Flash fiction | a little bird tweets

Aug 17 2013

Irreversible

I dig my nails into his tattoo, and watch my name Rosa fall to pieces upon his skin. In his sleep, he releases silent billows of air; and I inhale them devotedly, counting one, two and three. I feel like I could consume every part of him. He must feel me digging him, for he awakes startled, tired and bemused. He tugs his arm from my grip, looks at me as though I’m crazy, and rolls over on the bed. His coldness kills me. My head sinks heavily into the pillow. My body shivers with emptiness, and I curl into a comfort ball, pulling my knees, my arms, into my chest. My heart wrings knowing that he’s out of my reach. And my mind cries for just an ounce of his love.

Tagged Body, Crazy, Creative Writing, cry, Flash fiction, Heart, nails, Name, Obsession, Pillow, Psychological-horror, Psychological-thriller, Rosa, Skin, Sleep, Tattoo, Unrequited Love, Up to 150 Words, Writing

Jul 30 2013

27 Comments

Flash Fiction

Freedom

Jessica turned on the bath taps and poured bath crème into the running water. Sweet magnolia filled the room and it alleviated the pressure in her head. The past two years had been stressful and unbearable in the office, and sometimes she wished she could fly away to a faraway land, to escape her monotonous life. She brushed her hand through the deep steaming water and turned off the taps. She lit tea-lights that were scattered around the bathroom, undressed, and slid into the bath. The water melted away her aches, and she closed her eyes and began to dream of her ultimate, faraway life. She imagined living in a cottage, in a meadow, surrounded by butterflies and deer. She imagined reading a favourite book as she watched the sunset on the horizon. She dreamed of a husband and children, and a home full of laughter and happiness.

She was suddenly broken from her reverie, when she felt a sensation on her back. She stood up, her heart pounding. Bath water cascaded down her body, over the bath, and across the floor. She grabbed a towel, stepped out, and wiped the steamed mirror with the back of her arm. She looked at her back in the reflection and saw two large red blemishes either side of her shoulder blades. They began to itch and she scratched them with her nails, until she was digging deep into the skin. Blood trickled from them, and she watched as white hairs began to grow from the wounds. She pulled them to try to remove them, but they stretched into long fine wires. And she realised that they were not hairs after all, but long white feathers. She was growing wings. She screamed and closed her eyes with disbelief. After several seconds she braved one last look in the mirror. But upon opening her eyes she saw that it had steamed up again; and in the steam were five scrawled words… five words that would change her life forever,

You are free to fly.

Tagged back, Bath, Bird, blemish, Blood, Creative Writing, Escape, Feather, Fiction, Flash fiction, fly, Free, Freedom, hair, Magnolia, Mirror, nails, Psychological-horror, Psychological-thriller, Sunset, Towel, Up to 350 Words, Water, white, wound

Jun 09 2013

6 Comments

Flash Fiction

Separate Ways

‘So you think that listening to those bland records over again and drinking yourself into a stupor is a good way to live your life then, Danny? Because it certainly isn’t the life I want to join you in.’

‘Yeah I do think it’s a good way to live my life as it happens, Anna! I enjoy myself, alright?! All you ever seem to do is drift around me like I’m invisible, or nag me with that annoying voice of yours! Why do you think I turned to drink in the first place, eh?! Come on Anna, let’s face it, you don’t enjoy life, do you? You don’t sing or dance or have a laugh anymore! Seriously, what happened to the fun-loving Anna I knew back in the day? Where’d she go?’

‘The Anna you once knew disappeared a while back, Danny; when she realised that her husband would never change and would always choose drink over her. I think that’s enough to stop any woman from singing, dancing and having a laugh, don’t you think?!’

So why don’t you fuck off then, Anna, if I’m that bad?’

‘Oh, I am. I have a cab booked. I’m fucking off today.’

Tagged alcohol, cab, Dance, Fiction, Flash fiction, Husband, Laugh, Life, Psychological-thriller, records, Relationship, Sing, Split up, Up to 200 Words, Wife

Jun 01 2013

5 Comments

Home

‘a little bird tweets’ First Birthday!

