Use the photograph above as the inspiration for your flash fiction story. Write whatever comes to mind (no sexual, political, or religious stories, jokes, or commentary, please) and after you PROOFREAD it, submit it as your entry in the comments section below.
Welcome to the Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Challenge. In 250 words or less, write a story incorporating the elements in the picture at left. The 250 word limit will be strictly enforced.
Please keep language and subject matter to a PG-13 level.
Use the comment section below to submit your entry. Entries will be accepted until Tuesday at 5:00 PM Pacific Time. No political or religious entries, please. Need help getting started? Read this article on how to write flash fiction.
On Wednesday, we will open voting to the public with an online poll so they may choose the winner. Voting will be open until 5:00 PM Thursday. On Saturday morning, the winner will be recognized as we post the winning entry along with the picture as a feature.
Once a month, the admins will announce the Editors’ Choice winners. Those stories will be featured in an anthology like this one. Best of luck to you all in your writing!
Entries only in the comment section. Other comments will be deleted. See HERE for additional information and terms. Please note the rule changes for 2018.
The Scoop on Jealousy
“I’m your host this evening,” said Dr. Lunk, addressing the audience. “And I’m here to explore the complex emotion of jealousy.”
Applause.
“As a concept, jealousy is a complicated emotion. It’s a feeling of insecurity, fear, and envy that is often caused by the perception that someone else has something you don’t. We often see jealousy play out in scenarios between siblings, friends, and romantic partners.
“According to a study by the American Psychological Association, children as young as 4 may begin to experience jealousy. Young children, in particular, may be prone to feeling jealous of their peers, especially when engaging in activities with friends.
“This is exactly the case with Billy and Johnny.
“Billy and Johnny’s rivalry is centred around a simple trigger: ice cream. Johnny is envious that Billy is getting ice-cream, and this envy quickly turns to jealousy.
“Even though they are friends, they are also rivals, which means they are competing for attention and recognition.
“To help them, it’s important that they understand why they are jealous and that they find ways to work together and support one another.”
Applause.
Dr. Lunk paused in his discussion, and reached for a cookie on the table.
“Hey,” he said, looking up. “Who took the last cookie? Come on. Fess up. That was my cookie.”
Infuriated, the doctor stood up and stormed off the stage.
Which just goes to show you, dealing with jealousy is great in concept but not in execution.
I Scream, You Scream…
I feel my head ice up. Like I was tossed in a freezer. Which raises the question: why would I be tossed in a freezer? Last thing I deserved. Anybody who knows me knowsI don’t do cold.
I make a point of it.
Avoiding cold.
No big secret there.
But, seriously, there are lots of people who don’t know I exist. Why would they? I mean, there are eight billion people in the world. That is a bucketload of people. Most of them live in heat. Tropical torture, for the most part. Not everyone can be a tourist, sipping iced drinks, hiring fan wavers, sinking their pearlies into rich frosted ice scream, living the life. The first world life.
Not like those poor devils suffering eternal heat heebie-jeebies. Drinking water is almost non-existent. Sure, maybe they might be close to the ocean but that salted puddle of plastic won’t quench anybody’s thirst. Vacationers piddling in it.
Disgusting!
Granted, there’s a whole swack of humanity living in a cold wasteland. I don’t know how they do it.
Weather!
War!
The major causes of cold.
And freezers. Don’t know why I keep bringing them up. Though, now that I think of it, I keep on imagining ice cream. Love ice cream. Counterintuitive isn’t it? Me with my cold phobia thinking of that.
The walls are frosting up.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear someone has tossed me in that old utility freezer…
Couldn’t be.
Could it?
Edited version:
I Scream, You Scream…
I feel my head ice up. Like I was tossed in a freezer. Which raises the question: why would I be tossed in a freezer? Last thing I deserved. Anybody who knows me knows I don’t do cold.
Make a point of it.
Avoiding cold.
No big secret there.
But, seriously, there are lots of people who don’t know I exist. Why would they? I mean, there are eight billion people in the world. That is a bucketload of people. Most of them live in heat. Tropical torture, for the most part. Not everyone can be a tourist, sipping iced drinks, hiring fan wavers, sinking their pearlies into rich frosted ice scream, living the life. The first world life.
Not like those poor devils suffering eternal heat heebie-jeebies. Drinking water is almost non-existent. Sure, maybe they might be close to the ocean but that salted puddle of plastic won’t quench anybody’s thirst. Vacationers piddling in it.
Disgusting!
Granted, there’s a whole swack of humanity living in a cold wasteland. I don’t know how they do it.
Weather!
War!
The major causes of cold.
And freezers. Don’t know why I keep bringing them up. Though, now that I think of it, I keep on imagining ice cream. Love ice cream. Counterintuitive isn’t it? Me with my cold phobia thinking of that.
The walls are frosting up.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear someone has tossed me in that old utility freezer…
Couldn’t be.
Could it?
Jealous
Two, four, six, eight, Mommy has that balloon-belly ache again.
The three of us were two years apart, and a new sister is coming soon. At least that’s what Mommie said. I was the oldest and I could see the pattern here. The good news is that I got the new stuff, and when I outgrew it, it went to Bobbie, and when he outgrew it, it went to Dolly.
Dolly was always jealous when that happened.
