My first instinct was to write a story about Nepal, in recognition of the terrible tragedy that just occurred there. The reason it hits so close to me is that we have a very large population of Nepalese students at my university and one of my students is from Nepal. Actually, just a few days ago we were discussing in class what natural disasters occurred in their countries and the Nepalese student said none, except maybe earthquakes. That kills me now.
But I think it’s too soon and I don’t want to write something that will depress me further. So, instead I wrote something utterly bizarre and zany, because that’s who I am and sometimes I’m in the mood, and sometimes it’s just a coping mechanism. I hope this introduction didn’t kill the whole mood of the following story.
Kafka Crap
Mark woke up one morning and found that he had turned into a horse. His first thought was, I don’t have time for this Kafka-esque crap. I’ve got stuff to do. He tried to check his phone but he cracked the screen with his hoof. He was so frustrated, he kicked a hole in the wall.
His mother ran in and stopped. “Did you turn into a horse?” she asked.
Mark stamped once, for yes. “What a bunch of Kafka crap,” she said. “What are we going to do now?”
Mark didn’t know how many times to stamp on the floor to answer and he had no answer anyway. She sighed. “I suppose I’ll call into work for you.”
Later that day, a man showed up at the door. “We hear your son turned into a horse. That’s illegal, you know.”
“How so?” my mother asked.
“I can’t tell you,” the man said.
“Who exactly are you again?” she asked.
“I can’t tell you,” the man said. “Just have your son show up at this address for his trial. He needs to write out a deposition himself too. Make sure it’s legible.”
“What a bunch of Kafka crap,” Mark’s mother said, slamming the door.
His father was reading a blog story. He pointed to the screen. “Well, it could always be worse.”
*This story references two Kafka stories: The Metamorphosis, and The Trial. To understand the last line, click the hyperlink.
The Green-Walled Tower 
April 26th, 2015 at 12:32 am
Definitely Kafkaesque… Whinny.
April 26th, 2015 at 3:05 pm
🙂 Nice.
April 26th, 2015 at 1:35 am
This works really well. Brilliant story. Its the kind of idea you wish you had thought of, so simple but so effective.
Regards
Chris
April 26th, 2015 at 3:05 pm
Thanks, Chris. Glad you liked it.
April 26th, 2015 at 3:09 am
When I chose this photo, I thought of the FF photo of the horse holding the hose 🙂
I like the way you have written it. Definitely bizarre 🙂
April 26th, 2015 at 3:04 pm
I actually thought of a couple ways to end this. This one came to me in a moment of blatant self-promotion, I guess. 🙂
April 26th, 2015 at 4:30 pm
Haha
April 26th, 2015 at 5:23 am
Love the satire. And making Kafka a bit lighter than he can be. And
One of my all time favourite sentences is about Gregor waking up as a bug. Working in the trial (and the link) was a great ending.
Here’s to the Kafkaesque! (a little bit in all of us 🙂
April 26th, 2015 at 3:03 pm
Thanks! Yes, here to more Kafkaesqueness in our lives. 🙂
April 26th, 2015 at 10:21 pm
Couldn’t agree more!
April 26th, 2015 at 11:54 am
Gosh it really stinks when you turn into a horse, everybody hates you except your mom. Then you have to be a momma’s boy. LOL! I really enjoyed this story – it was brilliant.
April 26th, 2015 at 3:00 pm
Thank you. Really glad you liked it. I wrote it in a weird mood, so wasn’t sure what sort of reception it would get.
April 26th, 2015 at 1:37 pm
Having read The Trial, it was strange but clever, much like this one!
A great take on the prompt, I enjoyed reading it!
April 26th, 2015 at 2:59 pm
Thanks. I actually didn’t really like The Trial but I did like The Metamorphosis a lot more.
April 26th, 2015 at 2:46 pm
I really got a kick out of reading this. 🙂
April 26th, 2015 at 2:58 pm
Thanks. 🙂 It’s weird, to be sure.
April 26th, 2015 at 5:37 pm
Can’t help think about Mr. Ed. Stomping for conversation. Very funny.
DJ
April 28th, 2015 at 2:01 am
oops… he said those vile words!!!
April 29th, 2015 at 4:53 pm
🙂
April 29th, 2015 at 1:26 am
I enjoyed this. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I understood it. When I googled Kafka crap. I got your story.
April 29th, 2015 at 4:51 pm
I guess it’s good to be the top result. 🙂 Franz Kafka wrote some very bizarre stuff, even for me. The Metamorphosis is about a man who wakes up as a giant cockroach, so I was playing off that. Then another one of his stories is about a man who is charged with a mystery crime and wanders around in confusion, trying to figure out the legal system that doesn’t tell him anything. So I was just riffing off that. Glad you liked it though. 🙂
April 29th, 2015 at 4:58 pm
Thanks for explaining and not making me feel dumb for asking.
May 3rd, 2015 at 6:15 pm
No problem. 🙂 Everyone has different fields of interest and experience.