Sorry for the barrage of posts today…already and it’s early! But it’s Monday and the beginning of the week and all things, such as me catching up.
This flash fiction was written for Carrot Ranch (Thanks, Charli, so glad to hear you’re up and running) where we were asked to use “back up,” with whatever meaning we might choose. If you’d like to join in, click any of the links to be taken to Carrot Ranch. But hurry, because, as I mentioned, I’m late and catching up (what’s new?!).
ed. to change “clink” to “click” because I don’t know what might happen if you “clink” on a “link.” 😉
All the Time (99 words)
Every step forward is two steps back: Back up! Back up! Back up!
Celia thought the worst thing would have been running the red light. “Eric, stop!”
The worst thing was backing up, the Mercedes crunching their Toyota pickup, the airbags bursting, screams, shatters, blackness, waking alone. All those taut lips, pitying eyes. “She lost her husband and her baby.” Husband and baby lost. The repetition a desolate refrain.
Her sister drags her, sometimes forcibly, to grief counseling where they say, “Time,” or that’s the perceived message.
She remembers Eric’s hand on her belly. “We got all the time.”
end
Sascha Darlington
Such a sad flash. I’ve backed up before at a traffic light and thankfully nothing bad happened.
Thanks, Susan.
I’ve seen situations in the DC area in which a driver will stop and try to back up but people in the oncoming traffic are too impatient and start driving around them and honking instead of letting this person clear the intersection. I’m afraid I just took it up a notch. I figure that the person driving the oncoming car might have been checking their phone or the like as well…
I appreciate your reading.
So sad. 🙁
Thank you for reading, Norah. (I’ll try for something a bit cheerier next week!)
🙂
It’s terrifying how quickly we can lose everything.
It is. Thanks for reading! 🙂
Shattering flash, and all the fragment reflect each painful detail you used to shape this story. It’ll linger long in my memory.
Now, no running red lights as you catch up!
Thank you, Charli.
I’ve become a pretty conservative driver–in DC you have to be. 🙂
So very sad!
Thank you so much for reading! 🙂
Heartbreaking. You conveyed so much in 99 words. Very powerful.