Flash fiction - An Open Window

After two months I've happily found a little space and time to write today as the snow falls, not so softly, past my window on the river. Baby sleeps and chirps to himself alongside the pitter patter of my typing. I've linked up this week with Julia's Place and her 100WCGU write. The prompt is ... the suitcase lay open ... Thanks for reading. Comments welcome! 

An Open Window

The suitcase lay open, like an invitation. Like a white flag. 

How could he possibly choose between what to take and what to leave behind? Everything in the room was meaningless. His heart lurched as he grabbed at clothes and books. His hands touched his things, but he felt nothing stuffing them into the tiny space his whole word had become. 

He knew they were coming, but the bangs on the door startled him anyway. He sprang towards the window, stuffing himself through with his case, his foot knocking the photo of Dora, her face forever etched on his heart. 

100 words

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Flash fiction - In The End

Hoorah! I have time this week for some writing, so I'm back over at Julia's Place and her 100-word challenge for grown ups. She's feeling all theatrical with her prompt this week, so we're to use these famous words from Hamlet: Alas poor Yorick. As usual it's 100 words only and please feel free to comment or constructively criticise below and then read others by clicking on the icon at the bottom. Here's my offering.

In The End

In the space between your heartbeats I nestled, conjuring something from the little we shared. Stars shifted namelessly above and while we waited for the end, I imagined seeing you again in that infinite sky. Was it years or days or just minutes we knew each other and loved and fought and laughed and cried? Yorick, you were every man I ever loved, everyone I wanted to be and yet, alas, poor Yorick, you faded to nothing on that cliff. I left you there after your last breath to turn into dust and a quote on the never-ending, pointless wind. 

100 words

Flash fiction - Goldilocks and the Three Bears

The prompt this week over at Julia's Place this week has been inspired by Save The Children's literacy campaign Change The Story. We have 100 words to rewrite the ending to a favourite fairy tale. There are so many great fairy tales, it was hard to choose just one, but this one kind of wrote itself. So here you go: Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

“MUUUUUUM! Goldilocks stole my iPhone! She lost hers again.”
Little Bear could be heard reasoning with his adopted sister. They had loved each other. Mummy Bear couldn’t pinpoint when they had become so distant.
Goldilocks bounded in, all plaits and innocence except for the heavy eye make-up and miniscule skirt. She sat, sulking.
“Tell me, Darling,” Mummy Bear said, spotting a tear slide out her daughter’s dark eyes. 
“Can’t.”
Mummy Bear knew, right then. Her daughter was pregnant. She would help, they would support her of course. But first she had to ask: “Who’s been sleeping in your bed, Love?” 

100 words

To read more different fairy tales, or to link up your own story, click here: 

Flash fiction - Connection

It's been a while since I've found some time for a spot of flash fiction. But today's the day. Over at Julia's Place, the 100WCGU prompt is ... but sure it is pointless ... I think this idea came after spending a week with my parents recently! Comments welcome!

Connection

Victor fiddled with the black box. Dot hovered. He could see her worn slippers out of the corner of his eye. 
“Are there lights, Vic? If lights are flashing it means something.”
Victor couldn’t feel his knees. “No lights, Love.”

The slippers disappeared. “Maybe we’ve got to download.”
“What?” 
Dot held the instructions an inch from her face. “What do you think? Shall we download?”
“OK. But it is surely pointless when we don’t know what that is.”
“Maybe it brings the flashing lights?”
Vic heaved himself up. “Maybe we should have a cuppa, wait for our grandson. The internalnet is harder than it looks.”

100 words + prompt

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Flash fiction - Life's Crescendo

Writing prompts take you in all manner of directions. What appears to be a happy prompt by the prompter can be cut into sad little pieces. Or a mysterious line for some turns into a romantic comedy for others. This week over at Julia's Place, I went in the opposite direction to what prompted the prompt by Julia. Here's my offering including the words, whenever I hear it I think of you. 

Life’s Crescendo

Those last days, you clawed onto life. Rasping through an unimaginable pain, your skin translucent I didn’t know where the sheets ended and you began. You, shrunken to something else. Gone. Broken-hearted, that was all I could see afterwards. I stood on our cliff, looked out into nothingness. Inched forward. 
     But the bandstand threw me a life-line. Those notes, the interruption of the trumpets like a shock to the heart. The crescendos made me look up, into the blue, the light. I stepped back, let the wind and your music carry me back to life. Now, whenever I hear it I think of you and I see sunshine. 

