Category Archives: Flash Friday Fiction

The Final Flash! Friday Fiction, & A Thank You to Rebekah

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eagle-peak-summit
“Balancing on the Brink.” Eagle Peak Summit, Chugach Mountains, Alaska. CC2.0 photo by Paxson Woelber.

A few weeks ago, fearless dragoness and Flash Friday leader Rebekah announced she was closing the weekly Flash! Friday competition. While we Flash writers are sad, I understand Rebekah’s desire to send us out into the world, and her desire to concentrate on her own novel writing (and, people, she is seriously one of the best writers I’ve ever read, so watch for her to storm the world soon.) Huzzah!

Though I wrote these two pieces for the final Flashversary contest last Friday, I waited to post them until today because a) I didn’t want Rebekah to see them while she was judging (in case she was going to pick ME ME ME to win!), and b) (and probably the more truthful answer) I’ve been neck-deep in episodes of Outlander for the last few days.

But here they are – my final two Flash! Friday stories, each 100 words on the dot, as prescribed by the rules. The photo prompt was optional, but we were required to start our stories with the sentence, “On Friday everything changed.” One of my tiny tales is funny & light, the other an homage to the woman, the contest, and my fellow writers who’ve given so very much to me. I am 100% certain if I had not had the support from this flash community and my Shenandoah Valley Writers, I would not be a published author today. So thank you, Rebekah. Thank you, all!

Just Call It Puppy Love, 2015-style

On Friday everything changed.

It was totally like that old Cure song, you know? I was in love.

He was epic. Sick. Black hair slung low over ice blue eyes.

Full-on gone, peeps.

On Saturday we went out. Mashed all night.

I don’t care what Shanna says. I can’t even. Hashtag jealous liar.

Monday Tuesday Wednesday, just me and my bae.

On Thursday we hit the club. He hit on everyone in sight.

Shanna says she told me so. I told her off.

Thank God tomorrow’s Friday. Can I get an amen?

‘Cause on Friday, everything changes.

Hashtag so over.

In Praise of Dragons

On Friday, everything changed.

No, that’s a lie.

On Flash Fridays, I changed.

I took off the mask I’d worn for so long, bared my soul to the world.
I screamed, “Here I am. Take your best shot.”
I stood, vulnerable, heart wide open, awaiting written arrows, verbal bullets.

They never came.

I’m still standing.

I’ve come too far now to turn back.
I’ve spread my wings. Showed my scales.

She taught me how.

Just show up, she said.
Be kind. Give generously. Praise others.
Some will tear you down.
But you will rise up.

For love always wins.

Always.

And there you have it. I will certainly miss these weekly bursts of creativity, but hope to take the skills, enthusiasm, and delight in the written word that this contest sparked and infuse it through all of my future writings. Thank you, Flash!Friday.

 

Flash! Friday Fiction: O, Dragoness! Our Dragoness!

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“Her Story Written in Disappearing Ink.” CC2.0 photo by Michael Shaheen.
“Her Story Written in Disappearing Ink.” CC2.0 photo by Michael Shaheen.

O Dragoness! Our Dragoness! – 144 words

A beautiful girl lived here, reads the chalk outside the door.

Truer words could not be spoken. She was magnificent, her wings of teal, her eyes of orange, her generosity of spirit beyond color, beyond measure.

She was no typical dragon, guarding her hoard with an eye for self. No, this dragon gave more than she took, encouraged rather than criticized, lauded each and every fair knight or maiden who came to her lair, giving us wings on which to soar.

It is this beautiful girl’s turn now, this gorgeous dragon’s chance to fly, to share her own treasure with the world. Watch her as she unfurls her majesty, her gifts, her stories.

A beautiful girl lived here, and lives here still. The Dragoness, for whom we hold the greatest tenderness, and to whom we owe eternal gratitude.

We love you, Rebekah. Thank you.

This is the last regular week for Flash! Friday. Our fearless Dragoness leader, Rebekah, has decided to end the beloved weekly contest, to allow us to move on, and to give herself the chance – and the time – to craft her own marvelous novels. She, and Flash! Friday, will be sorely missed.

It was Flash! that gave me the first public recognition, first public praise of any fiction I’d ever written. I cannot tell you how much that meant and means to me, how coming to this contest week after week sharpened and honed my writing and editing skills, and slowly built my confidence as people responded to my words.

I know I am far from alone in this. Flash! Friday and by extension its leader Rebekah has touched, encouraged, driven, kept alive the writerly dreams of so many of us, and we are forever in her debt.

So I wrote this story today in homage to her, and the people like her, who choose to build people up, to give them wings, instead of trying to slay them and poke holes in their dreams. We need more in the world like her.

 

Flash Friday Fiction: Autobiography

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Young hiker @ Gibson Ranch Regional Park. CC2.0 photo by Ray Bouknight.
Young hiker @ Gibson Ranch Regional Park. CC2.0 photo by Ray Bouknight.

Autobiography
101 words

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

But what if you don’t wanna take it? What if every inch of you screams out, “Stay still, avoid discomfort?” Avoid change.

What if temptation surrounds you, luring you into stuffing your face, into adorning the couch, at all hours. What then?

Inertia is the ultimate pull. Ironic, that, the drive to do nothing. Movement requires energy, energy requires calories, calories equal donuts. Or something.

I put on the walking shoes anyway. I don’t want to. But I do. One small step for this woman, one giant step for health.

