Flash Fiction for the Purposeful Practitioner

Flash Fiction: Gramophone

A walk in the weekly market was what I needed.

It had been a rough couple of days. My house was burgled. They did not get their hands on my money, but they did get away with items that held sentimental value for me. Replacing them was impossible. Or so I thought, until I came upon a music stall at the market. The golden gramophone caught my eye. It would be a good substitute for the one I lost. The stall owner smiled at me as I began looking at the instrument with admiring eyes. It was the same colour, model and had the same initials carved on to it. Wait..

That was my gramophone!!!

Word Count: 115

Prompt:

FLASH FICTION FOR THE PURPOSEFUL PRACTITIONER: WEEK #36

Flash Fiction: Treasure Hunter

Our quest had brought us to Logs Town.

The inane promise of exquisite, undiscovered treasures brought many hunters to this town. Nobody had managed to find the location of the legendary mine. Without even a silhouette of a map available, it was a foolhardy quest for most people. We were not most people. The heavy snowfall had been timely.

It eradicated all chances of intrusion…

(Find the sequel here- Flash Fiction: Ducks)

Word Count: 65

Prompts;

Weekend Writing Prompt #89 – Silhouette

FLASH FICTION FOR THE PURPOSEFUL PRACTITIONER- 2019: WEEK #2

FOWC with Fandango — Inane

RDP-Sunday–TIMELY

#JusJoJan 2019 Daily Prompt – Jan. 13th

Word of the Day Challenge Exquisite

Flash Fiction: Paparazzi

There she is, today is the day I finally capture her on my camera.

I have to make sure that she does not spot me as she steps out of her house. This summer garb looks so lovely on her, raising the hotness quotient of this sunny day. I am drenched in sweat, waiting for the perfect shot. Ah, there she is ready to guzzle down that bottle of water, draining it thirstily. This is it, the perfect candid shot. Completely natural. That’s it, a simple point-and-click.

Done.

Now, to add this camera to my collection of celebrity cameras…

Prompts:

FLASH FICTION FOR THE PURPOSEFUL PRACTITIONER- 2018: WEEK #44

Saturday Mix – Same Same But Different, 3 November 2018

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Nov. 3/18

Flash Fiction: House Party

Cass was a nightmare in white silk and pearls. However, her appearance was a beautiful dream in comparison to house we had arrived at.

Exiting the car, I stood gazing at the house in disbelief. There was not way any one would host a Halloween party in this ramshackle cottage. It seemed abandoned, looking more like a terrorist hideout than a party pad. Cass gasped.

“Isn’t this location just too adorable?”

I sighed. Cass loved horror. I on the other hand, hated it.

“I think we have got the wrong location. Or this was some sort of prank. Let’s go back to town?”

Cass began walking towards the house.

“Nope. The address is right. Might as well check it out.”

I trudged behind her, adjusting my mask. As we reached the front door, I could hear music and jovial chatter coming from inside. Cass rung the bell. A tall, pale person dressed up in knight’s armour opened the door.

“Welcome to the party. I am your host, the headless horseman.”

He proceeded to completely dislodge his head from his neck, as one might doff a hat. I looked at Cass, who stared back at me with wide eyes….

Word Count: 198

Prompts:

FLASH FICTION FOR THE PURPOSEFUL PRACTITIONER- 2018: WEEK #43

First Line Friday: October 26th, 2018

FOWC with Fandango — Adorable

Flash Fiction: Uninvited Guest 3

This is the fifth part in the tale. Find the prequels here:

Part 1- Flash Fiction: Cave Trip

Part 2- Flash Fiction: Cave Trip 2

Part 3 – Flash Fiction: Uninvited Guest

Part 4 – Flash Fiction: Uninvited Guest 2

Now the tale continues..

No voice told me what to do. My curiosity had turned into a feeling of repulsion.

I aimed my glock, randomly. I did not know what my bullets could do against this aural entity I was dealing with. However, I was not going to go down without a fight. I heard the voice sigh.

“You do realise, that your puny weapon is going to do you no good, right? Be a good boy a drink up the milk. You walked in here uninvited. This is the least you could do.”

I waved the gun around, vacillating between pseudo targets to shoot at.

“No, I will not. I came here uninvited. So, I am not going to ask for your permission to leave.”

This time, as the voice replied, I could sense a tone of amusement in it.

“Looks like we will do this the hard way, after all.”

The room I was inside vanished in an instant. Now, I found myself inside a dungeon of sorts, staring at the skull of a beast…

(Find the sequel here: Part 6 – Flash Fiction: No Other Choice)

Word Count: 173

Prompts:

FLASH FICTION FOR THE PURPOSEFUL PRACTITIONER- 2018: WEEK #40

Weekly Prompts: Word Prompt Curiosity

Word of the Day Challenge: Vacillate

Flash Fiction: Pumpkins

I pulled up in front of our house and stepped out of the truck.

