Tag: #flashfictionfromthepracticalpractitioner

Posted in Flash Fiction

A Solitary Life

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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Janice was glad to get out of the house. Her weekly trip to volunteer at the Red Cross was one of her only activities where she actually went somewhere. Not only did she feel useful there, but she had other people to talk to.

Janice had caught the city bus at the bus stop near her home. She lived alone. Janice’s husband passed away two years ago. She had little extended family and they didn’t have much interest in her. She had some friends, but she didn’t expect them to babysit her. She tried to fill her time the best she could. She didn’t even know her neighbors.

When she got to the Red Cross office, she sat down at her desk and started doing the administrative chores she was assigned. It was rewarding. As volunteers came in and out, she got to talk to her friends. One of her friends asked her to go to lunch later in the week. She happily accepted.

She took the bus back home at the end of the day and resumed her solitary existence. She was a reader, a writer, and she did beautiful needlework. She supposed it was enough.

Posted in Blog Propellant, Challenges

The Starfish on the Ceiling

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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After the yacht capsized in the storm, only four of the passengers were able to make it to the inflatable raft. The storm was violent and the ship went down too quickly. The three men and one woman were lucky to grab on to the raft, climb aboard, and hunker down until the storm passed.

The yacht went down close to a rocky coast in the Mediterranean. They were too traumatized by the storm and the sinking of the yacht to realize the raft could be slammed again those rocks any second.

The four of them awakened as dawn broke. As they looked up, they saw a huge sea cave in a rock formation towering above them. They were able to tie up, scramble up the rocks, and go inside the cave. Collapsing on the floor, they talked about what to do now and studied the ceiling, which was covered with starfish.

Armand remarked, “Starfish on the ceiling?”

They all looked at each other, knowing that meant water must have been in the cave.

Wally said, “Look!”

They turned and saw the raft rising up to the level of the entrance right before the sea water started pouring in.

 

Posted in Challenges, FFftPP, Flash Fiction

The Guardian

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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Damn. He should have known better than to take this car. It was his brother’s car. He didn’t steal it, but The Guardian didn’t seem to be able to differentiate between stealing and borrowing. It didn’t seem to be able to tell the difference between what we considered good and bad. It had its own ideas.

Ever since this thing had descended upon them, the world had gone crazy. It was like a big taser. If you did something it considered bad, it appeared and tased you. When scientists tried to research where it came from, it appeared and constantly tased them. Law enforcement could do nothing with it. It appeared at crime scenes and took over, rendering law enforcement impotent. If someone had committed a crime it considered heinous, it killed them on the spot.

The military had tried to shoot it out of the sky. That didn’t work. It had shot back and killed them all. It seemed the only thing to do was obey it. Now it was pointed right at him. He had borrowed his brother’s car to get groceries. He would take it back.

He opened the door to get in and the car exploded.

 

Posted in environment, Flash Fiction

The Demise of Family Farming

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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As Ronan trudged to the barn in the crunchy, frosty grass, he continued the train of thought he had all night. He had slept very little last night. Could he really make farming work in today’s world? He and Sherry, his wife of five years, had worked so hard to establish their 100-acre organic farm in the western part of Kentucky. The soil was rich and the conditions were just right to grow any number of crops. But the weather!

Ronan believed climate change was playing havoc with the weather in this area. What used to be lush and green when he grew up here was now starved for water. This past summer, Ronan had to irrigate his crops which cut deeply into the little profit he made.

Other young couples wanted to join him in organic farming but they saw no future in it. They wanted to grow their own food and have enough to sell and support their families.

Sherry was getting tired of having nothing. Everything was so expensive.

Ronan feared the pollution that caused climate change has killed all their dreams. He was thinking of shutting down the farm. Others were thinking of doing the same.

200 words

#amwriting #amblogging #writing #organicfarming

*This post in response to the the challenge from flashfictionfromthepracticalpractitioner