Master Manipulator
My take on this weeks Friday Fictioneers . . . And if you haven’t done so already make sure to link up and read what others have come up with.
Janice was eccentric. People thought she was crazy. Crazy she was not. She painstakingly choreographed every action right down to people’s reactions. A master manipulator.
She sauntered to the corner where he was standing. She started slowly, but rhythmically shifting from one foot to the other. When Janice saw she had his attention she began a flash mob of one routine. The light changed, she stopped, and crossed the street. When she got to the fire hydrant she heard “Hey, wait up.”
She smiled, and when he approached his eyes were perfectly glazed over. “Another to add to my collection.”
Copyright -Renee Heath
33 responses to “Master Manipulator”
Lay it on me
Writing Challenges
Yeah Write
The Ink Slinger 
She will get her come-uppance! Not everyone can be manipulated. Great story. Inventive use of prompt too. Enjoyed. Ann
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No doubt she will, but who will be able to resist her. I’m glad you enjoyed. Thanks.
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Oh many! 🙂
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Sorry, but when I finished, I also thought, “ooooooh, creepy!”
I liked this very much, and I hope he didn’t end up in a large vat or anything like that.. =)
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Thanks for stopping by troy. I’m glad you enjoyed it. With the whimsey of the picture, I wanted to go non creepy. But oh well, the brain had something else planned.
Actually, I’m thinking about expanding this piece a bit. And him ending up in a vat is not a bad idea, but a vat of what.
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I wonder how many other poor souls she has captured? What a scamp.
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Oh rgayer55, this scamp has some serious moves; so who knows how many pour unsupecting souls she’s got in her mitts. And who knows what she’s doing with them.
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The scoundrel! 😀
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Janice has been called a scoundrel and a scamp and wicked witch. I like it. 🙂 She’s got some pretty wicked mojo working on these fellas or maybe she’s got some chicks in her midst too.
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She is soo sofisticated, but men are so easy to manipulate 🙂
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Bjorn, thanks for stopping by. Your’re the only guy so far to say ‘men are easy to manipulate.’ You might have to take cover and be prepared to defend that 🙂 I however will not confirm or deny that statement.
Maybe she’ll meet her match soon enough.
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Intriguing manipulation… 🙂
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howanxious thanks for stopping by and she definitely has something going on.
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Ah… Lovely and sinister, just how I like them! 🙂
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Thanks for stopping by freyathewriter and I’m glad you enjoyed it. 🙂 Sinister seems to by modus operandi of late. My mother is wondering if I taken a page out of Poe.
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Sounds like she’s building an army of willing slaves. I wouldn’t be surprised if she turns out to the be the Wicked Witch and he find himself as a flying monkey.
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Hi David and thanks for stopping by. ‘Willing slaves’ hmmm. In a sense I guess that can be said, but I wonder if they would follow her if she didn’t do her little dance. Flying monkey? Like where you’re going where you’re going with that thought. 🙂
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Flash mob of one–lol
It sounds like he’s entangled in her web.
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Thanks for dropping by pattisj. He is definitely entangled in her web. I hope you enjoyed reading my take on the picture.
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A little sinister choreography I’d say.
shalom,
Rochelle
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Just a little bit sinister :). Thanks for stopping by Rochelle. Hope you enjoyed it.
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I was intrigued. I liked how her inner character traits worked against the delicate dancer image.
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Hmmm. Interesting when I wrote this, I didn’t picture her dancing as delicate, but it certainly can be depending upon how she’s dancing. Thanks for that interpretation.
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As an ex dancer I knew ballerinas have the inner and outer strength of athletes – the trick is to make it look effortless and ‘play’ delicate. 😉 I must have given her the benefit of the doubt!
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Neens, I definitely agree with you. Ballerinas are some of the strongest people I know and they move with such precision and grace and it all looks so effortless. I’m glad you gave her the benefit of the doubt because it got me thinking about her movements in another way.
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I was a little bit spooked too, but in a good way. Great job 🙂
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Thanks Helen, I’m glad you enjoyed it. And it was definitely fun to write.
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Your story made me think of “Flashdance”–not literally, but just the dancing. Manipulators are often difficult to spot and I think she must have excelled. I saw the ballerina, but spun off from that quite a distance.
janet
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Interesting that you should mention Flashdance because when I went back and reread it after publishing it, that popped in my head. Oh she definitely excelled in whatever she was doing.
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There’s something scary about all this. I like it well done. Got me thinking.
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Thanks. I wasn’t trying to go scary, but that’s definitely where it went. The photo is such a fun and funky one that I wanted it tobe that way, but alas is writers are a slave to our crestive brains.
Just curious what did you start thinking about?
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My usual response to the prompts is to go blank. Then I focused on two things the girl in the dress and the man. The girl in white was MM. My problem was how to explain the photo so in the editing process I snuck in reference to his sister. In 100 words you do take some licence and of course the old adage – never let the truth stand in the way of a good story.
Thanks again.
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