My sister stepped out of the front door and stood with her arms crossed.

“How many did you get?”

I brushed the dust off my shirt and pointed towards the truck.

“Eighty seven, to be precise.”

“That’s quite a haul. Even the others did decently. A tally of 231 pumpkins today.”

“That’s good.”

Sister frowned.

“Not good enough. It’s only a few weeks to Halloween.”

“We will step it up.”

“We have to. That’s the only we can take on Jack-o-Lantern, the Pumpkin Peddler. Defeating his armies before they come alive, is our only chance at reducing his prism of power.”

I solemnly nodded at her.

This year would be the year we finally defeat Jack-o-Lantern.

Word Count: 130

Prompts:

FLASH FICTION FOR THE PURPOSEFUL PRACTITIONER- 2018 WEEK #37

FOWC with Fandango – “Prism”

Word of the Day Challenge – “Peddler”

Flash Fiction: Signal Fire

“What’s with the smoke?”

Demothi ignored Hakan’s question and continued dancing. He appeared to be in some kind of trance. Hakan shook his head. This was getting out of hand. He needed to stop Demothi’s madness.

“Brother, you need to stop. This is not only dangerous, but also wasteful. You are destroying our forest.”

Demothi continued dancing, but vaguely replied to the question.

“To bring in something new, something archaic needs to be destroyed.”

Hakan knew what sort of destruction Demothi was talking about. The apricot trees would be emblazoned and the fields of hay would be turned into pyres. Everything would be reduced to ash. He had no personal beef with Demothi, but Hakan knew there was only one way to stop this. He picked up a stone from the ground and struck Demothi’s head. Hakan slung the unconscious Demothi over his shoulders. He had to carry him to safety before dealing with the fire. After placing Demothi down, Hakan went running towards the village, to summon aid.

It took a few hours and great efforts, but the fire finally piped down. When Demothi was questioned, he eagerly asked the villagers,

“Have the aliens landed yet?”

Word Count: 198

Prompts:

FLASH FICTION FOR THE PURPOSEFUL PRACTITIONER- 2018 WEEK #31

Another Wednesday Writing Prompt 1/08/2018

Sundayswhirligig: apricots, hay, appear, beef, stone, carry, shoulders, piped, sensors, running, archaic, everything

Flash Fiction: Sea Gazing

I love beaches, and make it a point to take a sunset stroll everyday.

On my walks last week, I spotted a lady every day. She would sit at the same spot, leaving a trail of her footprints in the sand. She would just sit and gaze at the sea. In her eyes, I could spot a fierce longing.

Every day passed, and every day I saw her at the same spot. I would pass by wordlessly. However, yesterday my curiosity got the better of me. I walked up to her.

“The sea is beautiful isn’t it, miss?”

She answered without giving me a glance.

“It is. Don’t you feel that we are rather unfortunate?”

I could not fathom why she would have said that while taking in such a lovely view.

“Why unfortunate?”

“Because we were born with legs.”

She let out a long sigh. I nodded at her and continued on my way.

 

Today, when I walked up to the same spot, I did not see her there. However, I did spot footsteps in the sand.

Footsteps that transformed into a single line in the sand, which disappeared into the sea…

Word Count: 193

Prompts:

FLASH FICTION FOR THE PURPOSEFUL PRACTITIONER- 2018 WEEK #30

Daily Addictions “Fortunate”

 

Flash Fiction: Sketch

I woke up with a start. Panic began to set in as soon as I realized I was inside a glass room closed from all sides.

I could not remember how I reached here. As I looked around frantically, a plethora of thoughts was running in my mind. However, before I could compose myself, a thick gas began to fill the room. I tried screaming but no sound came out from my mouth. Very soon, I could not move my body even a bit. Captured in space, I heard an echoing voice.

“Good. Master will now sketch subject sixty.”

Word Count: 99

Prompts:

Carrot Ranch Flash Fiction Challenge June 28

FFfTPP 2018 Week 26

FOWC with Fandango “Captured”

Word of the Day “Plethora”

Flash Fiction: Travel

I checked the time. 5 pm. I was cutting it too close.

I chose to walk down the escalator, rather than wait for it to take me down. I needed to make it from Mumbai to New York in time. I had an important meeting to catch and uncharacteristically, I had ended up oversleeping. I rushed across the terminal, scanning around for any sign directing me towards gate 55. I found it. I checked the watch again. It was five past five now. I picked up my pace. This meeting was crucial to my career. I could not afford being late at all. I was almost out of breath as I reached the gate. The gate clock read 5:20. The meeting began at 5:30 pm. I breathed a sigh of relief. I had more than enough time.

The teleportation dimension was a true lifesaver.

 

Word Count: 144

Prompts:

FLASH FICTION FOR THE PURPOSEFUL PRACTITIONER- 2018: WEEK #24

#ALP: Transportation