Flash Fiction-Round 5

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

Silly, Water, Song

Amalthea was singing to herself, a song she had made up herself, with words both serious and silly. She skipped through the water puddles, first humming and then singing, rather loudly, if I may say so. It was a glorious day. (41 words)

[Prof. Sky Alton]

Beans are on their way!

As there was an unavoidable delay with the last prompt, though, please feel free to submit for the previous 3 words until 11:59 PM HOL-time on Monday.

Our words for this week are…

Key, sunrise, mirror

For example…
The key, her mother had told her, was to look supremely unconcerned. As sunrise lit the room, bringing with it the sounds of people preparing for her speech, Isla couldn’t actually remember a moment when she’d been more concerned. Turning to the mirror, she searched desperately for a confident smile. (50 words)

[Janne Halla]

#1
He sang a silly little song by the water, trying to remember happier days. The quiet river carried the sound away. No one laughed anymore, and the song only made the silence feel heavier. (34 words)

#2
At sunrise, she found a small key beside the old mirror. When she picked it up, her reflection didn’t move the same way she did. The mirror seemed to be waiting for something. (33 words)

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

Key, sunrise, mirror

She walked out of the house, closed the door, then put the key in the lock. Click. Window panes in the top of the door acted as a mirror, showing herself, and the landscape behind her, glowing with colours of sunrise. Turning, she looked across the fields. "Good morning, starshine!" (50 words)

[River Fenwick]

Looking in her rearview mirror, she watched the soft hues of the coming sunrise splay solemnly across the sky, a quiet reflection of her bittersweet feelings. Leaving this town would be the key to unlocking her best self, but the weight of regret lingered heavily as she drove away. (49 words)

[Emily Spencer]

He winced at his haggard reflection in the mirror. Sunrise, sunset, they were all one and the same to him. The fair Amelia had thrown away the key to his heart by her cruel rejection, and it left but the shell of the man he used to be. (48 words)

[Prof. Sky Alton]

Beans have been beaned.

This week's words are...

Tent, dice, rain

The event was in full swing now and there were plenty of visitors, in spite of the rain pattering on the tent roof. None of them seemed to want to step inside, though, and she sighed. She’d told him the renaissance fair was no place to sell fluffy dice. (49 words)

[Emily Spencer]

An unlucky dice roll, and now I am forced to sleep outside in this godforsaken tent instead of in the nice warm cabin. Blast it; Tarma, remind me never to bet against you again! To make matters even worse, it looks like rain! (43 words)

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

Tent, dice, rain

Tarma laughed as she glanced out the window. It's RAIN! And THUNDER! She looked at the tent, its sides gusting back and forth. "Shall I?" and she rolled the dice. Even - stay there. Odd - come in. It's a three!

"Emily!"

(42 words)

[River Fenwick]

While the rain pours down on the tent, an intense board game takes place inside. The two players are neck and neck as the game approaches its end. With a final dice throw, a yell of triumph, paired with a grunt of defeat, escape from the tent. (47 words)

[Prof. Sky Alton]

It's raining beans

This week we have....

Cog, plant, secret

She crashed to her knees and stayed panting there for a moment. Then, she realised that she hadn’t tumbled over a root but some ancient, rusting metal machine, its cogs choked with plants. The pain vanished, chased away by the thrill of discovering a secret. (45 words)

[Emily Spencer]

It was no secret that Arabella detested each gear and cog that replaced her human form. Technology had made her a monster, or so she had been told by her 'beloved' father. She planted her hatred, watered it, and cared for it until it was time to harvest. Beware! (49 words)

[River Fenwick]

The secret organization was crafted with delicacy, every cog carefully tested to ensure smooth operations. Despite keeping a close eye, he noticed that things were not running as they should. He began to suspect that a saboteur had been planted in the organization. (43 words)

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

Cog, plant, secret

The secret of keeping a secret is that only one person knows it. The plant, who was, himself, only a cog in the organization, knew that -- and was hesitant to pass along this vital information. Who was trustworthy, in this network of spies, to hear this new information? (48 words)

[Prof. Sky Alton]

Here come the beans

Our last things for March are…

Mountain, cauldron, puzzle

She shoved the long handled brush into the cauldron and began scrubbing. You’d have thought that the self-proclaimed greatest warlock could have created a spell to deal with his mountains of washing up but oh no. He was busy “grappling with the great puzzles of the universe”. (47 words)

[Emily Spencer]

I stirred the cauldron lazily, my gaze anchored on the mountains looming in the distance. I had never ventured far from the valley Ma and I called home, so the ache in my heart puzzled me. The wind called my name and I followed without a backward glance. Goodbye, Ma! (49 words)

[River Fenwick]

Standing over the cauldron with a puzzled look, he stared at his own chicken scratch that was meant to outline the potion's instructions. Letters look like hieroglyphs, with the very first letter looking suspiciously like a mountain. Time to experiment and hope for the best! (45 words)

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

Mountain, cauldron, puzzle

The griffin eyed the cauldron, a puzzled look on her face. 'What is this?' she mused, humming to herself. 'If I didn't know better, I'd guess it was a potion for a baby mountain lion, freshly weaned.' (37 words)

[Prof. Sindor Aloyarc]

They warned the mountain would prevent you from climbing without a worthy puzzle to offer. At the top, a cauldron answers through bubbles and smoke, but mine slipped apart before I could grasp it. Still, descending felt easier, as if the mountain had solved a heaviness I’d been carrying unconsciously. (50 words)

[Janne Halla]

High on a quiet mountain, a young wizard found an old cauldron next to a strange puzzle carved into stone. He sat for hours, thinking and trying different ideas. When he finally solved it, the cauldron gently began to bubble, glowing softly in the cold air. (46 words)