Category Archives: flash fiction

The Voice Within – Trifecta Challenge

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The Angel and the Devil sat on opposite shoulders spewing arguments around the head that separated them.

“I know I am the reason for her funk, and I’m quite proud of that fact.”  The Devil crossed his arms and a smug smile crept over his peeling lips.

“But it’s awful watching her frustration swell to the boiling point.  Can’t you ease up a little?”  The Angel’s plea fell on deaf ears.  The Devil was quite adept at tuning her out.

Without warning, the shoulders of the host body began to rotate.  Her arms reached forward, her fingers entwined and she stretched.  Her fingertips touched the keyboard and the Angel stood to watch.  Something magical happened and the Angel merely observed as the words began to etch themselves onto the screen.  A little squeal of glee escaped her lips as she turned to stick her tongue out at the Devil.

Now the Devil felt the frustration.  He stood and was about to embed his pitchfork into the side of the head when the Angel cried out.

“Don’t do it.  She’s writing about us!”

The Angel continued to smile as the Devil flipped her off.  They both took a seat on their rightful shoulder and let the creativity happen.

~~

Written for this week’s Trifecta Challenge.  I have been in a writing funk of my own the last few days and after reading a comment by Ad-libb3d at 4:00 am, the lightbulb slowly began to shine again!!

(image credit: wallpaperswide.com)

Now onto this week’s Trifecta prompt. We’re back to one word, its third definition and the 33-333 word limit.

Happy Writing!

FUNK (noun)
1 a :  a state of paralyzing fear
b :  a depressed state of mind
2 :  one that funks :  COWARD
3 :  SLUMP  <an economic funk>  <the team went into a funk>
– See more at: http://www.trifectawritingchallenge.com/#sthash.euwKt2HW.dpuf

100 Word Song – Tones of Home

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I wave goodbye but nobody waves back.  They gather as a crowd, looking at me but not really seeing me.  Music plays in the background.  Melancholy harmonies, tones that remind me of home, hover in the air creating the mood that was anticipated but is never welcomed.

I linger and watch their sullen faces and I struggle to block out the abrasive light.  And so I wave goodbye again, hoping that just one person will glimpse my spirit and wave back.

The light seems to warm the longer I look into it.   Nothing holds me anymore and I fly home.

white light

~~

(image credit: rapgenius.com)

Written for the 100 Word Song at My Blog Can Beat Up Your Blog.  This week’s song is Tones of Home, by Blind Melon.

100 word song – Take to the sky

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Suffocating in the palpable tension that filled the air, she sat with her arms crossed and refused to meet their eyes.  The lecture was always the same.  She could repeat it verbatim and sometimes did, which angered them even more.

Their voices escalated as the barrage of insults was thrown at her like daggers.  Their expectation level was unattainable.  The longer she listened, the more the words slowly morphed into voiceless sound waves.

They would never know her real gift.  Her body remained seated but her soul left, smiling.  She found true peace within herself and took to the sky.

leave your body

~~

Written for the 100 Word Song Challenge at My Blog Can Beat Up Your Blog.  I’ve always been fascinated by stories of people claiming to be able to leave their physical body.  I didn’t know the story was going that way, but who am I to argue with my muse?

Starting over – 100 Word Song

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She watched his slender frame exit through the doorway for the last time.  Her shoulders were so tense she could feel the pain radiating at the base of her skull.   He opened the car door, waved goodbye and he was gone.

She opened the bottle of wine and fell into the couch.  For the first time in years the house had a serene quality to it.  It was a feeling she hadn’t noticed even missing but now that it was back she allowed that tranquility to bathe her in its warmth.  He was now a memory.  Time to start over.

~

Written for the 100 Word Song Challenge at My Blog Can Beat Up Your Blog.  The song is “Starting Over”, by John Lennon.

Her First Mistake – 100 Word Song

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Her first mistake was letting herself get too close.  She felt the attraction immediately and tried her best to erase him from her mind.  His voice echoed in the recesses of her yearning.  The stare from his blue eyes branded his gaze into her brain.

She felt his touch as the wind tickled her skin and her cheeks flushed at the memory of his warm hands grazing her arms.

The fire within her slowly burned.  The mere thought of his lips on hers would ignite the inferno.  Perhaps the first mistake was not finding him sooner.  Fate is fickle, indeed.

