Welcome to Flash Fiction Friday and the ninety-first piece in this series. This week’s is a 399-worder by Kristina England. This story will be podcasted in episode 30 (with three other stories) on Sunday 11th August.
The Scarf
Wilson found it tied to a pole on his morning run. It was kelly green and soft to the touch.
He didn’t know much about fashion, but something told him the scarf was not an item a woman just threw away.
He stood at the street corner and untied it slowly. An unexpected wind caught hold of the scarf. It waved up and down, then straightened, pulling him forward.
Wilson followed its command, walking down Lansing, turning left at Kantell, then veering right at a small bend in the road that reminded him of the back curve of a woman’s knee.
The wind came to a stop at a bookstore.
The scarf dropped.
He looked at the stairs leading down to the entrance, then let his body descend with each step.
A bell rang as he opened the door. A young woman smiled from behind the counter.
“I see Elsie found you,” she said, her eyes skirting along the book shelves.
“Elsie?”
“Yeah. Elsie. She pulls people in with her charm. She takes on different shapes depending on the person. My worst experience was the lingerie stint. That totally changed how I looked at Pastor Phil…”
Wilson blinked.
The girl smiled again. “Okay, Elsie, what do you have for this fella?”
“I don’t…”
“Understand? You don’t have to. You just have to take Elsie’s advice.”
“O… kay,” Wilson said, looking at the door. It seemed farther away than he remembered, but he made for the exit anyway.
A wind picked up in the store.
Wilson jumped back as a book fell at his feet.
He stared at the cover, then turned to the girl.
“How much?”
“Two dollars.”
He handed her twenty and walked out the door.
The girl got up and walked around the counter.
“They always forget to take the book,” she said, bending over.
She picked up the book, closed it, and looked at the title.
“Get over her,” she mumbled and shook her head. “Why is it that you always have to tell them the obvious?”
The wind picked up again and another book dropped.
She picked it up and nodded.
“Of course… What a simple concept… Why didn’t I… Oh fiddlesticks… Point taken.”
The young woman quietly got onto a foot stool and returned the books to their proper homes.
Then she returned to her seat and waited for the bell to ring again.
*
I asked Kristina what prompted this piece and she said…
I was inspired to write “The Scarf” after reading “The Book”, a short story by Sylvia Van Peebles published at The Story Shack. I liked the idea of objects enticing people away from the “everyday” life but I wanted the object to move the person forward.
Thank you, Kristina.
Kristina England resides in Worcester, Massachusetts. Her writing is published or forthcoming at Decades Review, Extract(s), Gargoyle, Hobo Pancakes, The Story Shack, and other magazines. For more on her writing, visit kristinaengland.blogspot.com.
If you’d like to submit your 1,000-word max. stories for consideration for Flash Fiction Friday take a look here, or up to 5,000 words for critique on my Online Short Story Writing Group (links below).
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app via Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel The Serial Dater’s Shopping List) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.