Earlier on, I mentioned that I finally – finally! – completed a work of allegorical fiction, and I posted the first installment of it here.
Then, I brought you Part 2, in which Flora, our ever-intrepid protagonist, finds herself in the right place at the right time.
Last week, Flora made an appeal to her fellow Floofs.
And now, folks, the conclusion to our drama…
That morning, Flora leapt from her bed, grabbed her camera and ran straight to the marketplace. The Naysayers were bustling about, getting ready for their day. She tried talking to them as they passed by, but no one would pay Flora any mind.
After several minutes of trying and failing to get anyone’s attention, Flora grew so frustrated she stood atop a packing crate and yelled, “EVERYONE! Everyone, listen to me! You’re making everything terrible, and you don’t even know!”
That got the Naysayers’ attention, and fast. “Little girl,” admonished Nero, “I think you’d best run along to your tent and mind your own business.”
“No!” shouted Flora. “I’m done minding my business. The air is terrible, this town smells stinky, and you are all GROSS.”
Nix shot to the front of the group and got right in Flora’s face. “Listen, missy. There’s nothing happening to any of us but you. So you should go back to your friends, and we’ll go back to being the shiny silver stars that we are.” The crowd responded with nods of agreement.
“But that’s the thing,” persisted Flora. “You’re wrong, and I can prove it.” By this time, the marketplace was even more crowded, this time with Floofs who heard a commotion and came to see what was happening.
Flora pushed her camera towards Nix and Nero. “Look at my photo here. What do you see?”
The leaders of the Naysayers leaned in close to examine the camera display. Their faces drained of color as they saw Nix’s image: dirty, musty, surrounded by a pea-green smog, with a hideous-looking Nix in the mirror.
“Well? Not the shiny silver star you were expecting to see, was it?”
Nix struggled to find her voice, then quavered, “That photo proves nothing. You probably doctored it.”
“Oh, yeah? Take the camera for yourself, then. Snap a couple photos of you and your friends, and see what happens.”
“I don’t think we need to -” stammered Nix.
“Oh, I think you DO,” ordered Frida, who now stood with the other Floofs behind Flora.
“Fine. But only to prove you wrong.” Nix grabbed the camera and shot a couple of quick photos of the Naysayers gathered in the town square. She looked into the display and gasped.
Nero grabbed the camera to see for himself, then nearly dropped the camera in shock.
“What is it?” demanded the other Naysayers. Nero passed the camera around. The Naysayers gasped and turned pale as they each saw their image. Almost as if emerging from a trance, they looked at each other with blank expressions. For the first time, the Naysayers saw how they appeared to the Floofs: dirty, scraggly, surrounded by a green-brown haze.
“It’s…it’s…it’s impossible!” moaned Nero. “It can’t be! What’s all of this smog and nastiness around us? And why are we so grimy?”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you,” Flora explained. “You sure started out shining and sparkly, but all the bad things you say and do are making everything else horrible. And your stink keeps getting worse.”
Nix looked at Nero, then turned slowly to look at Flora. “So…what you’re saying is…we’ll have to…”
“Yes, that’s right,” said Flora. “You’ll have to stop with the mean stuff.”
“But you’re all so little and dumb. It’s just too easy to pick on you!” With that comment, a new layer of stench surrounded the Naysayers. And now that they could smell it themselves, they, too, were disgusted. A ripple of complaints spread across the crowd as the Naysayers gagged and choked.
“This is terrible!”
“Make it stop!”
“Nix, enough is enough!”
Nix conferred with Nero. The village square was silent, save for their hushed whispers. After what felt like an eternity, Nix turned to the crowd and announced, in a defeated tone, “Fine.”
Shouts of joy erupted from all. Starting that very morning, the Floofs moved back into town. One by one, they returned to their market stalls, their shops, their homes.
Fred and Nero surveyed the scene. Worriedly, Nero said, “Well, I guess we’ll have to leave now that you’re back in the village.”
Fred turned to Nero, surprised. “What are you talking about? There’s plenty of space here. Just build your houses right alongside ours!”
And that is exactly what the Naysayers did. Soon, the Naysayers and the Floofs became neighbors. And not long after, the Naysayers and the Floofs became friends. The air was once again fresh and clean, and the dirt and grime lifted away from the Naysayers’ coats.
To celebrate their alliance, the leaders dedicated a flag with the new town colors of Floof blue and Naysayer silver. A beautiful sight, indeed.
Soapbox: The Way I see Things 
I will have go back and read your previous posts! This is a charming story.
Thank you! It was definitely a CHALLENGE to write. I have all the respect in the world for short story writers!
I just love this. So often we don’t see ourselves as others do. Our mirrors reflect what we want to see and believe. I think you need to find an illustrator and run with this.
Lanie, I think this is a really well crafted short story with well developed characters and a great message. I have really not written a lot of short stories and I do think you are right in describing this a a challenging genre to develop in just a few pages. I too think you have something to publish.