~~

Written for the 100 Word Song Challenge over at My Blog Can Beat Up Your Blog – Leeroy reached out to Jen aka @jenkehl aka www.jenkehl.com home of Twisted Mixtape Tuesday and my co-conspirator at www.raisedontheradio.com . She chose the great Lyle Lovett’s Her First mistake for this week’s 100 word song. It comes from the album The Road To Ensenada which won the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Country Album. That means it beat out some tripe from Tim McGraw or Garth Brooks or Brooks and Dunn so I already applaud the choice.

Ashes to ashes – Trifecta Challenge

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After surviving ten years of an emasculating marriage, Jake had reached his breaking point.  His friends made many jokes at his expense and he was tired of being bullied by everyone.

She would be expecting an extravagant anniversary present so, after extensive research, he booked a trip to the Babuyan Islands so she could bask in the raw beauty of nature.  As anticipated, she complained about the coach seats on the plane.  She complained about the oppressive humidity.  She profusely disapproved.

Her obituary was poignant and sad.  Who knew she would have met her fate in that volcanic chasm?

babuyan

(image credit: lastwildplace.ph)

Written for the Trifecta Challenge – This week we are giving you a page from the Oxford English Dictionary.  The ninety-ninth page, to be exact.  (Click to enlarge.)  From this page, you can choose any word, any definition, to use in your post.  (Please type your chosen word in bold, so we know.)  And instead of our typical 33-333 word limit, we are asking for 99 words exactly. – See more at: http://www.trifectawritingchallenge.com/#sthash.8OvMgQVR.dpuf

‘Til Disaster do us Part – Trifecta Challenge

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It was a mistake.  It was a disastrous mistake and one that he should never have discovered.  It only happened once, okay maybe more than once but, to her, it really meant nothing.

Her day had begun perfectly.  The sunrise was breathtaking and the streams of light tickled the beading on her designer wedding dress as they rose to greet the morning.  One Mimosa turned into several as her bridesmaids tended to her every need.  Hair was curled, make-up was applied and swollen feet were wedged into dyed stilettos.

Their vows drew tears from family and friends, promises of a love eternal, but below the surface it was all a lie.  He played the part of the dutiful groom, picking up the train of her dress when she walked and catering to her every whim.  All of his smiles for the photographs seemed so genuine and full of love.  If she had only seen the hurt and anger bubbling below the superficial quality of his grin.

His thank-you speech began as she has seen him rehearse it many times but what followed was a shocking turn of events.  She was initially intrigued but her curiosity suddenly turned to horror as his words fell heavily on her ears.  The sea of dismayed and tortured looks rested solely on her.  Each guest held a photo in their hands of a moment in time she would regret for the rest of her life.  Three days before the wedding she had slept with the best man and every person in the room held photographic evidence of her betrayal.

Her exit from the reception felt like it was in slow motion.  The limousine that waited to whisk them away to their honeymoon sat idle and she jumped in the back seat.  They drove for an eternity and finally found a small, seedy pub in the middle of nowhere.  She entered and ordered a drink.  “Give me a Zombie, and keep them coming until I turn into one”.

drunk bride

Written for the Trifecta Weekly Challenge and inspired by what is, most-likely, an urban legend.  (Photo credit: flickr.com)

And now, the weekly prompt.  Make sure you’re using the THIRD definition of the word, as always.  Good luck and bottoms up!
1
usually zombi

a :  the supernatural power that according to voodoo belief may enter into and reanimate a dead body

b :  a will-less and speechless human in the West Indies capable only of automatic movement who is held to have died and been supernaturally reanimated

b :  a person markedly strange in appearance or behavior

2
a :  a person held to resemble the so-called walking dead;especially :  automaton

Chime of death: 7:00 pm – 100 word challenge

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The ticking of a clock incessantly echoed through the house, but where did the noise come from?  She lived alone since the divorce and the only clock she owned was on her phone.  Her bare feet made no sound on the hardwood floors as she stealthily crept from room to room, seeking the source of the mysterious disquiet.  The ticking grew louder and, as she entered the bedroom, the blast hit her before she could see the illuminated time on the device.

He waited across the street in his parked car.  Their divorce would not give her the final say.

***

Written for the 100 Word Challenge.   I love finding new challenges!!   If you haven’t seen this one already – give it a try!

