Daily Flash Fiction - 10-25 - 295 Words

Before going to an interview, you may want to change your name.

October 25th

Dear Diary,

          Today was the day I journeyed to the only castle in the county to apply for Dr. Von Creutz's Lab Assistant role. I tried, honestly tried, to present well. I spent forty minutes battling my perpetually messy hair to no avail. As I navigated the winding, spooky corridor, I focused hard on minimizing the bad limp, but my lazy eye insisted on drifting toward a particularly unsettling specimen jar.

          I made sure to be supremely polite. Unlike the other applicants, I have never even considered robbing a grave (except under a cloudy midnight sky. I have impeccable manners.

          I was asked to wait in a room that smelled faintly of sulfur and old socks. There was a vast, leather-bound alchemical book open on a lectern. I tried to hide slightly behind it, feeling exposed, and was reading a fascinating section on how to harvest the essence of a captured star when the Doctor himself emerged.

          Dr. Von Creutz was intimidatingly tall. He quizzed me on reagent storage and proper sterilization techniques. Everything was going splendidly until he asked for my particulars.

          "And your name, madame?" he boomed.

          I managed a slight, respectful bow, despite the eye trouble. "It is Imogene Agrona Deianira, Doctor. A pleasure." I lisped.

          The color drained from his face instantly. He listened to my lisp, saw my messy hair, and finally settled on my name.

          "Imogene Agrona Deianira," he repeated, gulping. "Good heavens. We were hoping for someone... less intrinsically terrifying. Frankly, you sound like a villain who survived a botched ritual. I'm terribly sorry, but we need someone who won't make our current inventory of body parts feel judged."

          I am too terrifyingly named to be a polite, awkward Lab Assistant. I hate this unfair universe.

Word Count: 295
Write a story that includes the words: Book, Hide, and Star.