Dai didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but as the new boy, the task fell to him. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door, hoping that his leader wasn’t the type to shoot the messenger.
“Enter.”
A deep voice boomed within the chamber on the other side of the door. Dai gripped the doorknob with a trembling hand and slipped inside the room.
“Yes?”
Raymond sat behind a massive walnut desk, surrounded by piles of books. His pale amber eyes peered at Dai over the top of a trade newspaper. Dai held out the communication from the main office.
“Sir, we’re down in the polls again.”
“We’re what?”
Raymond dropped his newspaper and snatched the list from Dai. His eyes skipped across the results, coming to rest on the final tallies for the month.
“We’ve dropped to third? How did we let this happen?”
“It’s so difficult, sir, they’ve really raised its game and they’re giving the people what they want.” Dai stared at the floor. He didn’t want to admit that some of what their competition had been saying was actually pretty good. Particularly the newest guy, a Navajo in Colorado.
“And what’s this? Even the independents are catching us up?” Raymond jabbed his finger at several names further down the list.
“Well, sir, there will always be people who want to offer something a little different. There’s one guy in Cape Town, he’s really saying things that have never really been said before.”
“I don’t care – it’s not good enough. Not good enough at all. And these upstarts in second place…how did we end up falling behind them? They’re still such newcomers compared to us – how can the people listen to such a horde of screeching idiots?”
Dai said nothing. Raymond studied his face before thrusting the list back into Dai’s hand.
“I’ve had enough. Get the PR department on the phone, I want to know what they’re playing at. We’ve had much stronger candidates out there recently – we should be trouncing the opposition.”
“Yes, sir. Right away.”
“And while you’re at it, let it be known that I will not let those bloodsuckers, or those mindless thugs, beat us again.” Raymond swung his chair around to face the window. He stared out at the view, thick forests coating the rolling hills in ancient bark.
“Yes, sir.”
“We’re werewolves, Dai. We deserve better than this. We will make the people remember who, and what, we are.”
Image by SirSlasher. If you’re interested in the Navajo in Colorado then you can buy Crooked Fang here, and the young man in Cape Town is the star of Inkarna, available here.
Bloodsuckers and mindless thugs? Gee, sounds like an everyday political candidate. 😛
Ah the game of politics – dog eat dog! ^_^
*snorts* This was well timed. I was just thinking of running for President in 2020 😛
nice work Icy, had me going totally. And yes, I think genre creatures would be very competitive jockeying for position & SEO
marc nash
hi Icy, they’re all at it now, using Spin. And it’s utterly believeable as Lee-Ann says, it’s already happening and your story brings that home very well.
Very nice. Got me with the punchline.
Lee-Ann – True, but I was aiming for vampires and zombies…
Helen – Quite literally!
E.D. – You still could!
Marc – I think they’d be worse than politicians…
Alison – Thank you!
Peter – *bows*
love the ending!
This was great! And some CC fanfic, even better! The first two comments got laughs out of me too.
Has anyone ever noticed that werewolves, vampires, and zombies all have the same infection vectors?
As E.D said, this is well-timed, and a frightfully fun laugh!
Nice! Viva La Lupine!
Awwww! You’re giving me a case of the wiggly lulz on this one!
I wouldn’t worry Icy, in politics, as in life, what goes around comes around. Look at the Tories: they just keep coming back…..
I expected there to be a twist, but I confess I didn’t guess what it would be. Really enjoyed it.
Aww, now this was sweet, funny and clever. xx
Although I like your story… I’m voting for the zombie party. 🙂
This gave me a much needed laugh – love it!
It’s funny to imagine them jockeying for position this way.
It was only here, ‘those bloodsuckers, or those mindless thugs’, that I got an inkling where it was going. Nice.
An interesting departure from your recent tales, Icy. Taking on Xan and Ash, eh? Is this your way of announcing a forthcoming werewolf novel? Maybe someday there’ll be a crossover of epic proportions.
This was clever as always Icy! My vote is for the werewolf as well — they are way more attractive than the pale bloodsuckers or the brainless zombies 🙂
Werewolves? As if it wasn’t enough having all those vampires in the polls! 😀
Wendy – Thanks!
Larry – The original zombies were voodoo. They were so much cooler.
Deanna – Thanks!
Steven – Glad you liked it!
Nerine – Gotta give Ash some love.
Justin – Yeah, they’re like Freddy bloody Krueger.
Tim – I think I’m starting to become known for my twist endings…is this bad?
Carrie – Teehee!
Steve – Nooooo! Bah, everyone knows mummies are cooler anyway.
Sonya – Good!
Tony – Oh I think they would. It’s all about the numbers.
Caroline – I was trying to keep it under wraps 😉
Travis – Yeah, I like to mix up the styles every now and then. I’ve never written werewolves before, I prefer to play with mummies, but you never know.
Brinda – They’re so much more interesting!
Cathy – Lol, yeah, vampires win by sheer dint of numbers!
A world where even the werewolves have PR… I guess they post-date their tweets when the moon is full.
Cool ideas.
Very nicely told and realized, Icy. One of my favorite #fridayflash of the week, and only grumpy that I didn’t get the time to read it sooner. The indignation of werewolves is not to be trifled with!
Hi there Icy — here I was thinking you were an independent publication and now I find that your are actually moonlighting (what else) in the supernatural PR business! Tisk, shame on you. On the plus side, werewolves are definitely in need of some extra coverage, despite that impressions boost from the Twi-hards. 🙂 Good story. St.