More to Come!
The story below was my first publicly published piece from a contest on TheProse.com. It was originally posted in 2017 for one of the weekly challenges. The challenge was to write a piece of flash fiction about rejection.
Flash fiction stories are typically less than a 1000 words and are a great way to flex the creative writing muscles without a huge time commitment. This contest had a 300-500 word range requirement.
Limiting myself to a certain number of words can actually be difficult in many cases, it really forces me to consider my word choices. When there is a word limit, I almost always write the story and then pare it down after each rewrite.
I am still proud of this flash fiction, I wrote several versions of it before submitting. However, I will admit, I felt a bit of cringe while reading it and was tempted to do a rewrite. After three years of honing my writing, while I still have a long way to go, my voice and writing ability has greatly improved. However, the core of my imagination was intact even then.
In the end, I thought it would be better to preserve the original story. Although, a rewrite would be in order if it were ever published in a more formal manner.
You can check out more of my contest entries from a few years ago at: https://theprose.com/Nathaniel
I may even enter future contest on that site, time permitting.
Evanescent
I sense her presence as she enters the room. The elegance, from her smile to the way she addresses every individual. Her teeth are slightly crooked but unnoticed with a quick glance. It took me a while to study her before I even noticed and it made me smile when I did. Of all her beauty and elegance, straight teeth would have somehow ruined it. There was so much to her like a sunset painted with many colors that you try to memorize, but it is brief and constantly shifting from night to night. Every time you see another side of her beauty, just as every dusk brings a different sunset, reminiscent of the previous day’s visage. It made seeing her exciting every time.
I made a point to see her in this world and I studied her looking beyond the physical and trying to understand her why. Why did she come to this place? Why did she greet everyone so warmly? Why did she captivate me beyond my known senses? It was like my very soul could feel her presence, if I even have a soul. She was a childhood memory that would wash over returning me to a place I longed for. She continued around the room as my eyes examined every encounter, waiting for my turn.
I nervously fumbled with my water glass on the table trying to think of ways to present myself to her so that she would know me better. Perhaps I could drop a simple reference in conversation. But what would be suitable? Does she like art, music, or possibly theatre? Or perhaps something else would spark interest. I did not know what to say but I knew I had to say something profound if I wanted her to remember me. The moment slowly approached one step at a time while I felt every heartbeat as they grew further and further apart in my waiting. Then the moment finally came.
“Hello,” she said with such delicate power that I was in a stupor for a moment. “Are you alright?” she asked with a slight cock of her head, noticing what she perceived as my reluctance to return her greeting.
“Hey,” I muttered informally unable to say much more. Her smile softened and her head straightened as she looked from me to the next guest.
“It is nice to see you,” she said taking a step toward the next table. “If you will excuse me,” she said continuing forward.
“Would you like to sit here?.. With me?” I asked trying to mask the desperation in my final attempt.
“I am sorry but I am looking for someone,” she replied gracefully moving forward without missing a beat. Shortly after I felt a tremor and the world began to fade away and my body dissolved into nothing as her waking thought cast it all aside. Hopefully, I would have another chance the next time she dreamed.
Nathaniel Writes 