writing challenge

FFfAW: Winter’s Child

/ afairymind / 21 Comments
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Photo prompt © Ioniangraphics

Winter’s Child

He had to wait for winter to arrive. Or so they told him. The summer, they said, belonged to others. He had to wait for the air to turn chilly and the wind biting; for the frost to form on the trees. Only then would it be his time.

But the summer seemed without end.

He willed the leaves to begin their change – the shift to golden browns would herald the approach of colder days. But disappointment dogged him. No matter how he hoped and wished and prayed, how he yearned for the seasons to shift, the green of summer remained dominant.

All the while, children laughed and played in bright sunshine, while he looked on.

He had to wait for the days when children wore warm coats to play outside, bundled up in hats, scarves and gloves. And when maybe, just maybe, the snow would fall and they’d build snowmen in the park.

First, though, the long summer had to end.

Charlie scowled. It wasn’t fair.

He wanted it to be his birthday now!

Word count: 175

To read the other entries or to submit your own, click the little blue frog.

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This post is for Priceless Joy’s Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers challenge. This week’s prompt was provided by Ioniangraphics. Thank you for the prompt!

I hadn’t intended to post anything this week – mainly because I haven’t managed to respond to any of the comments on my last post yet (sorry) – but the words came into my head last night and wouldn’t leave me alone until I’d written them down. It seemed a shame not to share it.

I hope you like it. And I’ll try to respond to some comments and visit a few blogs this evening!

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TLT: The Flying Banana

/ afairymind / 12 Comments
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Photo Prompt – © Wolf Shram

Each weekend they’d piled into the backseat, little ones on older siblings laps, ready for an adventure. It had been part of their family: the Flying Banana, the greatest car in the world. Which was why, despite being told it was only good for the scrapheap, the rusting wreck continued to sit in their garage – some day the banana would fly again.

This post is for Sonya’s Three Line Tales.

For anyone who’s curious, the name ‘Flying Banana’ was the nickname my grandad gave his bright yellow car, back when my mum was young. When I was little we had a car we called Brown Cow, which all six of us kids would sit in the back of. It was a bit of a shock to us when the rear seat-belt law was introduced!

FFfAW: Susceptible

/ afairymind / 18 Comments
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Photo prompt – Joy Pixley

Susceptible

Willow spotted the pair long before they reached her. The man was perfect, open minded and curious. The woman was more… problematic. She exuded confidence, carrying a fixed world-view that prevented any tampering to her thoughts.

But the man was too good to ignore.

“Come,” she whispered into his mind. “This way.”

He stopped, his vacant gaze turning towards the doorway where Willow glowed enticingly. The woman continued on, unaware of her companion’s distraction.

“Follow me.”

The woman’s frantic voice drifted from below as Willow led him steadily higher, but it was distant, unable to infringe on the enthrallment entwining his thoughts. Soon they’d reach the portal. Soon she’d be able to return home.

“Come closer.” She ignored the approaching footfalls. “Quickly.”

“James!” The woman pounded into sight. Cursing, she dragged him away from the banister onto which he’d climbed. “What the hell are you doing?”

Willow’s hopes disintegrated along with her hold on the man’s mind.

“I… I don’t know,” he said.

The shaken pair retreated. The portal continued to drift in mid-air, demanding blood.

Word Count: 175

To read the other entries, click the little blue frog.

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This post is for Priceless Joy’s Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers Challenge. This week’s prompt was provided by Joy Pixley. Thank you, Joy

FFfAW: Captivated

/ afairymind / 27 Comments

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Captivated

Raedan’s hands clenched around the gift box as he listened to the announcement. Lady Seleste had chosen her suitor.

And it wasn’t him.

Everyone else faded into insignificance as she glided across the hall. With each tilt of her head, each flash of a smile, she set his senses reeling. She’d captivated him from the first. Now he had one final chance…

“A gift, my lady.” He knelt as she passed.

He didn’t see her companion until a masculine hand intercepted the box and flipped it open. His protest died in his throat as he looked into a familiar face. He wanted to flee – knew he should flee – but his body refused to obey.

“So this is the man who thinks to own me?” Seleste’s disgust burned.

“Indeed.” The treacherous wizard at her side lifted the gem he’d enchanted for Raedan free. “This stone was intended to control you.” He pinned the delicate confection into her hair. “Instead it will control him. My wedding gift to you, my love.”

Unable to do otherwise, Raedan followed in their wake.

Word Count: 175

To read the other entries, click the little blue frog.wpImg

This post is for Priceless Joy’s Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers. This week’s photo prompt was provided by Jade M. Wong. Thank you Jade!

TLT: Boxed

/ afairymind / 17 Comments
A photo by Steven Wei. unsplash.com/photos/g-AklIvI1aI

Photo Prompt – © Steven Wei

She’d always said that she wouldn’t be put in a box and forced into conformity, that she wouldn’t follow their indifferent society’s path, only to be left feeling stifled and unfulfilled. So how had she come to this? She turned away from the window, from the view of coffin like apartments, and began to pack her bags – it was time to start again.

