I failed hard getting these uploaded regularly, so I’m posting them in one big bunch. I hope you enjoy my stories!
You Know the End: A Wednesday Words Flash Fiction
October 4, 2023
My fingers paused over the harp strings, hesitant to play the final chords. Sure, I knew how the song ended. The last notes breaking the bond of body and soul, stripping away another life. Each song had to end, the music of the universe directing my fingers as I played song after song. I knew my role; I played the music well. But I was tired, burdened by death after death. I needed change, but the universe only demanded more.
An ache burned in my fingers, directing me to play. The main character of my melody was ready to die.
At least this one was. I could tell by the flurry of peace, relief, and desire flowing through me, the music my fingers played. Their song had stretched longer than the others, their life full. I rested my fingers back on the strings and lost myself in the final chord. My heart skipped a beat, and a new song began. A new life assigned to me to guide and record.
But this one was different. The notes harsher, shorter. Violent. A newborn in danger. My pulse thrummed in my temple, fear building within my chest and shortening my breathing. Music crashed through me, overwhelming me, and when the final notes slipped through my fingers, I cried.
A new song flowed through me, but I didn’t play it. Pain coursed through me, and I threw myself away from the harp.
I would play no more.
He had a Faraway Look in His Eyes: A Wednesday Words Flash Fiction
October 11, 2023
Waves crashed against the beach, nipping at Jarom’s toes as he watched the angry night sky as his existence slipped away. Work, family, friends, purpose…all faded from his being. Unimportant, easily forgotten. All that mattered was the dark, angry ocean before him, the sounds of water beating sand and a harsh wind before the approaching storm. And as he stared beyond, not really seeing anything, something pulled at his mind, calling him with promises of more.
The next wave plowed against his ankles, flooding him with a feeling of desire. He wanted to step forward, to chase the receding sea. Music filled his ears, a strange song in a language he didn’t recognize. But he knew the feelings behind it, the desire, the need, the eagerness of a new beginning.
He stepped forward, crunching wet sand beneath his bare feet. The song grew louder, temptations calling. Shapes splashed in distant wave crests, leaping and twirling as if they were dolphins ready to play. Though he stared right at them, they only registered as if they were in the corner of his eye, not important. Only the song mattered.
Another step, then another until he was knee deep, the ocean whipping around his waist, a furious mistress. Yet the call still pulled at him, begging him.
He could not resist. Waves crested over his shoulders, his feet leaving the ground as he swam desperately out.
The song changed, triumphant, and slimy hands gripped his arms and pulled him into the depths.
There is a Chasm: A Wednesday Words Flash Fiction
October 18, 2023
The girl giggled as she played with her dolls, setting their heads straight as they fell off again.
“Oh Molly, your poor neck. It’s time to see the doctor. I don’t think your head healed right after the last time I chopped it off,” the girl giggled, and her voice changed as a head rolled away. “Oh, but I like it this way. Weee!”
She scrambled after the head. It felt like a baseball in her palms, and the hair twisted between her fingers was matted from failed hairstyles of previous games.
“Oh, someone’s got your head, Molly,” the girl shrieked, the head swinging wildly about her.
Another child snickered, and the girl turned to find a boy hovering. He was staring at her dolls, his eyes pinched with so much knowledge.
“Don’t you know how to play with dolls?” he asked.
The girl bristled, holding the head to her chest. “I’m not playing with them. They’re playing with me!”
The boy scoffed and retreated. the girl whispered furiously. “I should turn him into a doll, and see how he likes that.”
The only doll with her head on proper nodded. “Yes, we want to play with him, too.”
The girl paused, glancing at the boy. He’d rejoined a crowd of other kids and adults, family she disliked playing with but had to tolerate. They just didn’t understand.
“That’s a good idea,” the girl murmured. “I’ll make one when we get home, and he’ll never laugh at me again.”
Their Environment Was Safer: A Wednesday Words Flash Fiction
October 25, 2023
Fire raged through the forests, animals panicking and rushing away and dying. An angel laughed as heat from the burning earth warmed him as he watched from above. This . . . this was his favorite part of caring for the forests. The only time he was allowed to play with fire.
Ash swirled from the fire and dusted his robes, graying his blinding wings.
Wind spiraled next to him, followed by the beating of wings, and another angel appeared. His mouth was folded inward in a tight grimace, and his wings beat furiously to keep the smoke at bay. “This . . . is what you’ve been working on? You were tasked with keeping the animals safe.”
The first angel chuckled. He swept a hand across the forest below, the reds and oranges clinging to bare trees, smoke settling across the sky around them. “No, I know exactly what I’m doing. This is how I keep them safe.”
The second angel’s wings shivered. “Harming what you’re called to protect is not keeping them safe. Did you forget the oath we all swore and signed with blood?”
The first angel shrugged. “Guardianship is more than just keeping things alive.” He swept his arms out, showing off the destruction below. “This here is breathtaking, and it’s new life in the making.”
“You are not god.”
Soot clung to the first angel’s feathers, training them dark gray. He smirked. “No, but I am the guardian of new beginnings.”
For more enchanting Wednesday Words by other authors, check out the official Wednesday Words page!