18+   1. Pride

Tyson leaned against the bar, waiting for his cocktail and staring at his reflection in the mirror above the drinks display. A late-thirties sales manager on the rise, he wore a few smile lines and flecks of grey, but thankfully, there was no sign of a receding hairline. Tyson winked at himself. With luck, he wouldn't leave the singles bar alone tonight.

2. Greed

Tyson lowered his eyes to his phone and checked his Tinder, Instagram, and X accounts. While happy with his swipe rights and social media interactions, no matter how many likes his posts received, he always craved more. And his occasional blank notifications hurt like a lover's rejection.

3. Wrath

The bartender handed Tyson his cocktail, but turning from the bar, he bumped into a short, middle-aged bald guy standing too close behind him. Tyson's face burned as blood-red as the spilled cocktail staining his khaki chinos.

"WHAT THE F—!" he swore and loomed over the bald guy, who stepped back and held up both hands in an apology. 

A bouncer appeared beside Tyson. "Chill out, man," he ordered. The bald guy offered to buy Tyson another drink, and although still seething, Tyson realised he was no match for the broad-shouldered bouncer. So he accepted the fresh cocktail and walked to the far side of the dance floor, hoping the shadows would hide his stained chinos.

4. Envy

Tyson sipped his cocktail and surveyed the women dancing in groups and the couples, including the middle-aged bald guy with a woman in her mid-thirties. Given their age difference, Tyson thought the pairing was obscene. But the bald guy moved like he knew what he was doing, and they looked like they were on Dancing with the Stars.

5. Lust

And then Tyson saw someone who made him forget the bald guy. A beautiful young woman in her early twenties, twirling and swaying to the beat of the music in the centre of the dance floor, arms raised and eyes closed as if in a trance, seemingly alone. 

6. Gluttony

Tyson gulped down his cocktail and checked his chinos. The stain was noticeable, but the strobe lights on the dance floor might camouflage it.

He stared at the young woman again, still in a trance-like state and alone. Would she open her eyes and dance with him? Would she notice the stain on his chinos? Would she think he was too old for her? 

Tyson had opened a Pandora's box of self-doubts. He tore his eyes from the dance floor and returned to the bar for a courage top-up.

7. Sloth

To some extent, most of us, like Tyson, are guilty of the Seven Deadly Sins. Who hasn't glanced at their reflection, craved for more from life, raged at perceived injustices, been consumed by envy, lusted for a step up the career ladder or someone, and overindulged? Or been too self-centred and lazy to change their ways? 

Later that night, Tyson left the bar drunk and alone.

© 2025 Robert Fairhead

Thanks to Seo_Seungwon for sharing the blood-red cocktail image on Pixabay.

I wrote The Seven Deadly Sins for the Australian Writers' Centre's monthly Furious Fiction writing challenge in February 2025. The brief for our 500-word stories was:

• They had to feature SEVEN of something
• Include a character who opens a box
• Contain the words LADDER, BLANK and CHILL.

According to the Writers' Centre, stories featuring the "Seven Deadly Sins" proved popular, though only one made February's monthly showcase … and it wasn't my story!

But I enjoyed writing The Seven Deadly Sins, playing with the form, and pontificating at the end that most of us are guilty of them, to some extent.

And my story was longlisted, which allowed me to bask in the sin of Pride!

N.B. You might like to read my first longlisted Furious Fiction story from March 2022, Stuck in Time.