If I could buy a kit to make a dog or a cat, how many parts would it contain? That question had obsessed him since he was a kid.
“Simon’s always taking things apart and putting them back together again,” his Dad liked to tell anyone who’d listen.
The boy’s interest in the family jalopy soon palled. You could disassemble a bike or a car and rebuild it. But, he soon discovered, that wasn’t possible with a frog. Why not, he wondered?
And so he came to an unusual fork in the road of his life. Surgeon or serial killer?
.
Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge set by Rochelle Wisoff Fields to write a 100-word story in response to a photo prompt. You can find other stories here
Neil MacDonald Author 
Those career choices are tough.
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But such a range of options!
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Dear Neil,
That’s quite a dilemma. I’m not sure I’d want someone like that operating on me.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Certainly not if he chooses the serial killer route
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There is much more loot to be made as a surgeon
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Very true. But he has to consider job satisfaction as well as salary
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Ooooo that was good… scary good! Loved it. 🙂
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Thanks so much, Bear
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lol, what a career choice… Does he, at some level, really, really want to try to figure out how to make the pieces all fit and have the patient/victim walk away? I think that is the deciding point.
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Perhaps, but he may be willing to sacrifice a lot of experimental subjects while he learns
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Well, yeah, I guess there is that option…
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The growth of the mind intriguing and often terrifying! Well done, Neil.
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Thanks so much, Mason
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You’re welcome!
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I feared he might have moved on from dead things, to living. I guess he’ll have to decide which will give him more job satisfaction…
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He’s considering professional counselling
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That might not be a bad idea! Wait. For himself or for his future victims?
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I think he’s too self-involved to consider his victims
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I meant the he would offer “counselling” for his victims… you know, by killing them.
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Ah, In that case, maybe
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🙂
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The decision depends on whether or not he cried with he watched, “Bambi” as a kid. Good story and was not expecting that twist at the end, Neil.
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Thanks so much, Jade
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You’re welcome.
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Quite a choice.
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Who among us hasn’t faced that dilemma?
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That’s an imaginative take on the prompt, Neil. I believe many surgeons have psychopathic tendencies; maybe your narrator’s career choice isn’t so far-fetched after all.
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That’s an interesting, if alarming, belief
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Oh, a bit more from the dark side. Well done, Neil. I suppose one man’s butcher is another man’s surgeon.
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Return of the barber-surgeon?
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Oh, I forgot about that. Not me, thanks.
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A small package neatly unfolded. Surgeon and serial killer perhaps?
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Thanks so much, Jilly
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Deciding whether to be a butcher or a baker would be difficult enough, but this…!
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So many choices!
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There’s more money in surgery.
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But not as much job satisfaction perhaps
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Dr Jekyll faced a similar dilemma and found a workable solution. Why give up the things you love when you can have them all???
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Have cake and eat it through a secret identity? You may have solved his problem
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i wanted to believe he’ll be a successful surgeon. i’m an optimist. 🙂
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That reading does you credit
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A choice, what will he be– a mediocre surgeon or an infamous serial killer. Tough choice.
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His surgical skills are considerable. It’s just that he doesn’t know when to stop
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What a fork in the road! Perhaps, the distinction simply lies in a roll of the dice.
I’m hoping there’s a lot of water between him and me.
Best wishes,
Rowena
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Or a butterly’s wings flapping in the forest
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I started to get a “psycho” vibe right from the start, nice one!
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He does have hard to meet needs
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Oooooooo
Which to choose ? He is certainly curious however in this case I have a feeling…
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Thanks, Laurie. Yes. he’s definitely odd
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Decisions … Decisions … Decisions … I suppose he’ll have to wait until he gets the urge for blood.
A psychological thriller in the making. I like it, Neil.
Have a wonderful weekdend.
Isadora 😎
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Thanks so much, Isadora
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that’s quite an unusual option, being a serial killer.
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Very. There’s little in the way of competition at entry to the career path
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He could become a pathologist or coroner. And maybe re-invent Frankenstein’s ‘masterpiece’…
I know of surgeons who call themselves butchers…
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Good idea. But he likes to see if he can put them back together again
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There’s an unusual fork. I while that’s not a hard decision for him or other surgeons. I can see how they would require similar disconnectivity.
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Exactly. If you’re every interviewed by medical school for entry, never ever answer the question “why do you want to be a doctor?” by “I want to help people”
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I feel another stream of serial killer stories coming on. Because, I am pretty sure none of your characters are ever going to just choose surgeon, Neil. 😉
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My characters move in mysterious ways around their little universes
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Spoilt for choices, are we?
That’s a great take on the prompt, Neil.
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Thanks so much, Natasha
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