Last year, I got the new set of roller skates, because the old ones didn’t fit me any longer, and Bobbie got mine and she got Bobbie’s. So, every time this happened, Dolly would pull a temper tantrum. A trip to the local ice cream stand would take her mind off it.
The rest of the story is when we ordered our ice cream cones, Dolly ordered what she thought she wanted, but a few minutes into her cone, she starts crying wanting my ice cream instead.
This used to be a problem, but not anymore. I’ve learned the secret. I order what I think she really wants, and mention to her what she might like. Soon, she gets jealous of what I have, and I swap with her. Daddy thinks I’m very nice doing that for her.
I’m happy with that arrangement, but Dolly hasn’t learned that I get at least one and a half ice creams that way.
Jealous
“That’s not fair Tommy, she has her own ice cream, Timmy whined with a bite to his complaint.
“ If I don’t give in, she’ll have a fit and ruin the show for all of us!” Tommy shouts, knowing how to deal with Tammy, the youngest sibling.
Timmy pinches his little sister on the arm as he goes back to sit with mom and dad.
Tammy let’s out a shrill, forcing the folks nearby to cover their ears and send silent angry looks.
“I want cotton candy now, “ Tammy stomps her feet.
Timmy sulks knowing his sister will get what she wants. His parents and oldest brother Tommy, coddle her. She is a spoiled brat.
The attraction has started, the three siblings seated, are wide eyed and excited watching the cowboys riding the obstacle course.
Tammy is jumping up and down so wildly, that she looses her footing in the bleachers and smacks down on the teenage boy in front. Before the boy can swat at her, Timmy swoops her up and intervenes. Even though Tammy has a bloody lip, she hugs onto Timmy for dear life. Timmy has now become her favorite family member, and no doubt he will join the coddle club!
Elizabeth and Barry. And Jake.
The three little darlings, each one the apple of their parents’ eyes. Jake was the eldest by a whole year, his mother being the twins’ aunt.
They mostly lived like they were conjoined. Almost. Except for when the younger pair ganged up on Jake, savvy enough to know how to play the innocent, using that catch in their voices that transcended words.
Not that Jake was dumb. He’d be a model child if you ever decided to raise a sociopath.
He was the boy who was blond and blue-eyed. Almost always on the verge of tears. He loved to have his own space and the time to take advantage of it, a Napoleon or a Marquis de Sade on the quiet. He’d had a series of unfortunate pets, none living long enough to recognise their names; his latest one – a cat named Mr Lucky – who was recently found beneath the twins’ beds.
And that had caused a stir.
Of course, they were too young to know what they’d done. And to even suggest it was unthinkable. And no one knew how they could have got hold of that knife, let alone known what to do when they found it.
But Jake was the canniest one. The plotter and planner. He knew how to read labels and mix and grind preparations. Slug pellets. Weed killers. Paint brush cleaner and bleach.
Not the best child to offer you a flavoured ice cream he’d blended together.
Jealous of Ice Cream
Discussing staying at Kay’s Bakery or leaving to continue our quest for survivors, was temporarily postponed. Personally, I needed to search. How did the Apocalypse start? Would there be ripple effects? Was the world affected? Were people living in space or the bottom of the sea or remote mountain tops in the safest spots? Answers were demanded! The Bakery on a tiny island surrounded by water was probably secure, but for how long?
I paused to listen to animated talk.
One man with even tan, and rugged good looks beguiled his listeners with his honey voice, “Perhaps I was about six and in the non-enviable position of middle child. Although, my elder brother who I worshipped, rough housed with me, his favourite sibling was our baby sister. We were lookalikes with flawless skin, warm azure eyes, sun-kissed hair. At some Fair when I was licking the creamy delicious ice cream, I watched my brother hand feed his to Sis. Silly to feel intense jealousy! The brother I worshipped was giving Sis his coveted ice cream. I did not hate them but I did feel left out. Silly to feel jealous over a noble act!”
I walked away, questioning jealousy. Certainly, I was jealous of the survivors who wanted to stay. Jealous that no doubt they would continue with an easy way of life- eating, sleeping, relaxing in a worry-free insulated world. Whereas, my very nature implored me to push on and search for answers in a dangerous world.
Astrud hadn’t wanted to take her daughter to the Hennepin County Fair. Even a year after her husband had died in a terrorist attack, Astrud didn’t really feel up to surrounding herself with happy people. Part of her still regretted leaving Houston, and part of her desperately wanted to avoid anything that reminded her of the happy time that had ended forever when Lucius took it upon himself to draw the terrorists away from the Flight Control Rooms at Johnson Space Center.
But she knew Dad was right – her older brother was taking his boys, and Marleen wouldn’t understand why she couldn’t go too. So they’d all piled into the old station wagon and off they went.
To her surprise, she found comfort in childhood memories of such outings, of afternoons spent at the midway with her friends from school, going on the rides, playing the games, and stuffing themselves with treats. Marleen was too young to run about on her own, but the kiddie rides had brought a smile to her face.
And then Dad bought ice cream for his grandkids. Three tow-headed children licking their ice cream cones – and then Maureen’s slipped out of her hand and went splash all over the ground. Even as Astrud reached for her purse to buy a replacement, Sven extended his own to let Maureen lick.
A perfect moment of compassion – until Lars spoiled it with a sour look of jealousy at Maureen’s admiration of his older brother.