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 - 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

Read more or have a go yourself by clicking on the 100WCGU icon:

 

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! 

Please click on the icon to read more entries.

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 - 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

Check out more writing at the 100WCGU by clicking below

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

To read more stories, head over to Julia's Place here: 

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.

Flash fiction - Company Getaway

I absolutely love the prompt at Julia's Place this week! Happy writing! It is this photo:

Company getaway

Walter smiled, but he felt stupid.

How had he missed the email? Well, he had been busy. The council was increasing his team; he’d had new recruits to train. It wasn’t like the old days where you stayed in the same place for years. These days he liaised with the posties, the wheelies and the doggies. You had to keep up.

Of course, they still liked to mock the newbies and their dress code. But Walter was a traditionalist and kept his team to grey or black.

So he didn’t mind them having a laugh at their annual beach party. He just wished he didn’t look so rubbish. 

Behind schedule

This week's prompt at Julia's Place is "Pink nails?" she cried. Click on the 100 Word Challenge to read more flash fiction stories, or enter your own.

Behind schedule

The castle was only half-built and they still needed to paint the walls and sort the fittings.

“Dave, we’ve got a problem.” Rich nodded in the direction of the bedroom door.

Dave could hear Arabella, their ‘boss’, shouting downstairs. He could only make out one word. He walked to the landing and peered over the enormous staircase.

“Pink curtains AND netting! Mummy! Pink door handles! What? Pink nails?” she cried. “Yes, those too! Pink cement if necessary. Tell them now!”

Dave heard the clomp, clomp, clomp of a seven year old in heels and sighed. It was going to be another late one. 

Group therapy

This week the prompt at Julia's place isn't so much as a prompt as a general theme. As it's been sunny for more than three hours on the trot, the prompt is YELLOW. My mind took me to a strange place writing this one, but see what you think. 

Group Therapy

She reeked of DEET when she arrived. Bloody honeymooners. All pale-skinned and in love. I like a challenge.

-         - What happened?

At dawn they rode hot-air balloons over the plains. Came back after breakfast. Laughing, kissing, sharing the photos. “You look so silly!” “Wow, you got the lion yawning.” You know.

-         - Go on.

It was chilly when they woke. She didn’t shower. She didn’t spray. I knew they laid down when it got hotter. So I waited. Was easy.

-        - OK, would you like to introduce yourself?

My name is Dina. I’m a mosquito and I have yellow fever. 

100 words

To read more entries at Julia's Place click on the image: 

Flash Fiction - Inheritance

Inheritance

The ice clinks. Jocelyne Farrow-Montague swallows her gin and looks at us frostily. My mother-in-law will announce her death and our freedom. Finally! We have prepared looks of shock and sadness.

“Another, Richard,” she orders. Oh, she plays the dying old lady well. Richard runs off; I smile sympathetically.

“So, your test Mother?”

“I have the results.” She takes a sip, eyes closed.

But wait. The lines around her mouth are twitching. Her colour has returned! How could we not notice? There’s always a sting in the tail with this woman, she was supposed to –

“I’m in remission, Darlings.”

We sit, shocked and despondent, trying to smile. 

100 words + prompt

You can find the prompt we had to include and other 100-word stories at Julia's Place. Click here.

Flash Fiction - Summer Heat

This week, the prompt is the photo below.

Summer Heat

I never returned. That’s why the dream is so special. I wake up smiling because we’re together and happy again; if only for moments of my dream.

   The picnic was for Mummy’s birthday and the heavy summer heat followed us to the lake. We were desperate to get in. 

   “After lunch, girls, after lunch,” Mummy said.

   We wolfed down our sandwiches and crisps and stepped in.

   The cool water slipped over our lobster-like skin and made us giggly. We kicked and splashed. We dived and laughed. We paddled too far, too far.

   In my dream, Katie can swim. 

99 words, excluding title. 

Please go to Julia's Place for more 100-word stories on the same photo. 

Working Late

I've gone for a little poem this week, on the prompt from Julia's Place and the 100-word Challenge for Grown-Ups. Click on the image below for more information and to read others' take on the prompt. This week we had to include ...parting is such sweet sorrow...

Working Late

Lights dimmed, hoovers on

It’s now time to go,

But he’s still here and boss has gone

So it’s not for work I know.

I move things around my desk,

The cleaner watches me.

He hears me tidying my mess,

Tries to pack up slowly.

He’s timed it wrong so stays

By the lift tying his shoe.

I grab my bag, sway his way

Finally: it’s us two.

“Out tonight?” he dares.

I smile, shake my head.

“Are you going anywhere?”

“Nah, home and early bed.”

Lift opens, it’s over;

The game waits until tomorrow.

He goes – my not-yet lover;

Parting is such sweet sorrow. 

100 words + prompt

100-word story: Oblivion

Ryan kept fidgeting. There was still an hour to go. The queue was so long James didn’t see how it could be worth it. They got glimpses of it; heard the immortal words, “Don’t. Look. Down.” James wondered if it was the man on Jackson’s Thriller.

“Dad, wouldn’t it be amazing to be on the front? We should try! Let others pass to get the front.”

“OK.”

Later: “Dad, we have to leave our shoes! Brilliant!”

“Totally, Ryan.”

After their ride of 9 seconds, a free-falling into the dark, Ryan looked at his dad.

“Dad, wow, that was amazing! Want to go again?”

“Hell yeah!”

This story was brought to you from the prompt at Julia's Place. We had to include ...the queue was so long... 

100 words + prompt