Prompt: You have the power to build worlds

“It doesn’t make any sense, you know. You could create anything you wanted in the blink of an eye, but here you are mopping floors.”

Anthony sighed and crouched down to ring his mop out again. A smile played on his lips, as though this was all some big joke, but Susan wasn’t about to let the subject slip.

She leaned against the cold wall, frowning when she picked up the stale odor on it. “Why waste your time mopping this dump when you could just create a clean floor instead?”

He plopped the dingy strands of his mop onto the tiles again, his movements mechanical. It was the most unwanted job in the entire prison, and each week Anthony volunteered for it. He said he didn’t mind it, but Susan suspected there was more to it.

“Because it wouldn’t be real.” He paused and propped his hands on top of the handle. “Sure, I could create a cleaner floor, one that was even trimmed in gold and embedded with rubies if I wanted, but it wouldn’t be real. You could try all day long to make scuff marks on it, to dirty it up, but it would still be just as I made it.

“This one has stains so old, I’m pretty sure whoever made them is long dead. I like it though. This floor may be gross, but it feels alive in a way mine never could. It shows every boot mark and every stain. Every year that passes makes the grout fade a little more. Anything I make could never do that. My floor would only ever reflect me.”

Originally posted on r/WritingPrompts
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