5 Minute Fiction

 

 

 

Prompt: Center your story around something common or of little monetary value that is missing.

 

“But I NEED it or we cannot get in the car mom Oh My God!” he shrieked.

“You don’t need it, baby. You just want it.”

“But I PROMISED I would bring it. She needs it, mom! PLEASE!”

“I couldn’t find it, Joshua. I looked. I promise I looked.”

“Let me have five more minutes, mom. I will find it. I promised.” He dashed from the car and run up the driveway, flew into the house, and tore through his things. He flipped over his toy box, looked under his bed, and searched through his closet.

She could hear the house being ripped to shreds, but stood with a slight smile tugging at her lips.

Next she heard the refrigerator door slam against the wall. Why was he searching there?

“Josh? Do you need help?”

“No mom! I can do this!” The scent of maple syrup wafted from the house. “I might have broken the syrup bottle, but I will clean it up.”

She chuckled and imagined the mess they would come back to later. It didn’t matter. It was just stuff.

A few minutes later, he pounced through the front door. Victory was splashed across his cheeks. In his hand, he held a tiny plastic ninja.

“I found it, mom! LOOK! I told you I would find it!” He ran to her and jumped into her arms for a fierce hug. “Come on! We are going to be late!” He jumped back down and flew into the car. As he put his seatbelt on, he shouted again, “Mom, don’t just stand there. Get in. It’s almost time!”

Mom took one more glance at the house and smiled. She checked that the front door was at least closed and got into the car. She turned the radio on, wiped a tear from her eye, and backed out of the driveway.

~

Josh stood at his sister’s bedside after her surgery was complete. He held her hand and spoke softly to her. So softly, the adults couldn’t hear him. Though she was still under anesthesia and waiting to go get chemo, she seemed so peaceful and happy.

Josh turned and asked him mom to come closer. “I want you to be here for this. We have to give it to her at the same time.” He grabbed his mother’s hand and together they gave the tiny plastic ninja to the tiny girl. “A warrior for a warrior,” he said.

“Strength to you, my little one. We love you,” Mom added before they headed back to the waiting room.

 

 

 

 

The prompt was to write a story inspired by the title or the chorus of a song you recently heard.  

 

“I know you’re there… I don’t know why you insist on hiding from me.”

Silence blanketed the room and I frowned. I know I felt something move in here. I heard that change that happens in the air when another human is in my personal space. I could smell him. That familiar musk that marked only him. My heartbeats sped up and I wanted to rub my hands together nervously, but didn’t want to frighten him away.

“I’m not scared, just say something. Anything.”

The breeze tickled across my arms and made the hair on the back of my neck stand. I sucked in a deep, calming breath and spoke softly, “I’m not going to give up on you. Don’t worry. I understand you are having a hard time reaching out to me, but I have all of the patience in the world. I’m here and will wait forever if you need me to. Just…. don’t leave.”

I took a small step back and sat on the bed and smiled to myself and waited. It took less than 30 seconds before I heard it.

“I’m sorry.”

Tears streamed down my face before I was ready for them to. “I’m sorry that I couldn’t get to you….. I tried.”

“I know…. You’re the one that I love.. and I’m saying goodbye…”

I felt it when he left. He just needed me to know he found peace and was safe.

Thank you, angel.

 

Inspired by Say Something (cover by Pentatonix – original song by Great Big World)

 

 

 

 

 

Prompt: An adventure goes awry … in a good way

 

“Oh, for Pete’s sake, Hannah.. haven’t you ever seen a scary movie before? Like EVER in your whole life?”

“Of course I have, Trish, but you can’t tell me you don’t want to know what’s down there. You just can’t.”

“I want to know, yes, but we can come back when it’s daylight and were aren’t wearing Serial Killer Attractant Spray.”

“I forgot my spray, so I’m good. You stay up here and keep an eye out for me. I will be back in 5 minutes. If I’m not, just call for help.”

“Right, ‘cause my cell phone is definitely going to work in BFE,” Trish said, exasperated.

“You have two bars, look,” Hannah pointed, and then smiled.

“Seriously Hannah, this is along the lines of ‘Look, Mom, no hands!’ and ‘I’ll be right baaaack’ in scary movies. No. I refuse to let you go.”

Snatching the hem of her shirt from her friend, Hannah smiled. “Trust me.”

“Yep, that’s another thing they say before they become a skin suit.”

