"Looks can be deceiving," Hammer quoted.
"Sure, but they aren't always," Lynn countered. "Look at the man. He's short, thin, green. Green. What else but one of the Visitors?"
"Well that much is obvious."
"What then?"
"I meant like his age," Hammer argued with a dismissive wave for Lynn's question. "You never know with Visitors. Maybe he's a grandfather, maybe barely past puberty. He looks like a forty year old human, mostly. Small but not particularly ugly to us but maybe other Visitors think him hideous. Maybe that's why he's standing in the cosmetics section."
"He's standing in the cosmetics section because it's the one nearest the door."
"So appearances suggest, but he could be heading out, or making a second round of the store."
"And still damp?" Lynn asked.
"Okay, that one's hard to explain. And maybe the green clothes are a fashion statement, so he's handsome, vein, and looking for hair highlights. Or coloring. I don't recall too many with green hair. Not too popular among the Visitors maybe."
"Hair? Oh, yeah, that is hair. I didn't think they had any at all, green or otherwise." Lynn peered at the man between suits on the hanging rack they were supposed to be straightening.
"Oh, yeah, that's why I couldn't think of what other colors of hair they might have. Let's go see what he wants. He doesn't seem to be making much progress in his shopping."
They walked over. Hammer had made the suggestion but he hung back and let Lynn do the talking.
"May I help you, sir," Lynn said to the man, wondering if the green visitor spoke English.
"Hey, yeah, do any of these skin cleaners take off paint? The painters outside just knocked a bucket on me and it's drying fast."
Prompt: the phrase "Looks can be deceiving"
Check out other stories based on this prompt at:
http://writeanything.wordpress.com/2011/04/08/fiction-friday-challenge-202/
Friday, April 8, 2011
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Lol, loved it. Poor man, visitor indeed! Totally different take to the other FF contributions, well done. I particularly like the voyeuristic slant :) You can check out my contribution to FF at my blog www.wordsonthepage.com.au
ReplyDeleteLook forward to reading more of your stuff in the next FF challenge. Tanya
Very spiffy story, not where I thought it was going to go so nice twist there. Thanks for sharing. I like the idea that the paint is drying too fast as well, even more amusing.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed that story!! great take on the prompt.
ReplyDeletemy FF for this week can be found here.
http://annieevett.blogspot.com/2011/04/decipio-lemures.html
Loved this story. The twist came as a real surprise.
ReplyDeleteThanks to all for the comments. Glad to know it worked!
ReplyDelete