Flash! Friday - the one with the time travelling tree

The Truth about Time Travel

“The tree is as old as time itself; according to folklore it has magical properties.”

She giggled at that, giving me a gentle shove as if I had made it up to fool her.  We stopped the car so we could walk around the vast circumference.

“I can’t believe the road goes right through the middle!” She visibly shuddered, as she peered through the tunnel.

“You go all the way back to the beginning of time when you pass through.”

“You really are silly,” she trilled. “Come on then, take me on an adventure!”

I broke off a piece of ancient outer bark that would keep me anchored to our own time and slipped it in my pocket.

I’d be safe from the time vortex that spiralled round the inner rings of the tree but my companion? 

Well she did ask for an adventure and I’d told her no lies!

Written for this week's Flash! Friday challenge, picture prompt as above, Dragon's Bidding - to include an element of time travel, all written in 150 words with a 10 word leeway - although I managed to get it spot on! Can I have some extra points for that Rebekah?

Flash! Friday - Cowboy

This week's Flash! Friday has gone all wild west with a cowboy picture as a prompt.

I've never written a cowboy story before ... and I haven't really written one now but I had fun fitting this character into my own kind of story...

Searching for Stars


“A knight in shining armour is all I ask for, just how difficult is it to write me one?” Her words echoed up into space, the storyteller appeared to no longer be listening.

She had spent chapter one daydreaming about her potential rescuer and now found herself dumped here with this cowboy!

Stray characters from different plots cut and pasted to a barren blank page with not even a windswept piece of tumbleweed in sight.

 “Excuse me miss.”

The cowboy tipped his hat at her and she spied his bald head underneath, she’d already noticed the moustache – he wasn’t ideal hero material.

“I understand you are upset but I’m not happy being stranded here either.  I had dreams of being an astronaut.”

He had the softly spoken voice of a proper gentleman. 

Remembering her princess manner’s she hitched up her skirt a touch, stepped forward and asked “What exactly is an astronaut?”

He jumped down from his horse. He was taller than she first thought and his eyes started to sparkle as he explained. “An astronaut is someone who flies to the stars.”

“All the way up there?”

They both gazed upwards.

It was getting dark; pinpricks of light dotted the sky.

Their book was closing. The storyteller was giving up on them both.

“I don’t want my story to end like this.” The princess yelled.

“Then come with me.” The cowboy swept her off her feet up onto his horse and they rode off together in search of stars…

250 words

Flash! Friday - First Contact

A bit of an unusual story for me today for Flash! Friday but sometimes it's good to stretch your dragon wings and see where they take you...

Thanks to Rebekah Postupak for hosting the Flash!Friday competition, please read the other entries if you've time and please feel free to leave a comment about mine.

Today's story had a word limit of 200 (with 10 words grace on either side) using the picture prompt below.

First Contact

“Wake up. It’s time.”

She thrust a steaming cup of coffee in my direction, it sloped over the edge. Droplets of warm liquid on my bare chest made me wince.

Nodding I took the cup and set it down, knowing it would be undrinkable, not fit for my palate.

As I hastily got dressed she stood watching. I’d got used to those innocent eyes observing my every move.

The car key appeared to hover above her outstretched hand. I reached out hoping just this once to touch her but she swiftly withdrew.

We drove far out of town, her internal compass guiding us left and right. There were no clues to our location; you couldn’t see much beyond the end of the car it was so foggy.

There was no sky and no stars. I wondered if there really was life out there at all.

 “Stop!” she cried suddenly. “We’re here.”

We stood together beside a freshly ploughed farmer’s field, maybe it had already been planted with crops, what did I know about such alien things?

The mist was beginning to lift as her craft landed, sleek and silent.

I never realised I was crying until the moment she touched my face and my teardrop sizzled like hot coffee.

(209 words excluding title)

Flash! Friday - Mermaid Magic

Thought I'd have another go at Flash! Friday this week - well it gave me something to do while oldest son was at his tennis lesson.

It took me a while to think of an idea for this surreal picture...

but eventually I came up with this...
 

Mermaid Magic

With a growing sense of urgency I clicked my fingers and started floating upwards towards the beckoning sunlight. Glancing behind me I could see the diver was still following but at a much slower pace, lumbering forward in his heavy suit.

He’d briefly seen what he thought might be a fishy tail, glittery scales caught in the light from his torch but I’d managed to throw a handful of sand in his face to obscure his view just long enough to transform into an elegant woman and escape his clutches at least for now.

I was well aware our situation was still perilous. 

Bubbles rose from his helmet as he looked around bemused. It was almost a comical moment to see him try to rub his eyes in disbelief. He thought he’d finally found his prize catch. The culmination of many years of exploration and there I was before him at last - a mermaid!

Only now he was confronted with a damsel in distress.

I looked so helpless in this form as if I’d fallen in the water and needed rescuing.

He followed me further into the murky depths. We were almost there, beyond the point of no return. 

I turned and smiled serenely at him before I opened my mouth and wailed my siren song. 

He would never rise to see the sun again.

228 words including title

The Picnic - a Friday Flash!

This week I've discovered a new Flash Fiction Competition hosted by the Shenandoah Valley Writers

Here is this week's picture prompt

The competition is only open for 12 hours and the word count this week is 100 words exactly - ooooh I like this sort of challenge...

Here's my picnic story

“Couldn’t you find a better spot, we look like a band of refugees sitting by this swamp.”

Aunt Cissy had a point; this wasn’t a picnic to rival the calibre of the Pilkington-Smyth set.

The afternoon only deteriorated when young Emily decided to go swimming fully clothed in her Sunday best.  

Aunt Cissy promptly fainted in dramatic fashion.

While I reached for the smelling salts our chaperone, John, rescued Emily with aplomb. 

As he emerged dripping from the pool he looked straight at me and smiled. 

From that moment I knew I wouldn’t end up a spinster like Aunt Ciss!

Remember to check out the other stories based on this prompt on the  Shenandoah Valley Writers blog.