Chuckling, Hannah said, “You watch too many scary movies, silly. It’s just a simply little cellar. I am sure I saw something glint as we ran by. I just want to see what it was. I will talk to you the entire time and if I stop talking, you can run and call for help.”

“So I’m just supposed to leave you here?”

“Or you can come down with me,” Hannah suggested.

“Screw you. Two minutes, nonstop talking or I bail,” Trish glanced at her watch. “This is the worst side-trip on a midnight run ever. I just thought I would note that just in case someone is listening and will note our death scene properly in our made-for-tv movie.”

“Pfft. You wanted to come out. I wanted to stay in and watch a movie and eat cake,” Hannah pointed out.

“Yay fitness equals death. Good to know,” Trish said sarcastically.

Hannah stepped down on the first step. When it creaked, Trish grimaced. “Okay, be right back. Two minutes starts…. now!” Hannah darted down the blackened staircase. “Oh my God!”

“WHAT!? Are you okay? Are there bodies? What’s wrong? Should I click send to 9-1-1??”

“No, but you really should come see this.”

“Is someone down there coercing you to get me down there, too? If all is well, use our secret word.”

“Velociraptor. Now come down here, you ninny!”

“Okay, fine.” Hannah tossed her phone and keys onto the ground by the entrance to the cellar doors and started her downward trudge. As she reached the bottom of the steps, her breath lost her.

Standing, surrounded by stacks of money, gold bars, and various other treasures was her friend. No killers. Just treasure.

“Wow. This is amazing. Where did all of this come from, I wonder?” Trish asked as she stepped closer to a stack of gold bars.

“I don’t know, but something tells me we should definitely call the police now. There’s no way this is all here for no reason.”

“Agreed, but can’t I just play with it for a few minutes before we call?”

“I thought you were super anxious to get home,” Hannah asked with a raised eyebrow.

“We can eat cake later. For now, let’s pretend we are queens of our country,” Trish giggled.

“My, how our adventures always seem to take a turn.”

“Yes, at least in this one we found sparklies instead of the hatchets I was afraid we would find.”

 

 

 

 

 

The theme: Vikings!

 

The waves lapped against the boat lazily as they waited for the second boat to approach. It felt like an eternity had passed and the men were getting restless. Ryland looked to over his shoulder and huffed his annoyance as they brought the woman aboard. Not only was it a bad omen to have a woman on board, but this particular woman was the bane of his existence and the entire reason people could use the term “going Viking” on someone. Her treachery and their past made him lose all thought and focus. He once called a raid on a town after seeing her simply so he could break things and try to scrub her face from his mind.

She glided onto the boat and eyed him like a starving man would a full roasted chicken, paying no attention to the scowl that contorted his face into something he knew looked wretched, but she the glimmer in his eye told him something else.

“Good, now we have her. Let’s be on our way,” Ryland ordered.

“What shall we do with her, sir?” his crew member asked.

“I dont care, but tie her up and away from me until we arrive. I have something special planned for her,” when he saw her grin wickedly, he added, “Sorry princess, not this time. Not ever.”

“You act as if you can deny me. I will have my way by the end and you know that.”

“As I said, keep her away from me.”

**

They arrived at port two days later. Ryland had someone managed to not sleep or eat anywhere near his hostage. As he stepped firmly off the boat onto the dock with her in tow, she cooed, “Please don’t do this, Ryland. You don’t want to do this.”

“For my freedom, I will pay any price, including your pretty head.”

“So you think I’m pretty still?” she asked, sounding far too hopeful.

“Your beauty is what got me in this mess. Now stop speaking,” he turned to the crew member, “bring her.”

**

They arrive at the castle quickly. The King paced and waited for his guests impatiently. When he saw his daughter, he ran to her and showed concern for a moment before slapping her across the face and ordering the guards to take her away.

“Thank you, Ryland. For an overbearing, warmonger you aren’t half bad. You would do much better as a bountyman or other law man. You don’t need to be this waste of life.”

“Sorry, my King. I cannot follow that lifestyle. It’s not my thing. I just want my freedom.”

“And that you shall have,” the King promise, then turned to the guard and swung at Ryland, thinking to catch him off guard.

Ryland caught his hand and said “You didn’t need to try to assault me, your Highness. I was planning on killing you anyhow. Stupid of you to trust a Viking to do your bidding. I’m not your lawman.” Then he turned to his crew, “Go fetch my bride!”

(to be continued… someday!)

 

 

 

Prompt: ​Your dragon (or other character if you must) discovers something about him or herself is very unusual.