This post is for Sonya’s Three Line Tales. As I was writing this I had the words of a song by Newton Faulkner going around in my head, so I thought I’d share it with you.

CWW: Ancient Paths

/ afairymind / 37 Comments

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Meandering path,

following a

well trodden route.

To whose doorway

do you lead?

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This post is for Cee’s Which Way Challenge. This week’s pictures were taken at the Chysauster Ancient Village in Cornwall (England), the remains of an Iron Age settlement thought to have first been occupied nearly 2,000 years ago, during the Roman occupation of Britain. The village contains eight to ten houses, each with an interior courtyard surrounded by a number of rooms built into the walls. Best of all – and why I can use the pictures for this post – you can even see the stone paths leading up to many of the doorways that the ancient inhabitants would have walked upon.

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I hope you like them.

FFfAW: Wisps of Gold

/ afairymind / 34 Comments
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Photo prompt – © Phylor

Wisps of Gold

Emily stood beside the piled leaves, peering around the garden for any that might have escaped her notice. It had taken far longer than she’d expected to scrape the mound together, each breeze threatening to undo her work, but she’d been determined to gather every golden scrap she could find.

“Well?” she called. “How’s that?”

A pale face peered from the darkness of the barn. An arm stretched out, finger pointing. “You missed some.”

Mummy would have been cross if she’d heard Emily’s words as she turned and saw the scatter of leaves newly tossed over the grass. “Damn wind – leave my leaves alone!” she shouted at the sky. As if in defiance, a fresh gust sent Emily running again.

She returned the final armful to the pile, and, grinning excitedly, ran back to her new friend. “Come on. Quick!”

With a whoop the pair dashed over the lawn, leaping into the crunchy heap in a shower of laughter, setting golden wisps to flight. Bathed in sunlight, Emily’s companion smiled.

And faded from sight.

Word Count: 175

To read the other entries, click the little blue frog.

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This post is for the Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers challenge, run by Priceless Joy. This week’s photo prompt was provide by Phylor. Thank you Phylor!

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TLT: All the Time in the World

/ afairymind / 18 Comments
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Photo Prompt – © Rachel Crowe

She’d always complained that there weren’t enough hours in the day as she dashed from task to task, her to-do list never shrinking. Then fateful words caused her world to shatter. Suddenly she had all the time she’d ever needed, but nothing could fill the interminable hours as they dragged on into an increasingly bleak future.

This post is for Sonya’s Three Line Tales challenge.

I thought I’d leave it up to you to decide what the ‘fateful words’ are about – maybe the death of a child or a partner, the loss of a hard-worked for career, or maybe something else…

FFfAW: Seven PM

/ afairymind / 30 Comments
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Photo Prompt

Seven PM

Edmund stood on the shoreline. Waiting. It was something he was good at.

As a child he’d waited for his father, watching the ticking clock. At seven pm, daily, the man would hear the governess’ report, granting him a fragment of his time: a smile, a question, a word of praise… if the report was fair. On days when he’d displeased the woman, the attention would be far less pleasant: a reprimand, a strike of the cane, a reminder of their family name.

He glanced at the watch. Not much longer, now.

Over the years, his resentment had grown. The gift of a pocket-watch on his sixteenth birthday had epitomised every wasted moment. His anger had exploded at the sight of the timepiece. The heavy gift-box had become an instrument of death as he’d swung it at his father’s head. The chain had wrapped easily around his fleeing governess’ throat.

As the watch indicated seven pm, he placed it neatly onto the stones of the beach – a monument to a wasted life.

And he walked into the sea.

Word Count: 175

To read other entries, click the little blue frogwpImg

This post is for Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers, a flash fiction challenge run by Priceless Joy that asks us to write a story of 100-175 words based on the provided photo prompt. This week’s picture was provided by me.

For anyone that’s interested, the watch in the picture is actually a necklace that belongs to my sister. It’s a lot smaller than it looks in the photo – less than two centimeters in diameter. She bought it in Whitby when we were on holiday there a few years ago. I couldn’t resist borrowing it for a few photographs when we were sitting on the beach later that day.

I hope you enjoyed the story. It’s rather darker than most I write so I’d love to know what people think of it. It was originally meant to be the background for a ghost story, but unfortunately I couldn’t fit the whole thing into the word limit. This one had to be chiselled out of a much larger piece. That does mean, of course, that I now have another 350 word story ready for inclusion in a flash fiction collection. Yay!

TLT: Tools of the Trade

/ afairymind / 13 Comments
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Photo Prompt © Ashim D’Silva

He’d collected many tools of the trade over the years, as he moved from job to job in search of a career that fulfilled him. Each time he’d thought he’d found it, thought that this time he’d be happy – only for boredom to soon set in. But this time… this time would be different.

This post is for Sonya’s Three Line Tales.