Daily Flash Fiction

Sunlight bathes Zach's orderly apartment when a peculiar sight interrupts his sock-folding: a letter sealed with wax and tied with a thick string, beckoning with the cryptic message, "By nightfall, the foot of destiny awaits. Follow the string."

Intrigued, Zach follows the string under the bed, where a deep voice whispers, "Follow... the string..." He ends up at a carved chest, heart pounding. He opens it, expecting the bizarre... only to find a giant sock.

"Arthur?" he calls, suspecting his prankster best friend.

Arthur erupts from under the bed, disguised in a bedsheet and clutching a giant stuffed foot, tears streaming down his face. "Gotcha!" he wheezes.

Zach sighs, a smile betraying his annoyance. "Foot of destiny? A sock?"

"Dude, your face!" Arthur chortles. "Like you saw a unicorn in a tutu!"

"Warn me!" Zach grumbles, a smile growing.

Arthur throws an arm around him. "Admit it, you were intrigued."

Zach concedes with a grin. "Okay, okay. But next time, no more foot fetishes."

Arthur feigns innocence. "Foot fetishes? Where did you...?"

Laughter cuts him off. Arthur leads Zach to a box of chocolates attached to the giant sock's string. "Destiny brought you treats," he winks.

Sharing chocolate, the prank forgotten, they bask in the warmth of friendship and the memory of a bizarre, hilarious joke. As the sun sets, casting long shadows, Zach knows one thing: with Arthur, life will never be dull.