My recent posts here have been prompted by 99-word prompts at Carrot Ranch Blog. Today’s flash fiction is also a 99 word piece that I’m going to share on that Blog.
I struggled with this week’s prompt. The idea is to use sound as a catalyst in the story. With 2 little boys, I am surrounded by noise; little boys are never quiet unless they’re asleep! So I took a twist on the prompt; silence is the catalyst in my story today. It is also about a mother, a young mother struggling with a colicky baby. It is not a true story, but a true fear.
Tears blend with my own. I hold the squirming child in my arms while I tread an endless circle around the room, alone, and afraid.
We lie down together. I fall asleep to the sound of her sobs.
The room is gray in the twilight when I wake up. There is an eerie silence as she lays still next to me.
Seconds feel like hours as I unwrap the sheet from her head. I bring her limp body to my chest to give her my breath, my warmth, my heart.
Never have I been so happy for her tears.
Fiction As Life 
Twists on the prompt are always welcome as often times our creative spark comes from looking at a different perspective. And how brave of you to write into a fear. Your flash captures that exhaustion that only those who have been pushed beyond limits can understand (such as every parent of a fussing baby or a soldier in a battle that won’t end). It’s followed by that sudden realization that all is quiet, and that is not always a good sign as you show us! Excellent flash and way to press into the prompt to get it!
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You certainly captured the futility, the exhaustion, the fear and the silence and then the relief and all in 99 words. Fantastic.
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I agree…I felt it. Very thankful for a happy ending too!
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I’m glad you liked it!
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That silence must be the one most dreaded by any parent. You have captured the fears and frustrations so well. The crying that seems to never stop can be difficult to bear, but not so difficult as the loss of a child. Well told.
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Thank you! Those first months of parenting are filled with so many new fears and frustrations. I’m glad I could portray them.
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