Fresh from school, she entered the work force, exhilarated and ready to face the world, head on.Fast forward a few years.“She’s wearing the same colour scheme again,” they whispered.“Let’s play a trick on her,” they laughed. The joke was always on her. She laughed along, careful not to show how their antics and stories affected […]
Tag: 2022-Flash-01
A New Sense of Belonging
Lightning streaked across the evening sky, illuminating the world for a brief moment. Rain cascaded down on the patch of woods, dripping off leaves and turning the soft earth to mud. From underneath a bush, a whiskery snout emerged followed by a pair of deep blue eyes flecked with gold. The black fox ears twitched, […]
Home
Addy sat on the bench sipping hot cocoa and people-watching. Today the sun was bright and the air was still and crisp. It was one of the nicest days of autumn and Addy thought she might as well enjoy it. She watched as a group of little girls ran around the playground laughing their heads […]
Cornerstone
As the evening drew in, Esther wanted to be alone. There was a party in town and her lover had worded an invitation, so she called and turned him down. She lied that she had an errand to run, that her mother depended on her for it. And when she heard her friend’s buzz on […]
Where the Spirit Goes
Harry stepped out into the winter’s evening to take his regular constitutional up the garden path. “Ay, but ‘tis a beautiful night,” he said, taking a deep breath and smelling the frost in the air. He paused to glance up into the cloudless sky, abundant with brilliant stars and sickle moon. He remembered the story […]
Life Flows On
In the shallows, the water laps gently against my waist. The cool dampness of the pre-dawn ocean, it’s a sensation that grounds me in the moment. For the first time in two weeks I’m finally in the present. I can actually feel the soft wind against my cheeks, the caressing touch of wet sand shifting […]
Dear Grok
Dear Grok, Since you’re a cat and I’m a human being, it seemed strange at first when visitors said that we looked alike. Still, it happened several times that they studied our blue eyes and fair complexions and then blurted out, “It’s obvious that you are family!” Jokingly, of course, but with a touch of […]
Between Belonging and Dying
In the restless darkness of this final night, the dense salty air stung the faces of all who sat crammed on the tiny boat. The dancing water undulated with quiet indifference as it rocked their boat from side to side. All the groaning and rumbling was now muffled and there was relative quiet as taut […]
Coming Home
His fingers were starting to numb in the bite of dusk. Wind was kicking up too. The job wasn’t easy, panhandling. Every morning between the hours of six and nine he would stand on the lane island on Washington St. and War Memorial. War Memorial he thought. The perfect name for the perfect irony: a […]
The Return Home
Leaving her beloved city with lights dancing on the sidewalk was tough, but going home was tougher. “Who says you can’t go home?” Abigail said to herself, as she rode the train. “Me, that’s who.” Following her mother’s death her father began to decline rapidly. None of her siblings were any help, or even interested […]
Stay
The stars had always reminded her of home. The sparkling icicles melting in the morning sun. The twinkling fireflies dancing over fields damp from summer rain. And here she was. Floating among them. The radio in her helmet crackled as she floated further and further from her salvation. The ship became a speck on the […]
The Unknown
I steady my breathing, clumsily adjusting my backpack straps which always end up annoyingly uneven, no matter what I do. Stopping before a set of doors, I quickly run through a list of how to seem confident that I stole from the internet. Pathetic, I know. I roll back my shoulders, tilt my head up, […]