Well it is a year today since my flash fiction blog ‘a little bird tweets’ began! Where has the time gone?! It seems like only yesterday I was busy experimenting with template designs, customizing; and trying to get that final website design that I thought would visualize and sum up the genre and theme of my future flash-fictions.

The last year has been a wonderfully inspiring journey. I have met some truly gifted people here in the WordPress community; gifted writers, poets and bloggers with so many different styles and ‘ways with words’. It really is a pleasure to be surrounded by a community that not only enlightens me with their reads, but also inspires me to push forward with my own writing. Without WordPress and its community, my writing would feel very empty. So I truly thank you all for having taken the time to visit, read and provide feedback on my work.

This week I have been reading the latest issue of ‘Writers Forum’; and inside was an article on ‘how to publish your own e-book’. My eyes lit up like candles when I first glimpsed the header, as I had never even given this a thought before. Thoughts such as ‘produce a collection of flash-fiction, a short story, a cover design’ started whirling around my head; and they have now found a comfortable dwelling in my mind; and I doubt they are going to be re-possessed anytime soon! So now I am pondering over the idea of creating a collection of flashes; or may be even developing one of my already published WordPress flashes and turning it into a longer ‘short story’. What do you think?

Shall I create an e-book collection of flash fiction. or one short story?
If I were to develop one of my flash fictions into a short story, then which one would you like to know more about? Are there any characters that grabbed or intrigued you that you’d like to see ‘come back to life’?
Shall I create an entirely new story?

I look forward to being inspired by you. With Thanks!

A link to 23 flash fictions that I have created in the past year.

https://alittlebirdtweets.com/flash-fiction-4/

Tagged e-book, First Birthday, Flash fiction, Short Story, Thanks

May 25 2013

2 Comments

Flash Fiction

The Locket

Annabel encased the ancient locket with her soiled hands; and in the twinkling of a second, a silver luminosity radiated through the gaps in her fingers. It illuminated her pulsing ruby blood, reminded her that she was alive, that she was still capable of loving herself.

She pulled the clasp, opened the locket, and studied the intricate hieroglyphics etched inside. She blew away the seeds of earth that had managed to cling to it; in the years since it had last been dug up, opened.

Her steely breath fired life into the locket, and waves of white light encircled her, warmed her soul. She smiled, closed her eyes, and finally released the self-doubt that had, for a long time, devoured her.

Tagged Ancient, Aura, Breath, Clasp, Earth, Faith, Fiction, Fingers, Flash fiction, Hands, Hieroglyphics, Light, Locket, Love, Psychological-thriller, Self-doubt, Soul, Up to 125 Words

Apr 14 2013

29 Comments

Flash Fiction

Doppelganger

She stood at the side of the darkening country road with her hands behind her back; effectively recreating the stance of the blonde actress in the Hitchcock film. She had become fixated by the character and had perfected her dialogue, her accent, her wig and attire, to the finest detail. She stared at the horizon and yearned for a car to flash its blinding headlights into her eyes. She longed to wave it down, to take position in the passenger seat, and to ask the driver for a light so that she could blow circles of smoke through her red-perfumed lips, to illustrate her elegance. And she hoped that during the nights journey, that she would make the drivers eyes weary with her oddly behaviour, and that he’d be kind enough to drive her to Bates Motel.

This story has been critiqued by Eric Keys;

https://erickeys.wordpress.com/2013/05/29/a-response-to-the-doppelganger/

Tagged Actress, Bates Motel, Blonde, Car, Dialogue, Doppelganger, Double, Fiction, Film, Flash fiction, Hands, Hitchcock, Horizon, Psychological-horror, Psychological-thriller, Road, Smoke, Up to 140 Words, Wig, Writing

Apr 06 2013

7 Comments

Flash Fiction

Miranda

Miranda refused to rummage in her handbag for keys, on dark nights, at her front door. She had watched numerous horror films and knew that someone would likely creep up on you in that second that you became distracted. So, when she found herself wobbling home from parties, too nauseous to take cabs, she would grip the keys in her hand, always ensuring one chub was pointed outwards, so that it would slide into the lock with ease, when she arrived at the door. She had never contemplated that one night the keys would become a weapon, become imbedded in her attackers’ eyes.