The delay caused numerous reactions ranging from an irritating tapping of five-inch-heels and drumming fingers to frustrated glances at watches, long sighs and frequent calls home, but by far the most disturbing reaction was from the driver, who after the sickening impact, vacated his cab and walked directly in front of the 5.47 from Paddington.
(55 Words)
He stared across the desolate fenland, a barren expanse stretching from the mortuary to the distant shrouded hills. Like Magwitch, Henry’s lip sneered at his sodden feet, he should’ve thieved the sedulous attendant’s overshoes as well as his mackintosh, egalitarian, he was not. The cottage emerged from behind the damp, coiling mists, an oasis in his fraught mind, and he wiped his forehead with a crimson bandana discovered in the stolen coat’s pocket. Rain teemed endlessly and he sought protection from the unsavoury elements.
His foot kicked the cloche as he raced across the garden and cursed as glass shattered across the path, so much for a quiet entrance. He burst through the unlocked door.
She stood wide-eyed and open mouthed at the dripping man before her.
“Had a really bad day at work sweetie!” he began suddenly loquacious after the silence of the moor, “Car broke down…then it rained…”
(150 Words)
“So let me tell you about last night, there I was all curled up cosy, head beneath the duvet, heavy breathing, not for any sordid reason mind, just to warm up the icy bed…and my mind began to wander. That half hour, you know the one, before sleep overcomes consciousness, is precious and thoughts of all kinds swim in the murky depths of my brain. No point letting the day’s events wallow, don’t need to rehash that which I can’t change, so I think, I muse, I ruminate – the cogs turn and the gears jump and my imagination escapes with me…
So last night, just before succumbing to slumber, I had the mother of all ideas, the biggest twist and the most amazing denouement in all of history – the best ever best-seller planned out in the utmost detail, right there in my head!
Now I sit with the humming of my laptop heckling me and an illumined blank page scorning my brain as I delve deep inside in vain…and my novel, my best-seller, my way out of here, in the bright light of day – is all but forgotten…”
Written, tongue-in-cheek for Lillie McFerrin’s Five Sentence Fiction check out the other writers in this week’s prompt: Forgotten.
They were looking for life…but in all the wrong places. No atmosphere, no ocean, no luscious land, like I said, looking in the wrong place.
While they scoured the dry surface their bounding steps resonated through underground caverns, hidden valleys of green, crystalline ceilings and overlooked the most abundant prospect…life.
(50 Words)
@LastKrystallos
Written for Flash! Friday Week 6 with Rebekah Postupak and Shenandoah Valley Writers You can follow Rebekah on Twitter at @postupak.
Write a story for the prompt in only 50 words.
Incoming tide reaches just about eight feet at its full height. I’m just over six foot and the chain’s slack is about two feet, give or take.
Survival is about numbers, strength and stamina.
They’ll all watch, but I’m fine with that.
Don’t feel bad, if you’d done what I did, this would be you.
(55 Words)
The Last Krystallos 