Flash! Friday, Vol 3 – 3: Hidden in Plain Sight

Flash Friday Challenge, December 27, 2014

Every Friday our challenge is to craft a 150-word story (10-word leeway) based on the photo prompt. Here's this week's picture--and my story:

Edmonton Chinese New Year. CC photo by IQRemix.

Hidden in Plain Sight

My fingers linger over the last loop of my festival creation, relishing what’s to come, reluctantly reliving the past.

Freedom. I remember freedom, fitting in, living large, and taking life for granted.

Falling. I remember falling, my hands outstretched, the wind whooshing in my ears as I sought to stop the inevitable.

Heat. I remember heat, blinding yellows and reds enveloping me, burning me.

Pain. I remember pain, the soul-searing pain that screamed for weeks.

Horror. I remember horror, the revolted expressions etched in the sideways stares of people on the street.

Pity. I remember pity, poorly hidden in friends’ words of forced cheerfulness.

I lift the mask and slip it over my head, hiding the scars, the visible angry memories. Edging into the crowd, I lose myself in the masquerade. My heart rejoices as I am welcomed into the sea of revelers.

Dancing. I remember dancing. How could I forget?

Tonight, I am free, once again.

(157 words)

Thanks for stopping by. Try your hand at flash fiction--it can be addicting! 

Flash! Friday, Vol. 3 – 2: Double Life

Flash Friday, December 19, 2014

Christmas Edition

Every Friday our challenge is to craft a 150-word story (10-word leeway) based on the photo prompt. Here's this week's picture--and my Christmas story:

Wanted: Santa Claus. CC artwork by Kevin Dooley.

Double Life

(156 words)

Every year when Christmas rolls around, She of Soft Hands places me on my mantel perch. I survey my festive domain: the tree, the lights, the bows, the tinsel. I’m happy.

Until he comes.

When She of Soft Hands leaves the house, Wicked One sneaks over and snatches me.

Rather than Man of the Month, I become:

     Saint Nicked-the-presents, booked at the LEGO police station

     Claus-trophobic, dropped in a LEGO castle dungeon

     Krispy Kringle, caught in the crossfire between LEGO Jedi and the Dark Side

     Father Christmas-past (or was it future?), crammed in a LEGO DeLorean

And, to add insult to injury, he records my shame and parades it on the Internet for other 12-year-old boys to scorn. “LEGOmoviemaker0001,” indeed.

Where’s the love? Wouldn’t this be considered naughty? I’m questioning all that I represent.

Oh no… She of Little Sticky Hands has grabbed me. Nooooo! Please, not the LEGO Barbie Fashion Boutique.

Dammit. I’m Santa Claus-dresser.

Thanks for stopping by. Try your hand at flash fiction--it can be addicting! 

Flash! Friday, Vol 3 – 1: Shir-ash

Flash Friday, December 12, 2014

Every Friday our challenge is to craft a 150-word story (10-word leeway) based on the photo prompt. Here's the picture--and my post:

Wine Glass. CC2 photo by BlakJakDavy.

SHIR-ASH

159 words

Some say we’re the souls of the damned. We exist in eternal fire until Satan drags us above ground to help humans remember Hell.

Is it true? This roiling, folding heat that embraces me—it’s all I’ve ever known. I desperately want out, but I don’t know why.

After millennia of sliding past my fellows, persistently seeking escape from the fiery chamber, I find a fissure in the earth. In a rush I am expelled. I am transformed. I expand into lightness and float, sailing on cold currents, confined no more.

I drift for days, gradually losing altitude until I approach my final resting place of freedom. The grass? The river? No, I fall into another chamber of red. I float on the thick liquid. Sweet. Cool. I am alone.

Surely this is Heaven.

The chamber moves, sweetness crashing around me, crushing me. I’m thrown into a dark tunnel. Another, larger chamber of darkness awaits below.

Surely this is Hell.

Thanks for stopping by. Try your hand at flash fiction--it can be addicting!