#fff13

Does anyone know this artist? I found this in a folder I hadn't looked at for around 3 years and it corresponds heavily with a project I am doing and would love to talk to them about their process/see if they have more work

Through Google lens I found a sketch site with a name "Nawo" attached, but I know this is not where I would have originally seen it

my first time participating in @flashfictionfridayofficial​, so here is a little bitty thingy of a thing (569)! 

‘Woah,’ exhaled Reese. ‘Can’t remember the last time I’ve seen one of these.’

Maddie shuffled up behind him and leaned over his shoulder. She was trying to not smear his t-shirt with mint chocolate chip ice cream, the scoop sitting on the cone and not being levelled into it yet.

‘A gumball machine? Really? They are still around’. 

It didn’t contain gum or at least, it did not seem like it did – the glossy ball stored its own little copies inside it. Besides the size, what stood in the way of the spheres being a perfect replica was the mirky, non-transparent plastic. You can see clearly into the mother ball, but not into the baby balls, leaving their contents an even tinier mystery. 

‘Not around me, then,’ Reese slid his hand into his tight jean pocket and came up empty. ‘Got any quarters to feed it?’

Maddie checked her windbreaker, a tricky thing to do with one hand, and there was some change as well as lint. Reese picked one coin up from her open palm.

It grew strangely quiet in the ice cream parlor, but it was hardly peculiar. Reese’s mind had a tendency to tune everything out when caught in the grips of excitement, and recently it’s been coming from unexpected places. Reese wasn’t that into ice cream anyway, it gave him a brain freeze, and his choice was always chocolate, in which case, he might as well cut out the middleman and get something from a corner shop. 

He turned the lever and the machine crunched up the coin, as if digesting it. Barely a moment later, something hit the bottom and the flap jittered just a touch. He lifted it and held up the item, studying carefully before twisting to disconnect the halves. His finger pried out a small scrap of paper, and it was starting to feel more like a fortune cookie.

‘For a quarter?’ Maddie blew some raspberries with her lips. ‘Capitalism.’

‘1984,’ he read out loud.

‘Like the book?’

‘That’s neat,’ said Reese, undecided if he should feel disappointment. ‘It’s a book recommendation.’

‘You can just search for goodreads or something,’ Maddie headed back towards the door, but something put her stride to a halt. Reese figured it must have been the brain freeze catching up.

‘This door didn’t used to be pink,’ she said instead.

Reese let out a pensive hum, because, truly, he couldn’t pinpoint the exact colour it’d been, but there was definitely something different about it. The air had shifted, too, and he noticed a strange whiff of cotton candy in the air. Tracing it, he turned around to the rest of the parlor, but it wasn’t exactly how they’d - almost - left it.

It was utterly vacant, in discordance with the weekend rush hour. Even the server they knew from school, not by name, but still, was nowhere to be seen. The interior looked all the more striking in this absence – the plastic sitting had morphed into cushiony, marshmallow-y sofas, paired with tables with painted sprinkles all over. In the corner next to the bathroom, a wooden jukebox was false-starting a tune, like an engine that kept failing. Checkered tiles of the floor tied the whole picture together, despite being so unbelievably tacky, or, perhaps, thanks to being fittingly tacky.

‘Holy…’ was the only thing that came out of Maddie.

Yay, flash fiction Friday again! I hope you enjoy this little romp in the woods ^u^ Feedback is appreciated!

Prompt: Strange Door

Words: 917

There are rules about exploring the woods alone. Don’t eat it if you don’t know what it is, chances are, it’s poisonous. Don’t wander off the path or you’ll get lost. Don’t listen to the whispers of the trees. They mean well but are ancient and don’t understand the frailty of mortality. Don’t use the stairs that appear at their own convenience, you’ll trip and fall into the fae realm. At seven, Winter had heard them all.  So when a little man in a funny hat offered to gather mushrooms so Winter could run and play, they politely declined. When the land began to breath, they knew better than to stay standing. The ground beneath them writhed in the chilly morning but they didn’t lose their footing. When it began to slumber once more, Winter left a pastry where they had crouched, a token of appreciation for their safety. Yes, Winter had learned all the rules. It was the reason their parents trusted them to collect herbs and mushrooms for the bakery. They were an especially practical child, but had a penchant for naivety. The earnest trust that most outgrew quickly stuck to Winter like a loyal hound.

