I didn’t manage to play last week, but a little quiet time this evening brought a story to mind. I give you
Friday Fictioneers for May 9.
The challenge: Write a 100-word story inspired by the photo prompt.
Play along by writing your own, reading others and/or commenting on the flashes we fictioneers create.
My piece weighs in this week at exactly 100 words.
Copyright B.W. Beacham
At age three, she saw a blue butterfly light on bicycle. All beauty was summed up in that single, exquisite creature.
Blue became her favorite color. The blues of nature captivated her imagination. The many shades of the expansive Kansas sky contained unrivaled depths. Always, they reminded her of her butterfly.
One afternoon, at the state fair, she wandered through exhibits in the 4-H building. Among the insect collections, a patch of blue caught her eye. Her butterfly, now lifeless, was pinned to a board, neatly labeled by genus and species. Suddenly, she understood what it meant to feel blue.
What a sad realisation for her. In the first sentence did you mean ‘alight’ on a bicycle? Lovely story.
Karen,
Thanks. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
I meant “light,” although “alight” is a synonym. From Merriam Webster the verb “to light” meaning “settle, alight.”
All my best,
Marie Gail
Thanks for showing me something new, Marie Gail. “Light” is a more delicate word than “alight” and suits the tone of your story much better. I’ve put it in my lexicon.
Clever little piece with a sensitive though melancholic end. Nicely done.
Thanks, Perry.
That’s childhood nailed right there. Fabulous.
Thank you, Etienne.
To be there with those dreams and see them crushed by the hardheartedness of science crushing her dreams.. wonderfully penned.
Thank you, Bjorn. This one is more fact than fiction. I was that little girl, although I don’t remember the ending happening in this exact manner. When my parents read the story, they indicated that I did indeed, about age seven, encounter butterflies in an insect collection, and had a lot of concern about why they were pinned on those boards.
Cheers!
MG