Welcome back to Flash Fiction Friday. I hope you’ve been enjoying the series. They sure have been a lot of fun to write and to read. This week the challenge was to write a flash fiction using the word Blaze of the idea of perhaps a blazing fire or something like that. I hope you like what everyone came up with.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flash #1 Author Fran Orenstein

Uh oh. Larry Jackson didn’t like the look of frustration on Timmy’s face, the puckered

lips and scrunched eyes. Then he saw the open plastic jar in Timmy’s hand; disaster in the

offing. Move, he thought, rising from the child-size chair. He reached across the table to grab the

jar, but missed. Glitter flew through the air covering everything in its path. Kids shrieked and ran

in all directions. The jar hit the table and turned over, spilling the sticky shiny stuff all over the

Amanda sobbed. “Timmy’s bad, he spoiled my picture.”

 

Marcus grabbed his painting and swung it off the table hitting Lincoln in the face.

Lincoln and Amanda added their wails to the cacophony of screaming children.

At that moment the door to the kindergarten room opened and the principal, Mrs. Parks

walked into a spray of sparkling glitter flying through the air. It wasn’t fairy dust, and her

expression mimicked the wicked witch of the west and not the good fairy. Larry Jackson saw his

tenure flying out the window in a blaze of, well it certainly wouldn’t be glory.

 

Fifteen tiny voices squealed in delightful giggles, except Lincoln who sat on the floor

holding his cheek and crying, and Amanda whose tears fell in a waterfall on her ruined picture.

Of course, Maya, the child most likely to make the Harvard debate team blurted out, “Ooh, look

at Mrs. Parks, she looks like Tinkerbell.”

 

“No she doesn’t,” Harry shouted. “She looks like a she got dipped in sprinkles.” Harry

would most likely be on the opposing team from Yale.

 

“The colored sprinkles you put on ice cream,” Kimberly added, not to be left out.

“Jimmies,” shouted Jimmy.

 

Amanda wailed louder adding her shrill voice to the discordance of sound. Larry had

a split second to wind down the hysteria before he found himself on the unemployment line.

Walking sedately to his desk he slammed his hand down on the big silver bell that waited in the

corner for just such a moment. Twenty bodies stopped moving, forty eyes looked up at him, and

twenty tiny forefingers covered their lips in the universal sign for silence.

 

Larry’s heart stopped jumping and his blood pressure dropped twenty points. “Thank

you, children for being so polite. Let’s say good morning to Mrs. Parks, all sparkly with glitter.”

Twenty voices, minus a still sobbing Amanda, shouted, “Good morning Mrs. Parks.”

 

The principal brushed the glitter from her hair curly brown hair and making a futile

attempt to dislodge the sparkles from her suit, then nodded at the class. “Good morning

everyone. Let’s see what lovely pictures you made today.” She began walking around the desks,

brushing glitter off her suit, stopping to admire each child’s artwork.

 

Larry breathed and went to Lincoln, still sitting on the floor, rubbing his cheek. He

reached down and helped the boy stand. “Let’s get some cool water on your cheek and make it

all better.” He turned. “Amanda would you like to help Lincoln?”

 

The little girl nodded and took Lincoln’s hand, forgetting about her picture ablaze with

shiny dots and stars. “Come on, Linc, my granny is a nurse and I know how to make you feel

Larry bit back a smile because Amanda was so serious, and went to the sink, wetting a

wad of paper towel in cold water. He gave it to Amanda, who held it against Lincoln’s cheek.

 

“Now you’ll feel better, Lincoln.” She patted his hand.

 

“You’re a very good helper, Amanda,” Larry said.

Larry turned his back so they wouldn’t see his grin. He saw a frowning Mrs. Parks staring

at him for a moment. The grin disappeared and his heart began pounding again. Then she winked

and turned back to examining Katy’s glitter smattered picture.

 

Later that day he received an email. “Larry, I want to commend you on the way you

brought the class back under control and how you handled Lincoln and Amanda. Accidents

happen, especially in kindergarten. Just be happy it was only glitter. I remember…but that’s for

another day. Enjoy your weekend.”