          Winter wasn’t surprised when the woods rearranged themselves between visits. The pebbles laid by early travellers remained as true as ever. Just because they didn’t recognise what they saw, it didn’t mean they were lost yet. The spirits liked to play games but hated poor sport. There were always rules to follow.

Tik

Tok

Tik

Tok

Kriiiiiiiiing

The ringing makes her eyes opened immedietly. Her fingers gently push the button off before stretching her body. Its 7 o’clock in the morning, time to brush her teeth with stinging antibiotic smells hanging on her toothbrush. She standing in front of an oval mirror, staring at the pair of her own soft grey color’s orbs, asking herself if she had a great sleep while recalling the dream that seems to fade away along with her conscious. A peep sounds could be heard from the bathroom, signalling her breakfast is ready on the table. Nutritious breakfast is well serving on the silver plate, scramble egg with tomatoes and beans with oat, a tall glass of strawberry protein shake, and Greek yogurt with blueberry and granola. The almost same think that fill her stomach in the morning, but it’s a lot better than to have your belly empty without anything coming for a days. She remembered clearly when  she has to sleep on the street with her mother and little brother on her embrace since they didn’t have any shelter anymore. At dawn, she would digging up the trash to find any edible food in front of 24 hours fast food restaurant. She didn’t know if its count as lucky, but that night she was being captured by a stranger and live in this room for almost two months already.

The sound of the door being open makes her comeback to reality, and three peoples with long white coats entering the cold room. The light steps is echoing all over the room as the three approaching her, pretend to be friendly.

“How’s your sleep?” asked one of them, the lady with two toned colors hair on the right side. She glance up at the hanging name tag on her chest. The first two word is something she’s not understand as the three of them also have the same first two words as well. She only recognize A, I, E, O, U alphabet but not sure how to sounds it correctly. She also get confuse a lot with M and W and N and Z.

A small electric running over her skin makes her jolting, the other man with black jet short hair give her a warm smile while sticking the same device she has no idea over this two months. She already knew that he ready to shot a flash on her eyes after that as she prepare herself for not really welcoming the it. He move the flash to right and left pretty slow and her eyes would avoiding the path.

“The temperature is 37.7⁰C for a strike week and eyesight showing its normal reaction over the light. 4.8 feet, 99.2 pound, a great recovery from the very first time she arrived her.” Said the neat man on the left.

“Wow, do you hear that? You  seems much better! Do you enjoy the food in here??” asked the man in the middle with gentle smile, the oldest one judging by his white hair, almost bald head.

“Yes.” Answered the girl shortly, keeping her stare to the man in front of her.

“Glad to hear. I think you would be ready for transferred to another room, are you exited?” The girl just nodding her head slowly, doesn’t really know how to react on those statement. The three man excuse themselves after changing a ruber violet bracelet to an iron armlet on her wrist with MCCXIV written on it. She frowning at the combination, she’s not even able to read a word in the first place. She changes her dress to another white long dress with streps on its back without wearing any undergarment. The pale four walls filling up her sight the very first time she open her eyes until the last time she fall into slumber. The only chance she could get to out from her room is when she has to do routine measuring, thrice a week on another large white large space, and it’s about time the guard will come and lead her way to the said room.

The room located in the end of a long corridor covered with a thick glass walls until the only sound you could hear is your own step and breath, but the view is available to watch. She would glance on her left side to find a strange door standing firmly like it could never be destroyed. She happened to watched several people coming out from the room with strange behaviour, the peoples whose dress was white and long like her own.  Some looked gloomy while carried by the bodyguard, some laughed happily while jumping around like a rabbit on the wide field, there were also those who banged on the glass wall with all the fear showing on their faces before being anesthetized to unconsciousness, the face that scared to death, the last one she ever watched until she got this anxiety when she has a chance to glance. She has this odd feeling like she would entering those iron door soon when the guard lead her to different direction, straight to the way the door is waiting, the door she’s been wondering what had happened inside. She start to sweating, the cold materials against her bare foots makes her freeze on the spot, realizing there is no way to escape from that door.

“Code number MCCXIV is ready.”

“Bring her in.”

Renoir directed by Gilles Bourdos

Opens at participating cinemas nationally this week for 2013 Alliance Francaise French Film Festival.

For more information: http://www.palacecinemas.com.au/movies/fff13renoir/

We'll be playing at Frasses FixarFest 2013.

This line-up is amazing and we can't wait!