Wednesday, July 25, 2012

The Lantern

Here's a flash fiction style piece based on the Don't Panic Picture Prompt #3.  I wanted to tell as complete of a story as possible in as few words as possible.  Let me know what you thought!



He stood at the rocky shore and set his lantern down, his wrinkled hand shaking.  He called for her, just as he had every night for years.  Ever since the last time he saw her.
I will return for you, she’d said.
His only answer was the waves washing the rocks in a steady, gentle murmur.  He waited, hoped, anyways.  His only companion in the inky darkness was the warm even glow of the lantern.
As the fog rolled in to dance around him and the first hints of sunrise pushed back the cloak of night he heard a splash out of rhythm with the water.  He strained to see what it was.  He was about to give up when he saw her.
She rose from the green blue depths toward him, holding out her hand.  Trembling, he took it and followed her.
All that remained was the golden twinkle of a lantern nestled among the rocks on the fogbound shore.

4 comments:

  1. oooh, it sounds like his love was a mermaid or something that was linked to the ocean.

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    1. I'm not really sure. It just felt like this was the right scene and the whole story. Anything else would have been extra bits not necessary.

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  2. I agree...definitely sounds like a mermaid story...and he's waited his whole life for her to call him back and just before he dies, she pulls him into the ocean to be with her. So romantic...at least, that's the picture I saw lol. Great little story :)

    Megan

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    1. Thanks! I love how you've seen so much more in this story than what I wrote. That's awesome to me!

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