[ suhk-si-dey-nee-uhm ]
Noun
- Substitute.
Let’s Write…
** Either a story beginning, a story ending, a piece of flash fiction, a poem—inspired by the word, succedaneum, where does it take me? Where does it take you?
Amy sat with her boyfriend, Ben, watching a movie on the couch. The mood in the room was tense due to several factors. First, a thunderous storm raged outside, introducing flashes of light and echoing booms at irregular intervals. Second, the movie of choice was a horror film. Last was that Amy held a secret.
Ben reached into the bowl of popcorn Amy made and removed a gluttonous handful. Her eyes followed his hand to his mouth. When should I tell him?—she thought.
Amy knew she should wait until the movie was over, until all the popcorn was gone, but the secret was too much to hold.
“How’s the popcorn?” she said.
“Great,” Ben said quickly, his eyes focused on the movie.
One of the characters in the movie was about to fall victim to the mysterious beast in the woods. Lighting filled the room, followed shortly by its thunder. The storm was getting closer.
“How does the popcorn taste?”
… she whispered, staring at Ben. Her mouth curving into a wicked smirk despite her efforts to remain stoic.
Ben looked over to her. “What did you do?”
“Nothing…” she lied. “I’m just curious how it tastes?”
“It tastes like popcorn,” he said, and his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“Well…” she began, her smirk reaching full grin.
“Well, what? What did you put in it?” Ben said, looking down at the popcorn bowl with apprehension.
A flash of light filled the room, followed immediately by the cracking thunder, the storm now right atop them. The character in the movie was seized by the monster and dragged away helplessly.
Amy looked at Ben, “Would you believe that I didn’t use butter?”
“What?” Ben said, looking appalled.
“That’s right, it’s a butter substitute.”
Ben looked down at the popcorn, horrified. “I can’t believe it’s not butter!”
Notes/Thoughts/Ideas
I tried to take this in other directions, but the first thing that popped into my mind was that quote, “I can’t believe it’s not butter,” and I couldn’t get it out! Lol.
So, I don’t think I’d try to turn this into a movie, but I guess it could be a scene in something like “Scary Movie.” Or, a commercial for “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter.” Other than that, it was just fun.
This whole word of the day thing is supposed to be that anyway. A fun way to improve as a writer, and maybe inspire others to join me along the way to improve their craft.
Either way, I hope you enjoyed the quick read!
What do you think of Succedaneum?
Could you believe it wasn’t butter?
Leave your thoughts, your own story beginning/ending, flash-fiction, or whatever in the comments! Where did succedaneum or my story take you?
If you liked this story, you may enjoy this other one-minute story, Taradiddle.
Today’s word is from Dictionary.com.
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