challenge

Top of the World — FFfAW 171

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Title:  Top of the World
Source: Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers
Word count: 300 words

*** Ok, truth. This story is over the limit, but I couldn’t help it. It wrote itself and I didn’t have the heart to cut a story the muse handed to me. I hope you agree.

This week’s photo prompt is provided by Yinglan. Thank you Yinglan!

Edmund hung his head, his shoulders slumped, and his arms dangled, flopping at his side. He scuffed his feet sending stones bouncing along the trail.

“You ok, Edmund?”

Edmund snapped to attention spinning to face his father, a huge grin plastered across his face.

“Yeah. It’s just taking so long. How soon before we get there?”

“What does your altimeter say?”

Edmund studied his wrist, “Four thousand and thirty-nine feet.”

“And where is that on your map?”

Edmund pulled the map from his pocket. With his father’s guidance, he determined they were a mile from the summit. Stuffing the map back in his pocket, they continued along the trail. Thirty minutes later Edmund saw something flapping at the crest of the trail and ran. His father’s shout of “don’t run,” didn’t change his pace, and he was at the summit before coming to a full stop.

“Woo-hoo, we made it,” Edmund shouted jumping up and down at least a dozen times. He ran to the flagpole and planted a kissed the metal pipe. People at the summit smiled at the young boy’s expression of joy.

“Dad! Isn’t this great?”

“Sure is. Remember, we still have to climb down.”

“I know, but can’t we stay for a while? Look at it,” Edmund flung his arms wide and spun in a circle. He stopped face to face with his father. On an impulse, Edmund flung his arms around his waist squeezing as hard as he could.

“Thanks, Dad,” Edmund breathed into the soft flannel of his father’s shirt, before letting go to stand next to him. He didn’t notice his father’s huge smile or his hand brushing at moist eyes.

Father and son stood in silence surveying the view.

“So, still think you want to climb Everest someday?”

Edmund grinned and nodded.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

When She’s Gone – FFfPP Week #25

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Title: When She’s Gone
Source: FLASH FICTION FOR THE PURPOSEFUL PRACTITIONER- 2018 WEEK #25
Word count: 200 words

Kai Pilger pixels-photo-462867 Taxi

It took Andrés months to get over her. They met at a charity event and talked the night away before finding a café for breakfast. She captivated him. Over the next year, they met whenever they could manage. Texts and emails and countless late-night phone calls filled the spaces in-between when they planned their perfect life.

One evening Andrés asked her to move in with him. She sat for long minutes before she whispered, “No,” and she gathered her things and left. Too late he realized this was not a girl who just lived with you. This was the girl for whom you got down on one knee.

He had been that guy. Drunken calls in the middle of the night after hooking up with nameless girls from forgettable bars. At first, she talked to him. Then his calls went to voicemail, and he begged her to come back. His texts and emails remained unanswered.

The years passed, and he sometimes saw her on the street or in a cab. He had moved on and work filled his days. Happy now he walked the city streets.  A big yellow taxi rushed by and he turned, hoping to glimpse her face.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Atonement — Friday Fictioneers June 22

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Title: Atonement
Source: Friday Fictioneers sponsored by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields-Addicted to Purple
Word count: 100 words

PHOTO PROMPT © Fatima Fakier Deria

Chiara wasn’t a tourist; this was a pilgrimage. Her friends called her “crazy” and her mother cried. Her quest entailed visiting each of the 139 churches in Venice plus a handful of synagogues.

She was lost. The canal filled with cargo-laden boats offered her a little help.

“Si, signorina, la chiesa di San Martino è lì,” the man on the boat gestured to a building right in front of her.

In the dimly lit church, it took a few minutes for her eyes to adjust and find a seat in a pew. She prayed, hoping God would grant her forgiveness.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Steel Bridge – 100WW 76

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Title: Steel Bridge
Source: 100 Word Wednesday: Week 76
Word count: 100 words

Image by Bikurgurl

It dominated the crystal blue skyline. The Steel Bridge made her heart race, excitement pulsed through her as she clutched the wheel with both hands. Beneath the car tires, the Little Calumet River raced below the grated steel deck. The river lay far below the 420 feet of the main span. Cars rumbled, and the steel sang with the passing traffic. The steel grid pulled at the tires and forced her to steer. She liked the danger of speeding along at 70 miles an hour, suspended over the potential of a watery end. It would only take one wrong move.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Out of Time — FFfAW Challenge – 170

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Title: Out of Time
Source: Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers – Week of 06-19 through 06-25-2018
Word count: 174 words

This week’s photo prompt is provided by Enisa. Thank you Enisa!

Detective Walsh ran his fingers through his thick dark hair and sighed with exasperation. He had done everything short of begging the judge for the search warrant. Now his team was finding nothing.

