by Naomi L. | October 9, 2015 | Flash Fiction, J.C. Wolfe's Writing |
It was the most delicious thing I had ever eaten.
You never forget your first taste, my father had told me. Oh, how right he was. I had tried to resist my instinct, but I couldn’t any longer.
My mouth watered long after the last bite. The monthly helpings of rabbit and fox I had known until now were nothing compared to this. Such succulent meat; not too bony and just the right amount of blood and fat to make it juicy without being heavy. And the crispy skin? Sublime! What a great idea to roast it first! I was lucky not to overcook it. Fires made with the clumsy paws of a wolf have a way of going awry.
As I sucked the last bits of meat off the bones, I heard rustling from afar. Following the call of the moon, I slunk toward the dim light in the distance, careful to stay hidden as the glowing torches came into view. The next sight to meet my eyes made me grin.
Three more foolish humans wandering through the woods, no doubt searching for the first. How predictable.
I licked my lips as I crouched in the shadows, more than ready for a second taste. Tonight I was going to eat very well.
by Naomi L. | August 21, 2015 | Flash Fiction, J.C. Wolfe's Writing |
(What If? Exercise: Read the description here.)
Sharon was the first to spot him in the water.
No one else noticed the little boy was drowning.
But the lifeguard had him out in seconds.
She gave him CPR on the beach.
The crowd watched with bated breath…
Then the boy’s mother cried.
His chest was moving.
The people cheered.
Sharon smiled.
Alive.
This piece is based on What If? Exercise 93: “Ten to One”. The exercise is to write a 55-word story in which the first sentence has ten words, the second has nine, etc., until the last sentence has only one word. The objective is to show that precision and thrift in writing can produce surprisingly powerful results. I hope you enjoy what I’ve written. Thanks for reading!
Back to the story
by Naomi L. | August 7, 2015 | Flash Fiction, J.C. Wolfe's Writing |
(What If? Exercise: Read the description here.)
Having gotten through college without a problem, I honestly thought getting a Master’s degree would be simple, but I didn’t realize it would be a whole different experience right from the beginning, from talking to your professors for hours to come up with a great idea for a project, to having to write a standout résumé and totally kill it in the interview, and then sitting through the requisite amount of discipline hours for a whole semester before actually getting started on the project, only to realize halfway through the program that your methods were never feasible for a two-year project to begin with, so you spend another several hours discussing it with your advisors until the project has changed completely, meaning you have to start almost from scratch with only one year left to get everything done on time, so you rush through your lab work in what turns out to be a lesson on why you should never rush through lab work that sets you back another month, but you stay optimistic in the knowledge that it’s all a learning experience and now you know what not to do, so you press on through one obstacle after the other – difficult field work, delayed lab material deliveries, failed DNA amplifications – until you finally have enough results to begin last-minute data analyses, all the while reading up-to-the-minute papers that risk changing the entire course of the thesis you’ve been writing and rewriting for the past few months, and just as you’re about to give up the last shred of hope that you’ll be able to meet the final deadline, you reach deep down inside and find that final burst of determination, and before you know it, your thesis is complete, your project has been successfully presented and defended, your paper is in preparation for submission, and all your hard work has earned you a Master’s degree, and you’re so proud of yourself that you forget all the stress you endured to make it here and focus solely on the glory of success… until you decide to pursue a Ph.D and the whole journey starts all over again.
This story is based on What If? Exercise 90: “The Journey of the Long Sentence”. The exercise is to write a short short story that’s only one sentence long. The objective is to understand how we can shape our writing in a similar manner that our minds function, building a linear order for observations that often consist of many overlapping aspects. I hope you enjoy what I’ve written. Thanks for reading!
Back to the story
by Naomi L. | July 31, 2015 | Flash Fiction, J.C. Wolfe's Writing |
(What If? Exercise: Read the description here.)
He had been planning this moment for two months now.
Nervously, he gazed at the love of his life.
I love you more than anything, he whispered.
This was it: the moment of truth.
He got down on one knee.
Then he produced the ring.
Will you marry me?
He waited, terrified…
She smiled.
Yes.
This piece is based on What If? Exercise 93: “Ten to One”. The exercise is to write a 55-word story in which the first sentence has ten words, the second has nine, etc., until the last sentence has only one word. The objective is to show that precision and thrift in writing can produce surprisingly powerful results. I hope you enjoy what I’ve written. Thanks for reading!
Back to the story
by Naomi L. | July 10, 2015 | Flash Fiction, J.C. Wolfe's Writing |
(First place winner of Writer’s Carnival’s June Author-less Flash contest!)
They say it’s always the one you least suspect.
The police had three suspects. All of them had motive to poison Frank’s whiskey, to want him dead.
Uncle Jerry had threatened him last year for gambling away his hard-earned savings.
Aunt Rose hated him for cheating her out of her share of their inheritance.
Linda was still furious about all his drinking and philandering, even after leaving him three years ago.
But everyone had an alibi for the day of Frank’s murder. No one seemed to miss him anyway, so in the end, the police chalked his death up to suicide and closed the case.
Funny how they never thought someone might have killed him to protect a loved one. Only I knew he wouldn’t hurt sweet little Maddie anymore.
They say it’s always the one you least suspect.
Luckily for me, nobody ever suspects the cat.
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