| Ficbit Challenge 6
Eleven-
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| Phoenix stared mournfully at himself in the mirror, his shirt forgotten
in one hand. Tentatively he poked himself in the belly, then pinched up
a small but definite roll of flab. "No more takeout food," he sternly told
his reflection. His reflection scowled back at him for a moment before
its face fell. "Who am I kidding?" Phoenix asked. The Phoenix in the mirror
had no answer.
Turning sideways, he took a deep breath and sucked his stomach in. With enough effort he could reduce his little potbelly to something that almost looked flat, if he looked at it with unfocused eyes. He glanced up at himself, proud, and then wheezed out his caught breath when he realized how red he'd gone with the effort. "I have to start getting more exercise!" he told himself. His reflection nodded fervently. "That's it," Phoenix said, shaking his fist (and his forgotten shirt) at the heavens. "Tomorrow I'm going to... to join a gym." "Talking to yourself in the mirror again, Wright," Miles noted, fiddling with his cufflinks as he came out of the bathroom. "An early sign of dementia." "At least the Phoenix in the mirror listens to me," Phoenix muttered. "What?" "Never mind." "I know it's hard for you to believe this, Wright," Miles said, "but I do listen to you on occasion." Phoenix went a little red and pointed one shaking finger at Miles. "You were listening!" Miles rolled his eyes. "Yes. Yes, I was. And furthermore, Wright, there is a weight room down on the second floor, if you'd care to avail yourself of it." "You were listening to that, too?" Phoenix squeaked. He could feel nervous sweat starting to form around his hairline. "You were speaking in a normal tone of voice less than ten feet away from me, Wright," Miles pointed out, gesturing grandly back at the open bathroom door. "It would have been harder for me not to listen to you." "I-I-I object," Phoenix said, the first thing he thought of. "Overruled," Miles said with perfect aplomb before he swept out of the room, leaving Phoenix half-dressed and red-faced behind him. |
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