Genre Bender Challenge: The Red Wire

[Revision]

The point of a genre-bender is to take a well known, genre related trope or story starter and transplant it into another genre.

The Red Wire

Do I cut the red wire or the black? Defusing a bomb is often a suspenseful and critical moment in many thrillers and spy movies. And it doesn't have to necessarily be a bomb. It can be a nuclear or self destruct countdown, a doomsday device, or any number of other things with timers. This trope, also called The Wire Dilemma, is most often seen in spy thrillers and super hero comics. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to use this thriller in a different genre, be it fantasy, cave man epic, or Danish love story. Create a scene or a character! Enjoy!

 

[Savannah]

The screeching sound was annoying as hell, piercing through his eardrums. The pressure was immense. He had to stop this. He stared at the wires debating, trying to remember which was which. Red or black. The thought was driving him insane as he gripped the wire cutters. And the wires stared back at him, taunting him to cut the wrong one, promising mayhem. He took a deep breath and held it while he made his decision. Black, he decided. He would cut the black wire and the problem would he solved. He blew out the breath slowly as he moved the cutters and positioned them just right at the base. One quick squeeze and the noise stopped. He sighed in relief and fell backwards onto the floor.


The boy's mother had entered the room from washing dishes when she heard one of the speakers to the television start squealing. She crossed her arms against her bosom and leaned against the door jam watching her ten year old son treating the situation as if it were a bomb. She chuckled to herself as he sliced through one of the wires with a presumed to be practiced hand and fell to the floor. She shook her head and before reentering the kitchen said, "Boy, you watch too much tv."