by Naomi L. | January 30, 2015 | Flash Fiction, J.C. Wolfe's Writing |
(What If? Exercise: Read the description here.)
All she ever wanted was to be one of them.
To become a sister, you must complete a task.
Bring back the necklace hidden in the woods.
They didn’t mention she’d have to run.
The sound of howling terrified her.
The beast was gaining fast.
She reached the gate.
Almost free now.
She pulled…
Locked.
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. | January 23, 2015 | Flash Fiction, J.C. Wolfe's Writing |
(First place winner of Writer’s Carnival’s Author-less Flash contest!)
“He promised he’d return today.”
Serena stroked the coral comb through her hair for the umpteenth time. Locks of gold will stop a man cold, her mother used to sing.
“Not this year.”
“You don’t know that, Kay.”
“The day’s done. He won’t come this year. Just as he didn’t last, just as he won’t next.”
Serena shot the dolphin a piercing look.
“Fine.” She plucked an oyster from where the waves crashed against the rock and pried it open with the comb to reveal an engraved black pearl. Turning it over in her fingers, she chanted a haunting song until the pearl vanished into dust on the ocean breeze.
“Whose life this year?”
“His sister’s.”
“Too close. Why not just take his and be done with it?”
“He needs to learn his lesson.”
The friends watched the sun sink into the horizon, concealing a ship that would never appear.
“Sailors are too fickle.”
“Dolphins are too cheeky.”
“And mermaids are too spiteful.”
“He’ll come for me. You’ll see.”
A hint of warning in his eyes, Kay disappeared beneath the waves. Serena’s tail glimmered in the twilight as she combed her golden hair, alone.
“He promised.“
by Naomi L. | December 5, 2014 | Flash Fiction, J.C. Wolfe's Writing |
The day I stopped caring was the greatest day of my life.
That was the day I heard the voice inside. The voice that set me free.
I used to be terrified of what everyone thought. My life was nothing but overwhelming fear of judgment and humiliation. After every move I made, I would worry about how someone might react. Anyone could be a critic. Everyone’s opinion mattered.
Most nights, I’d cry myself to sleep. All I wanted was to please people, to be accepted. I wanted my actions to mean as much as everyone else’s did.
And then one day, I woke up to the sound of that voice. Not the pretend voice I used to kid myself or make myself feel better. The real voice deep inside that had finally endured enough phoniness and decided to speak up.
It only asked me the one question. But that was exactly what I needed to hear.
“Why do you care?“
Why did I care? Why did I care what people said? Why did I care what people did? Why did I care what people thought? I didn’t know. And when I realized I didn’t have an answer, something incredible happened.
The fear just… disappeared.
Suddenly, I wasn’t afraid anymore. I no longer felt embarrassed about bad memories that everyone else had long forgotten. I stopped trying to hide the things I liked that nobody else understood. I quit doubting myself and began trusting in my own abilities. And never again did I let anyone laugh at me, because now they were laughing with me.
I had stopped being afraid, and started living life. All because that voice inside had made me realize whose opinion really matters most.
What a liberating day that was.
The day I stopped caring what anyone thinks… but me.
by Naomi L. | November 21, 2014 | Flash Fiction, J.C. Wolfe's Writing |
Did I really have a nightmare? Or did a noise downstairs wake me?
Did I really forget to turn the lights off? Or did they switch back on after I went to sleep?
Did I really leave the door open? Or was it a draft in the hallway?
Did I really move that chair? Or did it push itself across the room?
Did I really sleepwalk through the kitchen? Or did the open fridge empty itself?
Did I really see my own shadow in the mirror? Or was it a phantom?
Am I imagining things? Am I losing my mind?
Or am I not alone?
by Naomi L. | November 14, 2014 | Flash Fiction, J.C. Wolfe's Writing |
(What If? Exercise: Read the description here.)
I thought that spot in the sky was a star.
It didn’t occur to me that stars don’t waver.
We screamed as the bright lights blinded us.
I tried to run with everyone else.
But they had come for me.
The ground beneath me vanished.
No way out now.
Only one way.
Their way.
Up.
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
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