Tag: Flash Fiction

Flash Fiction, tutto e niente

Nothing

Tina Stewart Brakebill

Nothing could have prepared Sue for the surge. She had always known she was different but this …. This was more than different. This was some freak level stuff.

She could feel the agitated hum of the crowd as they realized something wasn’t right.

And then a shift. Subtle at first. Agitation turning into fear. Swelling.

Could they smell it? Or did panic spread like a wave?

No one looked her way. No one knew it was her.

She felt the power surging again. But this time instead of fearing it, she embraced it.

Nothing could stop her now.

jhardy-image

Photo prompt courtesy of J Hardy Carroll

Well … my positive writing outlook lasted two days! Maybe later I’ll try to reclaim it. Meanwhile, thanks to  Rochelle’s Friday Fictioners Challenge and Fandango’s WOTD Challenge (nothing) for giving me inspiration to channel my-always-present dark side.

Flash Fiction, tutto e niente

Someday I’ll Get There

Tina Stewart Brakebill

“Someday I’ll get there.” No one could hear her, but she screamed the words. Trying to drown out the cynical voice in her head.

But that voice always echoed louder: “You’re making a fool of yourself. Just stop. Stop painting. Stop running. Just stop.”

She knew that voice was right. Everyone was gone. Not hiding out in Atlanta. Not waiting for her. Gone. All of them.  

Still … she almost had captured his essence. She just needed to finish before she forgot his face. A few more strokes. That’s all. She couldn’t stop. Not now.  

“Someday I’ll get there.”

palettes

This 99 word bit of optimistic delusion was inspired by Rochelle’s Friday Fictioners Challenge (photo credit to her as well) with a cynical boost from Fandango’s FOWC and a great opening line from Putting My Feet in the Dirt.

Flash Fiction, Random Rants, tutto e niente

Who’s Counting

Tina Stewart Brakebill

Three days. It had been three days since they delivered the box. Technically, three days, four hours, and 37 minutes. But who’s counting.

She knew he was there. The gate squeaked. It had been over two weeks since he’d left. Technically 15 days, three hours, and 22 minutes. But who’s counting.

Or 14 days, 21 hours, and 13 minutes since he’d returned. Drunk, sunburned, screaming multiple profanities at her window. But who’s counting.

Maybe he’s dead. Like Benjamin. And Lila. One more makes 213,323. But who’s counting.

Alone. Still. 197 days, three hours, and 23 minutes. But who’s counting.

(99 words. But who’s counting.)

the-gate

PHOTO PROMPT © Jean L. Hays

Thanks to Rochelle and her Friday Fictioners Challenge.

Channeling my negative energy into words. At least I’m writing. UGH!

Random Rants, tutto e niente

Liebster Award

Tina Stewart Brakebill

Thanks to Sanjunaa for nominating me for the Liebster Award.  And sorry for the delay in responding. It’s been a weird couple of weeks!

more-flowers-1251x6406019176944556361058 

First off, here are the rules:

  • Thank the blogger who nominated you.
  • Share 11 facts about yourself.
  • Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you.
  • Nominate 11 bloggers and make them happy!
  • Make up 11 questions and ask them to your nominees.
  • Notify your 11 nominees.

 So now that we know the rules, here we go….

  • Thanks again Sanjuna. I really appreciate that you thought of me and my little blog.

And here are 11 facts about me!

  1. I hate all varieties of blue cheese.
  2. I LOVE dark chocolate.
  3. I dropped out of school at 20 and didn’t graduate from college until I was almost 40.
  4. I’m the oldest child in my family.
  5. I really really really don’t like walking around with no shoes (going barefoot).
  6. I’ve never skydived.
  7. I believe that sunrises are better than sunsets.
  8. I once fractured multiple bones in my foot by falling UP the stairs.
  9. I’m on my fourth career:
    • bartender/server
    • credit union loan officer
    • university professor
    • freelance writer
  10. I got married in my back yard and the police came to the reception three times because of noise complaints but nobody got in trouble (or got shot).
  11. Black Lives Matter

Here’s my answers to Sanujuna’s questions:

  1. is this Lockdown is happy or sad period for you?
    • I don’t think that either word really describes by feelings. I’m frustrated and angry about the lack of governmental response at the national and state level. I’m also deeply troubled by how the virus (and protections like masks) have been politicized in the United States.
  2. what is your recently added hobby or skill?
    • Before Covid, I had started a sculpting class that I really enjoyed. I never really thought of myself as an artist but I really liked working with clay. It’s on hold for now but I’m excited to get back to it eventually.
  3. What is the thing that excites you till today from your childhood?
    • Going to new places.
  4. you have an option to time travel then what you do? Do you change anything?
    • I think the thought of time travel is a romantic (and perhaps hopeful) thought BUT I believe that change must come from actions in the here and now.
  5. Do you had or have any pet?
    • I had a dog growing up. We got her from the animal shelter when I was about three and she died during my first year of college.
  6. Have you changed anybody’s life at any point?
    • I believe that as a teacher / mentor I did change lives. I hope so.
  7. What made you to become a blogger?
    • I love to write and I was looking for a venue to try out some new and different stuff.
  8. unforgettable incident in your life?
    • Arriving in Florence after waiting my whole life to visit Italy.
  9. your biggest inspiration and motivational personality?
    • I don’t really look outside myself for inspiration but if forced to answer, I’d say Michelle Obama.
  10. Your fav book?
    • This answer is mood dependent but The Lord of the Rings will always be in the top five. More recently I have loved The Underground Railroad, The Nightingale, Becoming, and A Man Called Ove.
  11. Your recent happiest memory?
    • Getting a writing assignment after three months of no work.

And here’s my eleven nominees:

Karen Lee Rawson

Saumya Agrawal

Samantha James at The Chronicles of History 

Monica St. Hillaire

Jiji at Life in Copenhagen

Morag Noffke

Lisa Coleman at Our Eyes Open

Cathy Birdsong Dutchak at Wander Essence

Victoria Stuart at Family Matters

Tannille

Sammi Cox and her new venture Whispers and Echoes

And finally,  here’s my eleven questions:

  1. Do you adhere to a writing schedule or do you write only when inspired?
  2. Where’s your favorite travel destination?
  3. Do you have a bucket list (as in a list of things that you want to accomplish before you die)?
  4. What’s been your favorite age so far in your life? Why?
  5. If you had to choose—would you rather have super-hot weather (average in the 90s+) or super-cold weather (average in the teens or below)?
  6. What’s your favorite thing about writing your blog?
  7. Do your friends and family read your blog regularly? (If it helps ease your embarrassment, I’ll admit that most of mine do NOT.)
  8. Sweet or salty?
  9. What’s the best job you’ve ever had?
  10. Would you rather ride an elephant or feed a baby chimp?
  11. Did you think about not participating in this award because you didn’t want to think up eleven questions (or answer eleven questions)?
Flash Fiction, tutto e niente

Karen v. Karen

Tina Stewart Brakebill

“If only there were more.”

“More what Aunt Karen?”

Glaring out the window, she pressed record before declaring “More people like me. Patriotic citizens. People who care about what’s happening to this country.”

“He’s just cleaning the windows. Why are you recording him?” I hadn’t seen her in years but I steeled myself for the nonsense that I imagined was about to come out of her mouth.

“I’m not. I’m recording that women hassling him. Now be a good boy and open the window so I can tell her to go to hell before I post this.”

the-view

Thanks to Putting My Feet in the Dirt for a great opening line (if only there were more) and to Rochelle’s Friday Fictioners for the photo inspiration.

“We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.” – Mahatma Gandhi

BE A GOOD KAREN NOT A BAD KAREN!