Hello everyone and a warm welcome to PART 2) of the entries for my weekly: “Fiction in A Flash Challenge” Week #11.
Today I’m featuring contributions from entry 3) by Harmony Kent and 4) by D. L. Finn.
Last week I set the following Challenge:
Hello everyone and welcome to my new “Fiction in A Flash Challenge!” Each week I’ll be featuring an image and inviting you to write a Flash Fiction or Non-Fiction piece inspired by that image in any format and genre of your choosing. Maximum word count: 750 words.
Here is the image prompt.
This HAIBUN contributed by D.L. Finn
The river roars over the precipice. Its cry is heard for miles as it travels its painful path down the jagged granite. The clear sapphire essence turns cloudy and white. There is nothing to cling to as it’s thrust into the unknown.
The great fall of tears
Rapidly release the pain
In the pool’s peace.
***
This Contribution by Harmony Kent
In the Wild
By
Harmony Kent
Exhausted, Teri stared at the burnt and broken tree while cold spray from the violent waterfall settled onto her exposed skin. With a raised and tired arm, she used her fingers to wipe sweat from her forehead and thought back over all the horrific miles she’d endured.
Her once-pristine Converse now lay in tatters around her cut and swollen feet. The trainers had never been meant for rugged mountain and forest trekking. One of the laces had snapped—too short to tie. On the other shoe, the sole flapped uselessly every time she took a step.
Her legs stung and itched, covered from ankle to mid-thigh in various bug bites and scratches from foliage unforgiving of her trespass. Mud and dirt and the damp green residue of the assorted local fauna stained the hem of her shorts. Her tee-shirt more resembled a soaked dish rag than an item of fashion. Meanwhile, her bra now served as a sling for her broken left arm.
Though it couldn’t possibly help her out of this dire situation, Teri revisited the events that had dumped her into the voracious, man-eating wilderness in the first place. Okay, so maybe she had been driving too fast. But, hey … over-the-top karma, anyone? Sure, she was fairly confident that she’d killed the deer in the road. But hadn’t crashing into the giant sequoia and banging herself up been repayment enough? Karma, it seemed, had other ideas. The little Nissan Micra had bounced off the tree and then rolled. Right off the edge of a cliff. More trees had broken the fall. Had kept her alive for this torture. And she’d even escaped the wreck before it burst into flames.
After assessing her injuries, Teri had made a sling of her bra and then done a funny crawling shamble on one arm and two knees to the pool at the base of the waterfall. Refreshed from the long drink of the chilly nectar, Teri studied the deep valley in which she’d landed. Sheer cliff walls surrounded her. Too steep to climb in her current condition, her only option was to walk down the valley and follow the stream.
The stream grew up and became a river, which must lead to civilisation soon, right? Before long, the terrain had forced her to forge a path far away from the rocky walls of the river canyon. And not long after that, tired, in pain, and disoriented from the knock to the head she’d taken, Teri had gotten lost.
A fresh pang of regret rolled sickeningly in her stomach—all that money burned. She reckoned the raid on the bank had netted her about a million. Now it was all gone. Nothing but ash and smoke mingled with the stench of burnt rubber, upholstery, and hot metal.
Again, Teri stared at the burnt and broken tree while cold spray from the violent waterfall settled onto her exposed skin. With a raised and tired arm, she used her fingers to wipe sweat from her forehead and thought back over all the horrific miles she’d endured.
At the base of the broken trunk lay the wreck of her Micra. After everything she’d endured, Teri had come full circle. Right back to where she’d started.
Exhausted, Teri slumped onto a moss-covered rock and wept. Far, far above, the mournful wail of police sirens scared the birds from the trees.
Copyright ©Harmony Kent 2020
CONTACT HARMONY HERE …
Website: https://harmonykent.co.uk and Story Empire (Co-authored)
Harmony’s Amazon Author Page: author.to/HarmonysBooks
Twitter: @harmony_kent
LinkedIn: Harmony
Goodreads: Author Page
***
I can be reached here …
Thanks so much for stopping by! I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks so much for the prompts and for sharing all our entries, Soooz. Have a great weekend. Hugs x 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m having such a great time doing this, Harmony! Enjoy your weekend as well, my friend. 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
More fabulous entries, Sooz! I loved both of these!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thanks, Jan 😊
LikeLike
Thank you Jan 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Jan! They sure make for some great reading.😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Two wonderful entries by Denise and Harmony. I loved both of them.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks, Karen 😊
LikeLike
Thank you, Karen 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for stopping by, Karen. I loved both of these as well. 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Two great entries! I so enjoy reading the stories and poetry. Kudos to Harmony and Denise!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thanks, Gwen 😊
LikeLike
Thank you Gwen 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for stopping by, Gwen. I’m delighted by these contributions.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I loved the contrast in Denise’s beautiful Haibun (I’m still learning all these poetry terms, LOL), and Harmony’s fic was excellent, delivering the perfect ending! It’s really enjoyable seeing so many different interpretations of the same photo prompt!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thanks, Mae 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much, Mae. It certainly made for some wonderfully diverse contributions, including yours, my friend. 😍
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have notes to keep up with the diffferent types of poetry, Mae…lol 🙂 Thank you!
LikeLiked by 3 people
I love your poetry, Denise. I reckon I’d need notes too! 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Harmony:) xo
LikeLike
I’ve never been quite game enough to take on these great forms of poetry. You certainly give us an intensely moving visualization all bound up in such a few words. Thank you for joining in again, my friend.😊
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you Soooz for doing this challenge and picking great images to work with! Harmony’s story had me feeling sorry for Teri, at first, but by the end I felt like her situation was her karma.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Cue evil laughter. I’m so cruel … playing with emotions like that! Ditto what you said about great images! 😊
LikeLiked by 2 people
🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
😁
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s my great pleasure searching out the images I use. I have hours of fun doing it. Your poem was so moving. And as for Hamony’s character of Teri? … Gotta love Karma. 😁
LikeLiked by 1 person