When I get bored, I experiment (hey, everyone’s gotta have a hobby) so I decided to take one of my Tiny Stories and tell it in a series of haikus. Let me know what you think (the actual story follows the haiku, for comparison).

Jenna's warning sounds,
Bernadette doubts its power,
Seduction awaits.

Eyes locked, Bryce's secret,
Svengali of enticement,
Web of seduction.

Bernadette's challenge,
Promising to stay untouched,
Ignoring warnings.

The office reveals,
A gnome-like man, quite ordinary,
Invisible allure.

Bernadette's gaze breaks,
Green eyes captivate her soul,
Fantasies take hold.

Consumed by desire,
Bryce seeks her essence true,
She willingly falls.

Original version:

“Before you step in there,” Jenna said, making sure to lock eyes with her friend. “I need to warn you about Bryce’s…ability.”

“Ability? C’mon, Jenn.” Bernadette hadn’t meant her tone to sound so dismissive but she had other more important matters on her mind at the moment.

“It’s uncanny, actually.”

“What are you even talking about?”

“Do you believe in the power of seduction?”

“Um, I believe that people who are seduced wanted to be seduced.”

“Well, you might want to rethink that.”

“Why? Because you think I’m going to walk in there and suddenly become enticed into taking a course of action counterproductive to my goals?”

“I’m not calling into question your intestinal fortitude, Bernie, it’s just that I’ve seen firsthand that man in action and I’m telling you Bryce has this weird Svengali innate ability to ensnare people into his web of seduction, women and men alike.”

“Hashtag challenge accepted. I think I’m going to be just fine.”

“Look, just do me a favor please, and gird your loins.”

“Gird my what? Did we just slip and accidentally fall into the Old Testament?”

“Promise me you’ll avoid eye contact.”

“What?”

“Train your eyes on the point just between his eyes and soften your focus.”

“Soften my—?”

“Promise me!”

“Okay, okay, I promise…gawd. You are so weird.”

“Good luck in there.”

The office was on the smallish side compared to the others Bernadette had seen in the building but the weight of a room had been dispersed equally as to lend an air of spaciousness. Bryce offered a smile as he gestured to the leather chair opposite him across the desk.

Bernadette, armed with her list of questions, took the seat and made the attempt to soften her focus and not make eye contact, but the truth of the matter was she wanted to look, to see what all the fuss was about.

And she wasn’t all that impressed.

Not that she considered herself a statuesque beauty by any stretch of the imagination, nor did she feel in a position to judge anyone’s appearance, but after all the send-up, Bryce MacDowell turned out to be a nebbishy gnome of a man. Frankly, he was quite ordinary enough in appearance to be considered invisible in modern-day society and any charisma granted to him likely wouldn’t have had the power to beguile even the weakest of minds.

The one rule in being granted the interview, not to look the man directly in the eye, Bernadette had broken that in less than a minute. And in even less time than that she found herself gazing into the most exhilarating green eyes in existence, eyes older, wiser, and more powerful than anything she had ever encountered or read about in her entire life. His plain forgettable face became an immaculate work of art that ran through every aspect of her mind. She was instantly and utterly consumed by fantasies of kissing his lips that seemed so tender, pink, and inviting, of running her fingers through the obsidian silk of his hair, of caressing his pearlescent alabaster skin, of letting him inside her, not physically, no, that would surely come later. She knew he truly wanted access to the core of her being. He wanted to absorb her very soul…

…and she was happy to let him.