Thursday, January 21, 2016

Tuesday Flash Fiction Train: Indecision

Flash Fiction Train over at Trials and Tribulations of Writing Fiction was up this week.  Never participated in it before, but I thought it might be fun to give it a shot.  Basically, each week we are given a prompt and must extend the story from the week before in 400 words or less.  So, be sure to check out the previous winners as I'm jumping in part way through the story.  Anyway, here's my offering coming in at 251 words.

Fumbling with the phone, Odessa choked on the knot in her throat as she tried to answer.
“Hey, O!”
Odessa laughed and cried as she slid down the wall.  It didn’t matter that her dress was wrinkling or that she looked so completely undignified.
“What’s going on?  You don’t sound like you’re okay.”
“Thank God it’s you, James!  You’re never going to believe this!”
“What?  You’re flipping out.”
“Archer.”
Silence twisted between them.
“James, tell me you’re still there.”
“I’m here.  What are you going to do?”
“Me!  You’re in on this, too!”
“I did not put us in to this situation.  You called me and drug me into it.”
“But you came.”
Silence filled the space again.
“James.”
Nothing.
Odessa looked to make sure the phone was still on.  It was.
“James!”
Not a sound.
She dropped the phone.
“What am I going to do?  This wasn’t suppose to happen.”
Odessa knew she should call the police.  Something happened to James.  She was sure of it.  But, if the police got involved, they might find out what happened.  Odessa picked up the phone again, not certain what she was going to do or who she was going to call.
Then, the silence struck her.  She’d never hung up the phone.  The dial tone eluded her, as did the annoying beeping reminding her to hang up the phone when she occasionally forgot to do so.  That knot came back, threatening to choke her as she struggled to remember how to breathe.
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2 comments:

  1. Love it! Her panic is very real and very guilty. A great addition to our story! Thanks for submitting :)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! I had fun trying to pick up a scene in a story I didn't start.

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