The Voices in Roberta’s Head

Roberta and Joel sat on Roberta’s couch. An episode of Sherlock played on the TV. Roberta stared blankly at it. Joel looked longingly at Roberta.

The voices in Roberta’s head were interviewers, a never-ending stream of them.     

“Tell us about your latest project.”

“It’s a remake of Rebel Without a Cause, but I’m calling it Extremist Without an Ideology.”

Joel cleared his throat. This was supposed to be a date. Yes, it was just to watch Netflix, but he brought beer and chips, and offered to go in on the pizza.   

“Roberta?”

In her head, Roberta was resting between interviews. She wondered why Joel was there. She turned toward him.

“Yes, Joel.”

“Why are you ignoring me?”

“I’m not ignoring you, silly.”

Something on the screen caught Roberta’s attention. She turned back toward it. Another interview began.

“What was it like directing Benedict Cumberbatch?”

“Ben is a consummate actor, as well as a dear friend. He was my first and only choice to recreate the role done originally by the amazing Jim Backus.”

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photo by Chesea Corrin

author bio:

Dan Nielsen plays solo ping pong, which is like Tai Chi, but fun. His flash manuscript Flavored Water was a semi-finalist in the Rose Metal Press 2017 SHORT SHORT CHAPBOOK CONTEST. Recent work in:Bird’s Thumb, Minor Literature[s], Cheap Pop, Random Sample, Spelk, and The Dirty Pool. Dan has a website: Preponderous and you can follow him on Twitter @DanNielsenFIVES