 

Flash Fiction #2 Author Elissa Daye

“Keira, where are you?”

Keira heard the voice on the other end of the phone. Looking around her she eyed the space speculatively before responding. The pitch black of the room around her was only separated by the small flames that licked the wood in the blazing fireplace in front of her. Her boss had a propensity for darkness, more to do with her own lot in life than anything else. “I’m at work.”

“Are you going to go to the Alumni thing?”

“I don’t know, Terry. It’s been a long time since I’ve been back there. I’m not even sure I would fit in with all the other successful alumni.” Returning to her alma mater did not really sound that appealing to her. Too many memories floated around the hollow halls of Louisiana State University. Some good, other so grisly that she never wanted to return. Perhaps, that is why she had left and never looked back.

“Sis, look, you can’t hide in your hole forever. Go back, have some fun. Kick back a little.”

“Terry, stop pushing. You know I don’t want to walk down memory lane. It’s not my thing.” Suddenly the phone was jerked out of her hand and Keira gasped.

“Hello, Terry? Yes, yes this is Claudia. She’ll be there. Rest assured. I’ll make a sizable donation to the university and make her hand it over. I know dear boy. I’ll send someone with her if I have to. Good, good. Glad to hear it.” Claudia closed the phone up and tossed it back to Keira.

“Claudia, come on. You can’t be serious.” Keira let out an exasperated huff of air. She hated it when Claudia pulled rank with her.

“Have I ever not been serious?” Claudia’s sharp eyebrows rose challengingly as she sipped from her crystal wine glass. Keira could smell the concoction inside it from here and it made her stomach flip flop. That bitter metallic smell just did not settle at all with her.

Claudia smiled at her and her dominant teeth were exposed for the world to see. Her black hair was slicked back into a knot at the back of her head. Her green eyes twinkled with the fire’s light. “Live a little. At least you can.”

“I know, I know. I’m a mortal. I have a soul. You’re envious, yada yada.” Keira rolled her eyes at the woman who had become more than her boss over the past five years.

“You humans take everything for granted.”

 

 

Flash Fiction #3 Author Michele Corneglio

Fire (a work in progress)

I decided today I wanted to have a serious conversation with Kat on our walk. Not about The Community, but about our relationship.  Heck, I don’t even know what to call whatever it is we have together, but there is something between us that I can’t just leave alone.  I think about her all the time.  She drives me absolutely bonkers when we’re together. The moment we are apart though, I feel incomplete.

I decide to wear something a little different from my normal walking clothes. She doesn’t approve of my mismatched socks, so I’m wearing a pair of plain white today.  I usually just slap a hat on my barely brushed hair. Today I brushed out the curly locks and put in pig tails. As I am getting ready for today’s walk with Katrina I suddenly noticed the scent of smoke in the air.  This is not completely abnormal since we live in the desert, but not good since we live in such a populated area. I decided to investigate.

“Kat, what’s going on out there?” I asked her on the phone.  There was no need for me to actually go looking for trouble when I knew “Miss Knows Everything About The Community” would have the answer.

“Mag, shut the windows if they’re open!” She sounded frantic. “There is fire coming up the hillside!” Of course, now I had to look.  With my phone to my ear I walked to the bank of windows at the back of the house.  I could see the smoke.

“Holy shit!” slipped from my mouth. The smoke was thick and seemed closer than it ever had before. I said goodbye and then stepped outside for closer inspection of the situation.  The hillside is long and deep with native plants. It is also secluded and hard to reach since there is a barrier fence preventing undesirables from trespassing. The small fire near the bottom would soon be a blazing mess knocking on my back door. Not to mention it could easily jump to the homes at the actual bottom of the hill.

I stilled my breathing for a moment to listen for sirens. Nothing. With my phone in hand, I used my speed dial for the Fire Department.

“I don’t think we’re going on our walk today,” I said as she opened the door. I raised my arms up showing her I brought hard cider with me. She tilted her head like an adorable puppy dog, and motioned for me to come in.