#30DayFlash - Day 8: “She liked to fit people into the world like puzzle pieces.”

Day 8: “She liked to fit people into the world like puzzle pieces.”

Claudia sat at her desk stacking the colored blocks her mother bought her for Christmas three years ago one on top of the other. She followed the pattern that wound through her head and soon a rainbow tower of blocks stood as tall as she did on her tiptoes. She stood with her back against the opposite wall to make sure the…

#30DayFlash - Day 7: A language class for aliens

Day 7: A language class for aliens

My father calls these people “alien,” but most have lived here their whole lives. A long time ago the people on this blue-green earth created boundaries within it, but now the hazy atmosphere surrounding it blends so smoothly with the black expanse of the universe that finding a hard edge is impossible. These beings that sit before me have just as much…

#30DayFlash - Day 6: A balloon, a ball, balustrades.

Prompt: A balloon, a ball, balustrades. 

Jake stood in front of his family’s front door, looking down through the bars on the railing and watching his neighbors play in the parking lot below. He’d never gone down to play with them, just watched from above wishing that he could. His mother encouraged him to say hi to the other kids, but she didn’t understand that doing something like that…

#30DayFlash - Day 5: The story of how your parents met, transposed to the Victorian era.

Prompt: The story of how your parents met, transposed to the Victorian era. (Mine isn’t Victorian, but whatevs)

At 7:27 Jill walked into the bar across the street from campus with three girls she had classes with at UMKC. They were law students, so they were like her, but they were richer, cooler, and more well connected. Sometimes when she spoke they laughed, covering their mouths with…

#30DayFlash - Day 4: His wife was having tea with the King, and he didn’t even know about it.

Prompt: His wife was having tea with the King, and he didn’t even know about it.

“His wife was having tea with the king, and he didn’t even know about it!” Gunther exclaimed while his boss, Janine, rubbed at her temples. Her secretary often rambled about the television shows he watched when he should be working. She had a glass door leading into her office, and though she locked it…

#30DayFlash - Day 3: The language of flowers, pajamas, a secret passageway

Prompt: The language of flowers, pajamas, a secret passageway

When I think of my grandfather, I think of the flowers. Long green stalks swaying in the wind. Leaves drooping with the weight of a bee or a caterpillar. Bright red petals that sometimes granted us a visit from hummingbirds. I remember the sound of a voice carried to me when I waited with my hands buried deep in the mud and…

#30DayFlash - Day 2: "Smoke hung so thick in the library's rafters that he could read words in it."

Prompt: “Smoke hung so thick in the library’s rafters that he could read words in it.”

“Grab my hand, Mina,” Jamie called. She reached down from her perch on top of a bookcase, eyes watering from the smoke. She coughed and wiped the sweat from her cheeks with the sleeve of her dad’s old college sweatshirt. “Mina!”

Mina stood on the floor below Jamie, the top of her head visible in the…

#30DayFlash Prompt 1: An impulse buy leading to intergalactic warfare

Prompt: An impulse buy leading to intergalactic warfare

Jed stood with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his letterman jacket, watching Katie’s hands as she bagged Sherry Martin’s red wine and microwave popcorn. Her nails were cut short and coated with peeling purple polish. She set the full bag in the cart and lifted one hand to her face to tuck her bangs behind her ear, two silver…