Here were Rebekah’s instructions:

Writing is a journey, as is life. In keeping with that, as we also wind down our Year Three novel prompts, today it’s my great privilege to present for your dining/writing pleasure the dark, triumphant, terrifying, heart-pounding, spirit-lifting novel that is preacher John Bunyan‘s powerful allegory Pilgrim’s Progress. Progress follows the adventures of eager, oft-stumbling but good-hearted Christian as he leaves his doomed native land in a quest to reach the glorious golden shores of the Celestial City.

Story elements (base your story on any TWO of these elements; be sure to tell us which two you chose. Reminder: please remember the Flash! Friday guidelines with regard to content; and remember please do not use copyrighted characters).

* Conflict: man v man, man v self (not gender specific)
* Character (choose at least one): a pilgrim; Beelzebub; a man whose mission is to help others; someone who talks too much; someone who loses his/her life for standing up for what is right; a corrupt mayor; someone whose primary purpose in life is avoiding hardship; a cheat
* Theme (choose one): salvation; good v evil; the value of true friendship; the dangers of temptation
* Setting (choose one): a doomed city; a corrupt and wealthy city; a long road; a palace guarded by lions

We had 100 words (+/- 1) in which to craft a tiny tale using two of the elements listed above (the two I chose are in bold italics). What do you think? Autobiography crammed into less than a page? Well, why not? Now if only I’d written this while walking on the desk treadmill…

Head on over to Flash Friday to see other people’s takes, and maybe to leave a comment or two, or craft a story of your own!

 

 

Flash Friday Fiction: Home Fires Burning

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Oak Alley Plantation. CC2.0 photo by Corey Balazowich.
Oak Alley Plantation. CC2.0 photo by Corey Balazowich.

Home Fires Burning
146 words

Home is where the heart is. That’s what they say, at least.

Never has a sight been so welcome as the house before me. I am home. I have survived years of war, of suffering, of agony. I have survived the end of innocence.

As I walk down the familiar path, the time-worn bricks covering what used to be gravel, and before that, dirt, I think of my father. My grandfather. His father. And generations back, all of us fighting. Some of us coming home.

My knees buckle and I sink to the ground, kissing it, thanking it for one more day on earth, one more day with you.

Then I see you, between the columns, your face turning towards me, your body in the arms of another man.

And I know it’s true, what they say. You can’t go home again.

I raise my gun.

From our fearless Flash Friday! Fiction leader, Rebekah Postupak:

Winding down our novel prompts (just four more after today!), it’s Gone With the Wind, of course: Margaret Mitchell’s sweeping American Civil War drama starring a proud and rather snotty plantation owner’s daughter who does everything in her power to survive the war and hold on to her family home.

Story elements (base your 150 [+/-10] word story on any TWO of these elements; be sure to tell us which two you chose. Reminder: please remember the Flash! Friday guidelines with regard to content; and remember please do not use copyrighted characters).

* Conflict: man v man, man v society (not gender specific)
* Character (choose at least one): a plantation owner’s daughter, a racketeer, a beautiful woman who never does anything wrong, a noble soldier, a hot-tempered child, a slave whose cruel situation is never acknowledged, a pair of mischief-making twins
* Theme (choose one): desperation, determination, slavery, society/class, women’s rights
* Setting (choose one): the American South during the Civil War, a war-torn city

What do you think? I chose the noble soldier, and the themes of desperation/determination. I’m actually surprised at my own ending, considering how anti-gun I am, but there it was. Now the question is, at whom do you think he was aiming that gun?

Wanna read the other selections? Here you go!

 

Flash Friday! Fiction: Frank and Steina

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New York Nursery, 1910. No known copyright restrictions. From the NY Nursery & Child Hospital Annual Report.
New York Nursery, 1910. No known copyright restrictions. From the NY Nursery & Child Hospital Annual Report.

Frank and Steina – 173 words

Character: Oblivious optimist
Theme: Secrecy, fate vs free will

If you love something, set it free, the old cliché goes.

I did. Two years, five months, fourteen days, and three hours ago, I sprung you from your cage.

You’d come back, I figured. You had a good life here. Food aplenty, all the books you could read, me for companionship. What more could you want? What more could you need?

You told me you had to find yourself, had to discover who you were without me. Beyond me.

I let you go.

Now you’re here, saying nothing’s changed, that we can go on as before, that you’re where you belong.

I believe you. I want to. I have to. I’ve never loved another like I love you.

And yet, secrets play around your eyes. I catch you watching me when you think I’m not looking. You never let me out of your sight.

“What did you do while away?” I ask.

“Planned,” you answer, your gaze terrifyingly steady, that guileless smile betrayed by blood red lips.

I know who’s the captor now.

Today’s novel is her 1818 classic, argued by many to be the first science fiction story, Frankenstein. Frankenstein relays the anguished tale of Victor Frankenstein, whose grotesque but now sentient and intelligent creature, after being rejected by his creator, sets out on a violent and desperate journey which ultimately dooms them both. Er, I trust that wasn’t a spoiler for anyone?

Story elements (base your story on any TWO of these elements; be sure to tell us which two you chose. Reminder: please remember the Flash! Friday guidelines with regard to content; and remember please do not use copyrighted characters).

* Conflict: man v self, man v society
* Character (choose at least one): a cowardly scientist; a man-made, sentient creature; a hapless fiancee, an oblivious optimist.
* Theme (choose one): forbidden science, danger of the pursuit of knowledge, fate v free will, secrecy
* Setting (choose one): Romantic-era Europe, a laboratory, a ship voyaging in the Arctic, ANYWHERE STEAMPUNK!

So what do you think? I had 175 (+/- 10) words in which to craft a tale. Normally I write romance, or at least humor. I opted for a different vein this time about.

Stick your arms out and shuffle on over to Flash Friday Fiction to feast on other fine stories.