“Boss, can we wrap this up?”

Walsh realized time and luck had run out.

“Boss? I found a box of photos in a heat return,” Probie Kennedy interrupted.

Walsh grabbed the box and riffled the contents finding an odd assortment of amateurish snaps. Why would anyone hide these?

Gazing at the photo of a candlestick, he flipped it over. Printed on the back was the date, “January 5.” A murder happened on that date. He knew the details. The medical examiner’s report described the murder weapon as a circular object with a flat base, consistent with the bottom or a vase or lamp.

“Or a candlestick,” he muttered.

The photos were all dated, and he bet the dates coincided with a murder and the objects with the medical examiner’s description of the murder weapon.

Perhaps luck was still on his side.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

California Quail — Friday Fictioneers June 15

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 2 Comments

Title: California Quail
Source: Friday Fictioneers sponsored by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields-Addicted to Purple
Word count: 100 words

PHOTO PROMPT © Jean L. Hays

Rose sat at the kitchen table hands wrapped around a cup of coffee. She rubbed the once-hot ceramic and stared at the computer screen. The video consumed her attention and kept her from her morning routine.  She didn’t notice the escapee as he slinked in front of the window screen, hoping to avoid detection. As the video ended Rose rubbed her eyes as she reentered the present. She headed to the sink to dump the coffee before turning to pour a fresh hot cup.

That is when she saw him.

“Frank, your quail is out again,” she yelled.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Going Home – FFfPP 24

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Title: Going Home
Source: FLASH FICTION FOR THE PURPOSEFUL PRACTITIONER- 2018 WEEK #24
Word count: 200 words

Kaique Rocha pexels-photo-125532 escalator

How many times have I ridden these escalators up and down, Monday thru Friday and sometimes even on the weekends? I’m not sure of the exact count but Deb in Human Resource said my length of service was five years and six months. You do the math; I know it is more than I want to contemplate.

Now, here I stand, staring at my final descent. The box I carry holds the few personal items on my desk: a calendar, a few photos of my family, my collection of coffee cups – one for each day of the week, and wacky and funny gifts from my co-workers. The tangible results of my waking hours for the last five years and six months nestled in one banker’s box. One small box was all I had to show for my hours of dedication, hard work, and determination.

The people I passed eyed me with pity, imagining the worst, imagining I had been “let go.” It left me with a hollow feeling in my chest and a tear threatened to cascade down my cheek. But I wasn’t crying for the obvious reasons. They were tears of joy for I had won my freedom.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Alone – 100WW: Week 75

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Title: Alone
Source: 100 Word Wednesday: Week 75
Word count: 100 words

Image by Bikurgurl

Lily glared at the people between her and the exit and swatted at the gold tassel tickling her cheek.

“Do you want pictures with your friends?”

“Mom, I don’t have any friends.”

Lily pushed forward not caring if her mother followed. What on earth did she imagine they had in common with an eleven-year-old “genius”? The valedictorian cords further alienated her from the rest of her class. Today was another hurdle to endure before she could begin the next phase of her plan; a degree in astrophysics from MIT. Today she was one step closer to finding her real family.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Big Trouble — FFfAW 169

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Title: Big Trouble
Source: Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers – Week of 06-12 through 06-18-2018
Word count: 160 words

Thank you Wildverbs for our photo prompt this week!

Big Trouble

Mia scrunched her nose and glanced over at Liam the troublemaker.

Every few weeks mother brought them here and told Mia to watch Liam. They would get ice cream when she returned.

Mia reminded Liam about the ice cream often, but sometimes it didn’t matter. One time she chased him around the bench. Another time he raced along the sidewalk turning to stick his tongue out at her. Each time she wrestled him back to the bench.

Today Liam sat still. Mia’s sigh of relief was Liam’s cue to wiggle and squirm his way toward the edge of the bench. She flung her arms around him as he struggled to escape.

Mia heard laughter and mother’s voice.

“You two are so cute.”

Mia let go and Liam jumped to his feet, raced towards the fountain and a second later he was knee deep in the water.

“Oh Liam, this baby better be like your sister.” Mother sighed waddling after him.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Final Exam — Three Line Tales, Week 124

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From Sonya’s 3LineTales at Only100Words.
You can find the original prompt here. Thank you, Sonya.

photo by Luis Alfonso Orellana via Unsplash

Final Exam

Edric was sure she was lost, but when she scrutinized her master’s directions for the umpteenth time everything checked out.

She shook her head sending her fiery red curls bouncing before she took a deep breath and continuing along the dark, intimidating street.

Making the last turn, the sight of two doors turned her blood to ice, and she knew her final training had begun.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer