“Pester” —A flash fiction by Adam Arnold (he/him)

“I’m not changing it,” I said to Pester. The cat sized dragon sat on my desk and stared at my monitor, their silted eyes flickering between the words and me.

I don’t like how you write about me on your blog. Pester said in my mind. I’m not nearly as much work as you imply. I groom myself and everything. You make me sound like a flying rat who won’t leave you alone.

“You have literally chewed through my shoes before.”

The small dragon flapped their wings in anger. You should not have left them out.

“What do you mean out? They were by the door?”

You should have stored them on the shoe rack in the closet. I was simply giving you a lesson on cleanliness and organization, or as you would say, how to not be such a slob.

“It’s my house! You don’t pay rent, so you don’t get a say in where I put my shoes!”

Pester glared at me before blowing smoke from their snout right into my face. The smoke irritated my eyes and I coughed.

“You are the worst,” I said.

And you are a mean human who writes unfair things about me and shares it with strangers on the internet. Pester puffed more smoke in my direction before hopping off my desk and slinking out of the room. 

“I’m not changing it,” I called after them.

I heard the creak of a kitchen cabinet opening in the room over. Sure you won’t. Now where did you hide the cereal this time…

“No you don’t! You know I don’t like eating out of boxes you’ve been in!” I scrambled out of my chair and followed the sounds of Pester rummaging in the kitchen.

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Adam Arnold is a senior at Lindenwood University, majoring in English with an Emphasis in Creative Writing. He plans to pursue a career in writing and publishing, with the hope of publishing fantasy novels someday. In his spare time, Adam loves to read, play D&D, and play video games such as Dark Souls. He also enjoys sewing, leatherworking, and the casual study of medieval arms, armor, and swordsmanship. He is often found enjoying the color purple and geeking out over swords, magic, and dragons.

You can read our interview with Adam here.