This morning one of my entries into the New Times 55 Fiction competition was published. It is titled "Free Fall."
So I thought I would share all the entries and the winner. They all started with lines I’ve been posting on Twitter.
Check out the other stories at the link above. There are some good ones. Enjoy.
No Surrender
In response to his enemy’s request, he raised the white flag high above the watchtower, where both armies could plainly see it. Its corners snapped in the breeze, disrupting the sudden silence that embraced the walls. Once it had drawn everyone’s attention, he set fire to the pole and watched it burn as his reply.
Regret
Alone outside an hour after the argument, he felt a sting of regret followed by an ache deep within his chest. By the time he thought to look down at the dampness pooling on his shirt, the belated crack of the rifle caught up to him and his lifeblood was already spent.
The Question
Would she or wouldn’t she? The question hung between them like a perfect smoke ring, constantly circling inward on itself. Then her sharp sigh tore it open and it dissipated, unanswered, leaving only the bittersweet memory of an unexplored future lingering in the air. He knew in that moment he would have to find another.
Free Fall
His world became summer bright outside, winter dark inside, with no spring to bridge the two. Only tumbling in a perpetual fall. His life narrowed to a series of breaths floating in free fall, as peaceful as he'd ever been, until the rope snapped taut and his feet came up just short of the ground.
© 2009 Edward P. Morgan III
