<This piece of flash fiction I wrote for FC2021 did well at the panel. Posting it here for all to enjoy!>



Typist

by James L. Steele

No other role for a dinosaur than a monster, Isha thought as she sat with the other extras on the closed-off street. Chase the car, pretend to maim the children. All in a day’s work.

Makeup artists painted her teeth red and added scars to her scales. She glanced down the line of sitting reptiles. They had never hurt anyone in their lives, so they had to be painted extensively.

The humans on the other side of the street sat on chairs, scripts in hand. Isha wondered what it would be like to have lines to memorize. She liked to think she could learn how to read, but she was always needed for makeup or a sound check.

She looked beyond the actors, past the crew. Isha noticed a secretary at a typewriter. Her hands...

She rose and crossed the street. The producer was dictating a memo about budget overruns, and the woman’s deft hands on the keyboard fascinated Isha. She looked down at her own. Three fingers, long claws.

By now the humans had noticed a reptile on their side of the set and were alerting security. The producer paused and looked at her. Isha met eyes with the secretary.

“I wish I could do that.”

The woman looked bewildered for a moment, probably having trouble understanding Isha’s accent, and then she smiled. Isha backed away and crossed the street again. The makeup team now applied fake blood to her claws. She began typing in the air.