Blue Shoes – A picture is worth 1000 words challenge

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Written for the Weekly Writing Challenge

alone-on-the-playground

Photo by Michelle Weber

She liked to call it the Magic Wall.  The reflection in the window changed each time she spun around and always showed something vastly different from her reality but the thought of life beyond her prison made her smile.  She had always had a vivid imagination for a child.  Everyone told her that.  She loved to live in worlds in her mind, far removed from the day-to-day life in which she found herself immersed.  The chain link fences and concrete yards were a harsh world for an orphan.  She was convinced that only she could see the colors on the carousel and that one day the animals would come to life and take her out of this dark place.

Although her Hello Kitty jeans were new, she could feel the cement on her feet through the holes in her shoes as she pushed once again to spin around and see what the magic wall would reflect.  The windows of the house were beautiful and she could almost smell the scent of pine coming from the trees.  This was no ordinary house.  She knew this house was a home.  Inside of those walls lived laughter and love and warmth.  She wanted so much to find a home – something far removed from the brick building and cold walls where she spent countless days waiting to be found.  She knew that home had a mom who baked cookies.  She knew that home was where hugs were given freely and where tears were wiped away by something other than the back of her own hand.

The lifeless creatures held fast to their position as she spun once more.  As the carousel came to a stop she noticed that the image in the window had not changed.  Never before had she seen the same picture twice.   She turned the disk a quarter turn so she was no longer facing the wall that she now thought was broken.  She pondered what this signified. Was the magic gone?  Would the colors of the creatures cease to exist and her world become monochromatic?

She heard the high-heels clicking on the pavement before she saw anyone approaching.   Slowly she looked up to see the woman in the pretty blue shoes.  She was positive she had seen this lady before and seeing the brilliant color on those shoes made her realize that the palette of her world was not going to be shades of grey.  The woman was speaking to her and it took a moment for the words to filter through her ears to her brain.  She was no longer an orphan.  This woman with the brilliant royal blue shoes wanted to take her home and give her a family.

Happiness traveled through every part of her small child-like frame.  She spun around again and again, giggling as the blue shoes raced past her vision each time she circled by the woman who came to save her.  As the ride slowed and finally came to a stop she looked at the magic wall for the last time.  The reflection in the window showed nothing more than the chain link fence and corrugated sheet metal that had surrounded the only playground she had ever known.  The woman stood next to her and they grasped each others hand.  As they left the playground, the woman pulled out a picture of where they would live together.  It was the house from the magic wall.   She could see the warm light cascading from the windows in the photo and already felt like she was home.

She glanced over her shoulder as they rounded the corner and took one last look at the carousel.  The faded grey and white characters that had once been so vivid in her head now appeared as they truly were.  She was sure she saw one of them wave good-bye but she was too focused on the most beautiful blue shoes she had ever seen.

A Dish Served Cold – Trifecta challenge

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She tried to grasp what he was saying but the words circled her head like cartoon birds, chirping incessantly.   She had lost track of how many times the conversation revolved around him and she continued to sip her wine.  She glanced casually around the restaurant looking for anything else to bring into the conversation but his words kept tumbling over themselves and boxing her ears with their abrasive nature.  She ordered another glass of wine.  He hadn’t even noticed and kept rambling.

His words slowly began to mutate.  She wasn’t sure if he was having trouble speaking or if the wine had dulled her senses to the point of not being able to distinguish syllables.  Regardless of the reason, she welcomed the new dulcet nature of his speech pattern and ordered another glass of wine.

The room seemed different somehow – like a special effect in a movie where only the centre of her vision was in focus and her peripheral was shrouded in shadows.  She thought she had heard him actually ask if she was okay but she could not form the words to respond.  He was suddenly beside her, placing his hand under her elbow and easing her out of the chair.  She wasn’t sure why but she felt compelled to oblige and stood beside him.  The world spun.

The last two things she would remember were the waitress giving her a smug look thinking that she drank too much and the feel of the cold metal barrel of the pistol burrowing into her rib cage.

***

Written for the Trifecta Challenge – And now, the weekly prompt.

GRASP (verb)
1: to take or seize eagerly

2: to clasp or embrace especially with the fingers or arms
Remember:
  • Your response must be between 33 and 333 words.
  • You must use the 3rd definition of the given word in your post.
  • The word itself needs to be included in your response.
  • You may not use a variation of the word; it needs to be exactly as stated above.
  • Only one entry per writer.
  • If your post doesn’t meet our requirements, please leave your link in the comments section, not in the linkz.
  • Trifecta is open to everyone. Please join us.

– See more at: http://www.trifectawritingchallenge.com/#sthash.w0RpD3hA.dpuf