 

Ok, Lynn… you can do this. If I repeat that to myself enough times, will I be able to actually do it? Am I that strong? Sure I am. I am my father’s daughter.

Stepping into the open field, I shielded my eyes against the mid-day sun. Of course, it had to be a sparkling clear day so that everyone could see if I failed. Perfect.

Glancing around, I saw that I was oddly alone today. Good.

With nothing a small inhale, I broke into a feverish run toward the edge of the field. Pumping my arms and preparing myself for the change, I smiled and threw myself into the abyss.

My body ripped itself apart as my wings flew out to protect me from the fall. Violet scales replaced milky white flesh and my eyes suddenly could see things I wasn’t able to see in my human form. A moment later, I flew above the field and away from the source of my annoyance.

Minutes later, I found my favorite place in the world and descended quietly so as not to alert anyone to my arrival. Skulking through the brush, I found my hidden set of clothes and quickly dressed. A giant purple dragon might rouse interest, but a naked woman walking around could cause all kinds of problems that I simply didn’t have time for. Finding the edge of the water quickly, I stepped in quietly and waited for my companion to arrive.

The change in water temperature alerted me that he was near. Stepping out of the water, I took a few steps back to accommodate him and watched as he rose from the water.

“Lynn, as always a pleasure.”

“And you, sir. How are you this day?”

“I am quite well. I’m anxious for our lesson.”

“Well, first of all, you can’t just rise from the water like that being all hot and stuff.”

“And stuff? Are you suddenly a teenager? Did I just see a blush rise on your cheeks?”

“You know what I mean. If you want to look human, you can’t do that. Now come out of there and take your human form completely. I don’t have all day.” I knew crossing my arms over my chest and standing definitely would rush him, but I happened to like my control over the situation.

“You like this a little too much. I can see it in the tiny smirk on your face.”

“Yes, well you are getting what you want and I am getting what I need, so we are both winning. Now put these on and come with me.” I tossed him the bag of clothes I had left for him the last time I came and walked through the tree line to wait for him in the field.

Moments later, he joined me. His clothes were a bit disheveled, but what do you expect from a leviathan?

“I am still unsure of human form. Are you sure I look normal?”

“There isn’t much normal about you, but we will work on that,” I chuckled. Truth be told, he was one of the most amazing specimens of man I’d ever seen. If I’d met him under other circumstances, instead of him trying to make a meal out of me one day, we might have tried our chance at a relationship, but oil and water, so to speak.

“The curse is lifting more by the day, Lynn. We have to be serious. I struggle to stay in my form.”

“You struggle to stay your beast self,” I rolled my eyes. “I struggle to stay in human form. Appreciate your gifts.”

“I was cursed for thousands of years. I believe it’s my turn to live a little.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you have me to train you. Now pay attention.” I took him through the motions of modern manners, common terminology, and more. I felt I was only doing my duty to restore his life to what it once was as it was my family that cursed him to be a beast. If they knew what I was doing, they would shun me or worse. But… a girl can dream.

 

 

 

 

 

Prompt: Build your story on the theme of Goodbye – brownie points if you can include appeals to all five senses in your story.

 

What she thought was going to be a gush of tears pouring down her face just happened to be one solitary tear that slowly rolled down her cheek and landed silently on her collar bone. She knew this day was coming. She knew it was going to be hard, but she never wanted to have to say those words to him.

The doctor slowly turned away from her with his head down. The entire time he spoke to her his eyes were haunted, masked, heavy. She knew before he spoke and almost asked him to stop speaking, but couldn’t move on without hearing it.

“We are so sorry, ma’am. There’s nothing more we can do.”

Sunlight poured through the window onto her back. The heat from the light should have bothered her at high noon, but she felt nothing more than the slow breaths that managed to still drag themselves from her lungs and roll past her lips. Sucking in another breath was much more labor intensive than she remembered. She could taste the disinfectant of the room as she tried to steady herself and stand to leave the room.

A sudden cry from the waiting room meant that everyone else had finally gotten the news and she was about to lose her privacy that had taken her mind what felt like ages ago. She turned to see the sheet covering her loves face and took timid steps toward it.

She leaned down, pulling the silky material away from his face, and placed a single kiss to his forehead, stood, and walked away for the very last time. She passed the nurses desk, the other family, and everyone else without a single glance. Nothing mattered now or ever would be the same again. She was lost. She knew it was coming, but was never going to be prepared for… goodbye.