constable took up his notebook, raised his left eyebrow scrutinizing the old drunkard.
Through smell of pee and booze, Constable could distinguish a sweet scent of something rotting.
“… and how do you know it’s human?”
The old man scratched his unshaven chin, closed his watery eyes but remained silent.
“… and you don’t look like a doctor”
“My name is Joe….”, sighing the old man remained sprawled on the wet concrete, patting his empty trouser-leg.
“I know it’s a femur, ‘cause last month I could walk on it”
He met Detective Constable’s gaze.
“I hate rats”
I don’t know what this story came from except I felt like doing a dialogue. I hope you don’t feel too sick, but life can be tough on the streets.
Friday Fictioneers is a blogging community lead be Rochelle Wisoff-Fields, and this week it’s time to congratulate her for the TV interview. I’m quite busy this week but I will visit as many as I can throughout the weekend and the beginning of next.
—
March 9. 2016
Björn Rudbergs writings 
Sorry/Not sorry – as the kids say, but morbid humor that I have, I laughed.
There is a morbid humor in this… I know…
I’ve hardly ever seen a rat up close but I know they’re capable of a lot of damage
I wonder how it is have your leg eaten from you when you sleep.
Interesting genre this week Bjorn. I like this dialogue format of telling the story which I’m still trying to learn. Well done.
I’m trying the same… dialogue is fun to do…
I agree – dialogue is fun! And in this case, morbid. Eww..
Ha.. yes morbid is a wonderful word,
It’s funny how words we read can stick with us. It occurred to me that my drunkard and my notebook got together in your subconscious, along with a yen for dialogue and whatever else you’ve been reading, and there you have it. That’s my theory, anyway.
Ah.. Yes inspirations are funny to backtrack
This is the best! I love that twisted ending. 🙂
I guess you can’t have a “Star” without a few “rats,” eh?
There might be a hidden poem in the italics: “femur you look hate.” Fem Ur, you loo Kate. 🙂 Just kidding. I don’t know what you mean, if anything. But it’s still something fun to play with. But I do think you hid “cons-table” inside “Constable.” So maybe the rats represent some thugs who conned him in some way. Or maybe he just owed them something he couldn’t give, so they cut off his leg. Regardless, I very much like your story.
Oh, and the name Joe reminds me of the movie Meet Joe Black, but I’m not sure it’s related. Although, I can probably connect just about anything. 😛
Ha.. Yes the rats could be the rodent type of humans too.. Make it even worse though.
‘It seems that the dammed rats did for him constable’ and of course the booze. But check his coat for hidden property, then send his artificial leg for repair. In the mean time give him a bath.
‘I liked this tale of dark humour’ and I related to this having worked in hospital that deloused tramps in the 1960…
I don’t know how far from truth it really is.. But the world is grim out there.
Brilliant, gruesome–I love it!
It’s good to try dialogue every now and then… Maybe it could be a scene in a book to come.
Pretty gruesome there, Bjorn. Good work. This photo rather demands a dark tale, I think, and you were certainly up for the challenge this week. Kudos.
MG
I tried to figure out what I saw in the garbage bag… And alas I could only see bones.
Good story, Bjorn. People know the homeless often sleep on the ground but probably don’t think about the rats, mice, etc. crawling on them. Really sad. The poor here who have shelter put food in tins to keep it safe from being eaten by rats, etc. Well done. —- Suzanne
Rats can be pretty scary I think.
Dear Björn,
This photo certainly has brought out the dark side, hasn’t it? Gruesome story and well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
I so much wondered what was in that garbage bag…
Eeeewwww! That’s a sick one! Kinda funny though.
It looked so strange that thing in the garbage bag… So that’s where my mind went.
Yeeks! I had a bit of a smile over this – I think it’s Joe’s matter-of-fact attitude 🙂
Maybe if you’ve lost all, a leg is not that bad.
Such a diverse range of stories from this prompt, and yours is one such. It’s kind of funny in a really repulsively sad way. Well done.
It seems to be a story that makes you giggle and being nauseous at the same time…
Dark and funny, told in a matter of fact way. Deadly combination, great piece
Ha, yes when I started to write I actually didn’t know where it would end.
Terrific, Bjorn, I love your dark side.
I will probably like your other side too, if you ever show it.
And yes, I laughed at this, it was great.
Every week I promise myself that it’s time to be sweet… But somehow I always fail.
Eeeewww! This made me cringe!
Me too..
Oh boy!
Gruesome reality.
It probably could happen…
Well, yuck – in a good way. I can’t imagine rats doing that although I’ve read they used to eat babies in the slums during the early part of the 1900’s.
If they are many I can imagine it happen.
Ewwwwww! A shocking twist. He really should be groaning and screaming in pain, but he’s probably in constant pain from all his other ailments as well.
I think you’re right… And it has happened that homeless people has been eaten alive..
it must really be a big rat to cause that damage and he was too wasted to feel the pain.
It was most likely more than one rat…
Gruesome but could be true since drunks don’t feel much and what they do, they ignore…but the blood?
It has happened.. I just googled…. I think it must have been eaten little by little.
From the old man’s description, I gather that the leg was well marinated in cheap booze. I wonder if the rat got drunk too.
Most likely they become drunk and entered a feeding frenzy
A great surprise punch line, though definitely macabre.
It just came to me from the sky…
Ugh. Very, very dark humour here. The dialogue is great.
Thank you.. Dialogue is not my strongest part, but every know and then it works.
Detective Constable reminds me of Major Major. An odd little story that I’ll be chewing over for some time to come…
I actually thought about Major Major.. (Especially when he was promoted to Colonel Major)
Love it! I saw the femur, too.
It was the first thing I saw..
I’m staying away from trash cans for awhile. Too many people in them who actually mattered. The story mattered WELL! Super, Bjorn!
I actually always stay clear of plastic bags I don’t know…
Yes, that was pretty gross. lol
Indeed – I think gross can be a new genre.
You can’t beat a nice hunk of femur for supper! Hope the rats enjoyed even though the old guy doesn’t sound too delicious.
I think rats are usually not that particular…. Any fresh femur has to better than the rotting cabbage (for a rat)
Oh, eek! What a punch at the end. Well done.
Ha.. When it’s really bad you can’t expect it to turn worse.
Rats eating human flesh. No, I’m not feeling sick at all, Bjorn! You really know how to work a scene.Dialogue is great. I hate rats, too.
I hate them even more, realizing what they can do…
Whoa! I was not ready for the closing lines! Well done!
I was not ready for it when I wrote it either.
Creepy but realistic unfortunately. I like dark humour seeing pain and suffering, sometimes sharing the dark side of life in this easy to read story. Well done!!
Maybe making easy to read stories are good for having them read.
sweet scent of something rotting? interesting
Sweet can be quite sickening…..
Ouch! That must have hurt. Or maybe not.