For this weeks Flash! Friday we had to incorporate man on man conflict into a story about the following prompt:

Kinderspiel. CC2.0 photo by Hartwig HKD.Kinderspiel. CC2.0 photo by Hartwig HKD.

Tree’s company

The two men stood and stared.
“What is it Bill?”
“Dunno Ben.”
“Can we eat it?”
There was a loud audible crunching, following by gagging, “Nope.”
“What about the green bits?”
More gagging, “Still nope.”
“I can’t help but feel this thing is important somehow. What’s it doing sitting here in the middle of the desert?”
“Dunno. Maybe it stopped for a rest?”
“Send a vid to the oracle. He’ll know what it is.”

After a few moments the widget buzzed, and the tall man scanned the message, “He says it’s something called a treeee. Apparently it needs nutrients and water to survive…”

Both men stared at each other.
“How long have we been partners Bill?”
“Feels like a lifetime Ben. You’re like a brother.”
“I didn’t even mind that time that you slept with my sister, remember that?”
“Not really, we were pretty drunk.”
“Regardless, we’d never let a little drop of water come between our friendship would we?”
“Perish the thought old chap. You are more important to me than the billions of credits under that treeee.”
They both reached behind their backs slowly, smiling awkwardly.

The gunshots echoed across the plains and the tree found itself with just enough nutrients to last until the next discovery.