100 words + prompt

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Flash fiction - Joined in Holy Matrimony

This week over at Julia's Place the prompt is a good one: ... it was just a sea of faces ... I'm not sure where this story came from at the start, but let me know what you think. Click on the 100WCGU icon to read more takes on the prompt or have a go yourself.

Joined in Holy Matrimony

Standing in front of so-called friends and family, she glanced back. She felt nothing, just the desire to run. To her, it was just a sea of faces and they didn’t matter. Except one. The one who was going to shout out, to save her, to embarrass her briefly and hide her away. And then give her all the happiness he owned. 
The priest continued, mentioned something about God’s work in bringing them together. She stifled a laugh. The man next to her, a rock, eyes down.  
The priest asked the question. Silence. 
Her heart burst. This was it. Say it! 
She turned around.
He was gone.

100 words + prompt

Flash fiction - Rescued

Finally! Some time to write 100 words for Julia's Place and the 100WCGU. It's a wintry prompt over there this week as the UK needs some warming up (saying that, Luxembourg does do). We had to include ... tea, coffee, hot chocolate or... in 105 words. Here's my story:

Rescued

I think I was breathing. It hurt, my body catching up with the change in temperature. Lights, red faces, hats and scarves and wool everywhere. They sat me down, unlaced my boots. My feet dislodged; my toes stubborn and black. I was too cold to shiver.

“How long you think he’s been out there?” Hands shed the layers of ice on me. I sat numb to my hours lost in darkness.

“What shall I get him? Tea, coffee, hot chocolate or…”

Blood rushed to my heart, pumping; I raised a hand. Silence. Faces craned. “Yes?”

Through a snowdrift in my throat: “Whisky. No ice.” 

Click on the link to read other entries or have a go yourself. I'm off for a cuppa... 

Flash Fiction - Hello World! Hello...??

Julia is feeling indecisive this week over at Julia's Place so the prompt we're given to write in 100 words or less is: DECISIONS, DECISIONS, DECISIONS.

It was easy to write a story for this week, considering what's happened (see below!)

Hello World! Hello...??

It wasn’t as if they hadn’t planned it. All that practice. All that work. All that preparation. All that excitement. The expectation building until, finally, it overflowed one long day that turned into night that turned into the next day and in the cold, yellow light of morning, at last, he was here.

Their son, gurgling and smiling and wrinkly and cute.

They covered him in love. They covered him in kisses. They covered him in tiny blue blankets. 

But, decisions, decisions, decisions…

They didn’t have a name. 

This week I became an aunt for the second time, but the first time on my side of the family. My little brother became a dad and his son was born. It was all very exciting but boy did they make us wait for his name! Three days later, we eventually got it and I cannot wait to meet Samuel Alfred! 

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The flag on the floor

It's a picture prompt this week for the 100WCGU writing challenge at Julia's Place. As soon as I saw it, certain words came to my head. They are not my words and I have never written them down before.

They were written by a boy in my GCSE history class in 1995. We were studying the First World War and were given the task of writing a short poem. He read this out loud to the class and I have always remembered it. I can't remember if he gave it a title or not, so I have taken liberty with that.

In the wired and connected world we live in, I am not interested in using his words to connect with him again, so he will remain anonymous. I wonder if he even remembers what he wrote. If he does, and ever stumbles here, let him know those words touched me when I was fifteen and still do today, especially on this day of remembrance.

The Flag on the Floor

When the standing berry gets shot,
We pick it up and march on.
But we didn't today.

We left the flag on the floor.


Read more at Julia's Place HERE

Flash fiction - Every Other Sunday

After a lovely week away touring the Black Forest in Germany (highly recommended) I am back to writing. It's all about punching out words of my novel for NaNoWriMo. Four days in and so far so good. I wasn't sure how much time I would have for other creative flash fiction pieces, but the prompt at Julia's Place is so good this week I had to have a go. We were simply given the photo below. Please click the 100WCGU icon afterwards to read more entries.

