The prickly pain in between his legs worsened as he squirmed about wildly in his seat.
"Can we stop here?" he pleaded the bus driver.
"Wait fifteen minutes 'till the next stop," was the cold reply.
As soon as the bus doors opened, he dashed out of the vehicle and onto the curb, weaving in and out of the Friday rush, dodging the oncoming traffic, sprinting up the town's residential streets, desperately fumbling with the house keys, until he had blasted into the bathroom!
Standing in front of the toilet, he took aim, and like a river breaking forth from a hole in the dam —
Catharsis.
Unleashed upon the ivory throne was the long-awaited glorious golden shower, ephemeral yet everlasting in its pleasure.
(123 words.)
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This is like a video wanting to be viral. That's my first thought of it. xD

It's just, what's the point? What's the deeper meaning of this? o.o The glorified description of the peeing is just something you'd skip in any prose/poem, unless it resembles something or have another interpretation other than the transparent physical activity.
But then again, looking up the definition of catharsis, I can see how you're trying to make it as something that releases your emotions, because it's kind of true that when you have the urge, you just can't be patient and you don't care about others as long as you get what you should get.
However, this plausible connection isn't in the story. Instead of focusing on catharsis and peeing, we are directed to paragraphs of movements, from the bus, the street, to the house. My only wonder is why doesn't he use the restaurant's toilet instead. I'm pretty sure those are public enough to be used, and isn't far away from the bus stop (usually). But I dunno, the setting here might be different from what I've seen in my place.
And that is all! I'm sorry I can't review this long. The crepe is still the best, by the way, which means no Like here. >.> Keep improving!
Hey, thanks for that review mang. Sorry for the late reply, internet is a luxury at the rice fields.
Looks like the sleepiness screwed up my common sense lol. Still, I'll consider what you said here before I drop some of my new flashfics, straight outta the barrio. Thanks again!
Hey, outvaders! I'm here for a quick review.
I have to say, this was an interesting short story. It very much dealt with the physical feeling of catharsis, as opposed to the emotional one. Other than that, I'm not sure if there's really that much to say. Before I read this, I very much thought it was going to deal with the emotional aspect (or at least tie that into the physical) so this was surprising to say in the least. I don't really have any strong thoughts on this one way or the other; I'm not quite sure what the original intent for this story was or what it was trying to accomplish, other than just describing the act of urinating.
Given the limited amount of words and how the word count itself looks purposeful, I'm not quite sure what to suggest to remain within those bounds with just simply editing, so I don't know if a rewrite would be in order.
I believe a word is missing there. I'd insert a with or to in between 'pleaded' and 'the'.
It would be 'til. Also, I'm not quite sure why the bus driver's reaction would be cold? There's nothing really establishing a precedent for the interaction, so I'm not quite sure how to react to it myself. There's no established setting either, so it's a bit difficult to visualize anything involved with the bus in general.
Also, most of the buses I've been on have had a system to where you push on a button or pull on a mechanism and the bus driver gets ready to stop for you to get off the bus. Granted, I live in America so it might be different in other places, but a conversation concerning stopping wouldn't really happen.
The fifteen minute wait time didn't really feel like fifteen minutes or any sort of wait at all for that matter. I feel as if there should be something that allows the reader to also experience a bit of that wait time, although I will acknowledge that it might be difficult to accomplish in a short story as brief as this.
With its use of flowery language, it really manages to separate itself from the rest of the piece in romanticizing the act of using the bathroom. It's so flowery that it's a bit hard to actually imagine a realistic image of the act, but I guess that's a bit of a good thing.
I don't have that much to say beside that! I hope that you will keep on writing!
-Castor
Oh boy, thanks for the review! Sorry for the late response though. Getting internet access in the barrio is like trying to lick your elbow (which is impossible). Anyways, I'll try and apply your suggestions to my future flashfics. Thanks again!
Hello!
Can I just say that this is a pretty dang relatable.
Other than that, though, I'm not sure if this has a lot going for it. But relatability is something to strive for, for sure.
You have some... very awkward and questionable word choice in here. for example: "blasted into the bathroom" and the first sentence does not give me the picture of needing to use the bathroom. I read the first sentence, and then checked for a rating, thinking this was headed in a very different direction.
Ok so the bus (I'm assuming it's like, a city bus and not like, a long-distance bus?) takes FIFTEEN MINUTES?!?! to get to the next stop? That seems way too long for a city bus.
Also, the guy gets onto the CURB of the SIDEWALK and then has to dart through traffic? Are cars driving on the sidewalk or something?
"breaking forth from a hole in the dam" this wording seems... unfortunate. May I suggest simply "breathing through a dam"?
This ending is a little distasteful and over-dramatic. I'd have been satisfied with a "he ran to the bathroom, slamming the door. Soon after: sweet relief." or something less graphic.
Also, I feel like the story would've been more effective if the audience was led to believe that he needed to get home for some other reason. Don't fully lie, but mislead and misdirect. That way the ending can be a twist. As it is, the only point I can see in this story is just providing something relatable. But do we really need this sensation put in writing? I feel like we don't.
Anyway, I hope this helped.
Keep writing!
~fortis
Ayy, thanks for the review! Sorry for the late reply though. You don't choose the barrio life. The barrio life chooses you. It just happened to choose me when you chose to review this thing.
But hot diggity, that's a hot review. I'll think about what you said before I bring in some newer flashfics. Thanks again!