It’s time for this week’s Song Title Challenge.

Write a short piece of fiction, around 300 words, using the song title as your story title but don’t listen to the song.  You can pick your own genre or use the one suggested to me.  Remember to link back to this post so I can find yours.

If you would like to suggest a song title for a future post, you can do so from the challenge page.  You can also leave a suggestion on the Facebook page.

This week’s song is Listen to the Math by Tokyo Police Club and was suggested by mikiren at Jump Into the Fog.  No genre was supplied.  As always comments and critiques are welcome.

Listen to the Math

Jennifer sat back and tried to blink away the numbers swimming around before her eyes. She glanced at David who was embroiled in some or other game on the computer. The flavour of the week was pirates, or pirate assassins to be exact. He was always playing some game. How he got anything done at all…

She waited for him to blow a British frigate to smithereens before she spoke: “David, I don’t get this. Come tell me what I’m doing wrong, please?”

“Just listen to the Math, babe.” He didn’t even turn around.

Jennifer slammed her pencil down on the table. “Listen to the Math? Seriously? You’ve been watching Star Wars again, haven’t you?”

David had turned around and was about to respond, but his mouth snapped shut at the mention of Star Wars. Busted, thought Jennifer. She wanted to smile as his ears turned red, but she was on a roll now.

“Here I am, asking for help, and all I get is some Yoda-crap. Sometimes I think you’re more interested in your computer than me.”

“Yoda would have said, ‘To the Math, listen, you must.’”

He looked so earnest as he said it, and he even did the voice. Jennifer burst out laughing and threw the pencil at him. He caught it in mid-air. “You ass!” she said. “Obi-Wan, then. Are you going to help me or not?”

“I will help, young Padawan. Show me these equations that are tempting you to the dark side.”

“They’re not tempting me, but you will if you don’t take this seriously.”

David held up his hands. “Okay, okay. Let me just get my own lightsaber.” He tossed her pencil back to her. “A Jedi forms a special bond with his pencil.”

“You’re an idiot,” said Jennifer with a smile.

Copyright © 2014 Herman Kok

• Fiction
• Song Title Challenge