Credit: Jane Hewitt
http://www.janehewitt.blogspot.co.uk/

Every Other Sunday

Father and son arrived at the next pond.
“What’s that man doing in the water, Daddy?”
“It’s not real, Jason. It’s art. Like the previous one. It makes you think.”
“Hmm.”
He let Jason stare at the boots, quietly, to get a sense of the message. His ex-wife probably never took Jason anywhere where bigger questions were asked. It was all Disney and ham sandwiches. 
“Can he breathe?”
“Jase, it’s not a person. The artist is showing –”
The water broke and up popped a man spluttering, keys aloft.
“Daddy didn’t think enough, did he?” Jason said and walked on. 

100 words

Flash fiction - Sweet Find

It's all about silver over at Julia's Place this week. I won't tell you why. You'll have to go over and read some other 100WCGU stories or link up yourself. Here's mine:

Sweet Find

The chair was hard and uncomfortable. Grandma never offered a cushion and Father wouldn’t ask. 
“Sit up, Giles.”
I sat as straight as I could and grabbed my spoon. The maid Mary winked at me, laying down my bowl. Mounds of slick fruity pudding, piled with cream, currants glistening. 
A big, yellow bottle sat on the table. Grandpa woke up.
I dug in. I heard a tap. I peered forward. A silver coin shone back from my pudding. I quickly pulled it out and slid it into my pocket before anyone noticed. 
I had four coins that day. Those adults had none.

Flash Fiction - Understood

Julia over at 100WCGU is running around like a headless chicken and chasing her own tail this week with lots and lots to do. For this reason, our prompt is:

... tail chasing did not help ...

Here are my 100 words, plus the prompt. It is called Understood.

Felix stepped out of the bedroom. Then he stepped back and forth again. He went downstairs. He did not tread on the last-but-one step. In the kitchen Daisy, his four-legged protector, sat calmly by her food bowl. She barked three times. Felix patted her on the head. Tap, tap, tap. Daisy went to the door. Felix unlocked it and watched Daisy run to the middle of the lawn, circling around herself. Tail chasing did not help her. Just like locking the back door three times did not help Felix. But Felix knew Daisy understood, and likewise. They had their behaviours and they had each other.


I read today that tail-chasing behaviour in dogs shares similarities with obsessive-compulsive disorder in humans. 

Read more 100WCGU-inspired writes over at Julia's Place by clicking:

Flash fiction - The Visitor

Julia is feeling all autumnal over at Julia's Place this week, as the leaves turn and drift down to cover parks and paths. So, our prompt is FALL. We can take either meaning of the word and below is my effort. Please go HERE to read other entries.

The Visitor

It was the beginning. Of giving up. Grandma Ivy’s fall shattered nothing. Except her self-belief. In living. News of great-grandchildren greeted with half-smiles. Favourite programmes muted. Creamy eclairs went green in the fridge. Winter broke. Curtains stayed closed. Until the scratching at the door. Grandma Ivy lasted a week. Trying to ignore it. But one sunny morning she opened that door. A cat purred. Walked in. With the defiance of a general. 

Credit: www.wallpapersus.com 

Grandma Ivy watched it wander, smelling the life that wasn’t being lived. The cat disappeared under the curtains. Grandma Ivy followed. She opened them, and herself, to the world.

100 words + prompt

This story was inspired this morning by some Crazy Cat Ladies. Crazy level - High. Whereabouts - All Over The Place. Thank you!

Flash fiction - The Pledge

The prompt for 100WCGU over at Julia's Place took me to a stranger place than usual in my writing. Have a read and see what you think. Then click on the 100WCGU icon to read more entries. This week's prompt is ... as the world turned ...

The Pledge

Their palms faced the sky they had fallen from, not so many years ago. The two mothers stood at their feet, wondering why it had taken this for them to find peace. This beach, eyes closed, dressed all in white. But they wouldn’t wake up, even though the sun was poking its head over the blue-grey horizon. One mother stifled a sob. The other looked dreamily out to sea. As the city coroner pulled up, as people woke up to this news, as the world turned and everything carried on as it always had, she took a deep breath and walked into the ocean.

104 words

Read, comment and then read some more!

Flash fiction - Children's Ward

Julia, over at Julia's Place, is feeling a bit melancholy this week. I don't think my 100WCGU story is going to cheer her up. Our prompt is ...but there was still enough light... Let me know what you think and go and read other entries here.

Children’s Ward

Do you remember how the nurses left us in darkness, but there was still enough light to play cards? The stars twinkled through the blinds that summer, adding to the flashes on the monitors. It was enough. Do you remember the bottles of ketchup hidden under the bed? Your face was pure joy as you ate up those banned chemicals on that organic stuff Mum brought in. Do you remember the last thing you said

to me? Do you? It was, “Open the window”. Not long after that you flew out, leaving cards and ketchup and me an only child. 

