Friday Flash Fiction: Under Sally's Watch

Today's flash fiction is my entry for Candilynn's Follow My Lead Contest. The prompt given is the picture below.

Under Sally’s Watch

The explosions in the distance look like fireworks. Lindi is perched upon her window sill, overlooking the violent festivities. She calmly combs the knots in her wavy, chestnut hair with her callused fingers and makes a wish.  

Marcus is out there somewhere, fighting to hold them back, and her wish is that she’ll be able to see him again. He’s been gone for three days, but she has faith in her brother’s skills. He’s taught her everything he knows—like an older brother should. At least he left her in Sally’s protective hands.

The quakes from crashing buildings shake her high-rise apartment tower. The panic of hopeless pedestrians fills the street below. But she has no intention of running. The sweat across her brow and beading along her forearms is from the summer evening heat, and nothing else. In her favorite dark tank top and faded shorts, she waits like an owl scanning for mice, eager to swoop down at the perfect moment and extend her experienced talons.

When the first soldiers reach the street below, she knows it is time to step away from the window. Lindi hops down from the sill, the wooden floor slippery under her bare feet. She snatches the Savage 110 BA sniper rifle leaning against the wall, kneels before the window, and takes aim. Gazing intently into the telescopic sight, Lindi finds her first target. He is young, probably on his first tour, in way over his head.

“Steady, Sally,” she says, exhaling slowly while grazing the trigger.

Lindi fires one shot and he goes down with an arch of blood outstretching before him. Thinking of how Marcus is out there somewhere, she scans the street for her next target.

I've Hijacked Tossing It Out for Friday the 13th!

Happy Friday the 13th, everyone! It is a glorious day to be hijacking Arlee's blog @ Tossing It Out. And as I've been saying all week, I have a (hopefully) nice surprise awaiting you there. It is not my typical flash fiction, but still fiction related. Not to mention the title announcement of the second book in The Lorne Family Vault series. Please check it out and enjoy! :)

Your regularly scheduled flash fiction will reconvene next Friday, when I will be posting my entry for Candilynn Fite's July edition of Follow My Lead.

Monday Musings: Accidents & Happenings

I commute an average of two hours a day, 45 minutes to work, 1:15 home, if I'm having a good day. I've done this for six months now, and it started out being terribly long. But over the past few months, I've come to embrace it because it gives me two hours a day to read (audio books and text-to-speech on my Kindle).

With six lanes of heavily congested highway traffic at all hours of the day, I've seen my share of accidents. But since I've been doing this extended commute, I am caught in extra traffic due to accidents daily, whether its on my side of the freeway, or on the opposite side causing drivers to slow down and gaze upon the carnage.

Last week, I was caught in a three car accident. A fire engine and several police cars completely blocked traffic to help clean debris and make room for an ambulance. The three cars were smashed together to make one long Frankenstein-fused vehicle. Once I was allowed to pass, within five miles of driving, I witnessed two cars collide on the opposite side of the freeway, sending several more cars into the concrete center divider and others to shoot out to the shoulder. Two days later, I passed a five or six car crash, with one of the cars flipped upside-down. People ran through traffic trying to help one another. No emergency vehicles had yet arrived.

Seeing these things every day is helping to mold a new perspective. I am very small in this great big world, but I can have a significant impact on many people's lives, for good or bad. Accidents may be a strange place to find inspiration, but the world is a strange place. And perhaps, I'm a strange person.

This week in Happenings

Candilynn @ My Writerly Musings has announced her July Follow My Lead flash fiction contest. Be sure to check it out and submit some fiction of your own. I'll be submitting mine on Friday the 20th. Why not this Friday for Friday Flash you ask? Well...keep reading to find out.

James Anderson has just begun a new Friday theme: Ask the Editor Fridays. Have an editorial question you've been dying to ask? Send James an email and your question could find itself in his next post.

On Friday, I'll be with Arlee Bird @ Tossing It Out for one of his Hijack My Blog posts. It is an extra special post for me because I'll be announcing the title of The Lorne Family Vault, Book 2. I'm so excited to share it and I hope you enjoy my post. It won't quite be my usual flash fiction, but I hope you find it entertaining. :)

What else is happening this week? Would you like to share? I'd love to spread the word.

Friday Flash Fiction: Gentleman Masquerader

Today, my flash fiction is my entry for Candilynn's Follow My Lead Flash Fiction Contest. It has to be under 300 words and use the first line supplied. Also, there is a picture supplied to use as extra inspiration. Thanks, Candilynn! Follow the link above to check out the other entries. Enjoy!

Gentleman Masquerader

The streets of this restless city never slept. Two couples walking as one stumbled along the sidewalk, clinging to each other for support, prattling and pointing, spilling and sinking, drinking through the night’s festivities. Those standing in doorways watched as they passed; others laughed and flashed, reaching for necklaces falling from balconies.

The street was filled with pedestrians instead of cars, the parties spilling out from the bars, creating a single group of hedonists. The couples finished their drinks and dove into the crowd to dance. Passing masqueraders and exhibitionists, they claimed a spot and let the music take them to the next level of ecstasy. The guys swayed and the girls twirled, reaching out and pulling back into each other’s arms.

“May I have this dance?” a masked man asked, stepping out from the surrounding dancers—offering a painted hand.

He bowed and the girl curtsied with a smitten giggle. Her partner stepped back and allowed the guest into their group’s intimate circle. She took the costumed man’s hand and stepped closer. He kept her at an elbow’s length as he led her through a classical waltz. They glided to the music like royalty amongst peasants.

When the song they started with bled into another, the elegant stranger cupped the girl’s hand in his and held it out.

“You are a lovely dancer, my dear. And so very beautiful,” he said and raised her hand to his lips and gave it a soft kiss. She blushed from his old-fashioned etiquette—and moaned when he sunk his teeth into the meat surrounding her thumb.

The masquerader dropped her hand and met the gaze of the group with blood dripping from his chin. Before the screams, he bowed again and slipped inconspicuously into the restless city crowd.