Flash Fiction! A Challange set by Caroline Smailes

And today we are going all creative!  

Flash Fiction is about writing short prose.  Capturing a moment, or even telling a story, in very few words.

Here's my first ever attempt at Flash Fiction; in less than 100 words.

He stood, his back to the rock, breathing heavily.  Adjusting his weight slightly his toe clipped a pebble that plummented 100 foot before bouncing on the tarmac.  He could see the upturned faces of those watching below; lit up by the lights the police had bought with them on this frightful night.

The rain soaked his jacket, and he flexed his fingers a couple of times to keep the blood flowing.

He inched along the ledge.

"Take my hand", he said to the young girl crouched terrified on the ledge.  He adjusted the clips on this harness.  "I've got you."

 The piece is  inspired by the UTube films presenting Micheal Buble's version of "Let It Snow".  Specifically the first two lines;  "Oh the weather outside is frightful.  But the fire is so delightful."  The clips (all snowy scenes unsurprisingly) reminded me of the film "It's a Wonderful Life", and subsequently the concept of the outside environment, in its coldest, wildest and most dangerous, being a relection of the state of mind of the characters, specifically where the main character in that particular film takes a walk over the local bridge.

And why the venture into creative writing? 

I've been slowly putting together a novel for years, and this blog is a great way to practise my writing.  But when I heard that Caroline Smailes is putting together a ebook to sell on Amazon and raise money for the charity "One in Four", I wanted to get involved.  They provide a voice for, and support to, people who have suffered from sexual abuse or violence.  Their name comes from research which has consistently shown that approximately one in four of all children under 18 years old will suffer.

The book will be a collection of Flash Fiction, and Caroline challenged writers to use lyrics from a song on UTube to inspire a short piece.  I will find out on Friday if it will be included.

Fingers crossed!