100 words

Flash fiction - Patience

This week over at Julia's Place we've got a prompt which we're not allowed to use in our writing, but our piece has to signify it. That word is HARVEST. I was inspired by the many fields around where I live. Surely I am going to see this perfectly yellow sweetcorn in the local shops soon? Please..?

Patience

The sun burnt everything at the edges, sharpening nature’s outline. September with its autumn promise was trying to dull the effect, coating silhouettes in its brown hues, bordering fields in softer yellows. This way, the villagers would know it was time for their last days in the field. They always enjoyed the last crop: sweeter, full of summer. 


Millan ran along the rows of corn; she couldn’t smell it yet. Her father was impatient, but he would have to wait. It would be worth it. Her bare arms brushed her family’s income as she ran shouting, “Not yet! Not yet!”

100 words

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Flash Fiction - Señor Perito Moreno

There's a new prompt over at Julia's Place today for those of you after some flash fiction inspiration. You've got 100 words to play with and they have to include ...but where did the noise come from...

My own piece below is dedicated to a friend who saw her first glacier this week. She'll know who she is. I hope you enjoy and if you do or don't, comments welcome!

Señor Perito Moreno

In the silence that followed everything before, condors swayed above and the great turquoise grandpa reclined in front of us. We dared to breathe the biting air, bright with sunny crystals. The dark, mountainous arms of his rocking chair pointed to a world with even greater silence. His back rose into a cloud of history, born with his every passing inch. The silence was broken by a long, handsome groan. But where did the noise come from?

We watched his bones creak wickedly as he tried to get up, but crashed piece by piece into the calm, cyan waters below.

Glacier Perito Moreno, Argentina.

Glacier Grey, Chile.

Parc Nacional de los Glacieres, Argentina.

Please go to Julia's Place to read more writing challenge entries, or try it out yourself.

Flash fiction - Valley of the Jolly Underwear Store

I've been a bit absent from Julia's Place recently, but the prompt this week is hilarious and I had to give it a go. I think you'll see where the image took me! The photo on the left is the prompt. Enjoy! Comments much appreciated!

Valley of the Jolly Underwear Store

“Yes Sir, I assure you they are state-of-the-art. Nothing better. And they come in all sorts of colours. What’s your favourite, Sir?”
He said he thought that would be obvious.
“Of course, Sir. Green. How silly of me. And how would you like them packaged?”
He told him he’d like them delivered. To a field over yonder where the corn grows. Where else?
“Right, no problem, Sir. Express flight. You’ll have them by tonight.”
He smiled. After all these years, finally a pair of pants to cover his dignity. He was no longer in his prime. What did advertisers expect? 

100 words

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Flash fiction - The Escape

The Escape

I’ve noticed some things that happen in England when it gets hot. Everyone gets outside and goes a bit red. People fire up their BBQs and eat overcooked meat. Men start to order drinks with fruit in which they would otherwise balk at. And some people book holidays to Scotland where it’s suitably cool.

I just wanted to get out and get in on the summer action. We’ve all been cooped up during the never ending winter. And then she wanted to make a boiled egg salad! Are you joking? Being boiled? In this heat?

Give me sun and let me fry! 

Click below to be taken to Julia's Place for more 100-word stories using the above picture as a prompt.

Short story extract - The Other Me

I haven't had time to write much this week. However, I've just signed on to read some entries at Julia's Place and at the eleventh hour I realise I can enter. I read her prompt for the 100-word challenge for grown-ups (100WCGU) and part of a story I am working catapulted to the front of my brain. The prompt is heat and here is the extract from my work-in-progress. Its working title is The Other Me.

My favourite part of losing my virginity was the heat. I’d never felt so warm and cosy before, but the heat of having Daniel lying on top of me, rubbing me, pressing himself into me, it just felt so… human, so warm. We were two pink lobsters, interlocking claws, growing redder by the minute and I just loved that hot, sweaty feeling. Afterwards, we got under my duvet and tried to stay as close as possible, but he wasn’t on top of me anymore, so it wasn’t as warm. He laid his head near mine, sideways on as I stayed on my back feeling his heat drain away, wanting to always get into bed and feel like that.