[ AHB-stuh-nut ]
Adjective
- Perversely adhering to an opinion, purpose, or course in spite of reason, arguments, or persuasion.
- Not easily subdued, remedied, or removed.
Let’s Write…
** Either a story beginning, a story ending, a piece of flash fiction, a poem–inspired by the word, obstinate, where does it take me? Where does it take you?
“Where the hell are you taking us?” Bran said, looking through his human’s eyes to where he wanted to take him, and then towards the mayhem where they were actually going.
“I know you said we should turn back,” said Hart, “that we should run—but it doesn’t feel right.”
Hart looked around his controls and pulled on a large blue lever, making their human push harder and run faster. Warning signals flashed with red lights around Hart—their human was fatigued. Hart ignored them.
“Are you getting the same readings I’m getting up here?” Bran said. “He’s exhausted. I’m not sure how long he can keep up this pace.”
“He’s got a little more left in him,” Hart said. “Focus on his breathing, Bran.”
“Hart, I don’t understand,” Bran said…
… “Why are you doing this? We always go where I say. It’s how all the other bodies do it too.” Bran flicked a switch of his own, putting the human’s focus on his breathing none the less. Hart was giving him little choice.
Hart spun around in his chair and cranked the heart-rate dial up two more notches. “I know, Bran, and I’m sorry, but there’s this feeling…” Hart turned to the mysterious orb that hung in his control room. The orb released an odd energy and filled Hart with a sensation that was urging him to take their human into the danger—against Bran’s insistence.
“A feeling?” Bran said. “Hart, you can’t even see! You can’t hear the terrible sounds, you can’t smell the burning in the air!”
“I know, Bran,” Hart said, “but for some reason, we were designed so that I have the action controls. You see the world, and I followed where you thought we should go.” Hart looked to the strange orb he never understood before. “Now, I understand what my role is. You can gather all the information, Bran, and we’ll need that. But it’s my job to choose. You can complain, or you can help make this work.”
Silence filled Hart’s control room for a heartbeat, and then Bran’s voice sounded, “Ok, turn right thirty degrees.”
Notes/Thoughts/Ideas
What if our bodies were controlled by other beings in our brains and in our hearts? I thought it was a fun idea to run with.
For a story, a bigger story, I imagined this world where all the brains (Brans) are in control of the hearts (Harts). Yet, the hearts have the actual “controls” to take the human bodies where they want. Then, there’s this one body where the heart goes against the brain’s direction.
That’s where this flash fiction came in—at that moment. The mysterious orb that Hart sees is intuition. We feel what’s right despite all our logic telling us to go the other way.
Basically, this was just a fun way to think about the differences between our heads and our hearts. I hope you enjoyed it!
What do you think of Obstinate?
Lead with the head, or with the heart?
Leave your thoughts, your own story beginning/ending, flash-fiction, or whatever in the comments! Where did obstinate or my story take you?
If you liked this idea, you may enjoy a similar idea with my short story, The Missing Sheriff.
Today’s word is from Merriam-Webster.
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