Flashback Friday Fiction - Edit of a Writing Prompt from 2018

I don’t remember what I was searching for on my WordPress blog, but earlier this week, I stumbled across an old FreeWrite Writing Prompt from 2018 and decided to share it for the Monday Blogs hash tag on Twitter. I got an awesome comment from Élodie (from Élodie Garroway Books), and it made me reread my post in that way that you do when you know someone else has/is about to read it.

In looking at it with fresh eyes, I ~~winced at how unedited some of it seemed~~ thought it would be cool to go through and clean it up a bit. So I’ve spent time over the past few days, trimming, snipping, and the general tidying of the words. I hope you like the result – I’ll let you know what I think of it in another two years or so. 🤣

Oh, and @mariannewest‘s original post was called Day 434: 5 Minute Freewrite: Friday – Prompt: a creature of absolute convictions.

Edit of my Freewrite Writing Prompt from 2018

Creature Comfort

His earliest memory involved meeting Death.

Of course, no one believed him. He didn’t even believe it really, or understand it at first. Not until he was older and by then, Death had proven to be a constant companion.

His first memory was of being cold, colder than he thought possible, especially since the light was so bright. A distant voice said, “He’s blue, doctor” barely audible over the gutteral sounds of an anguished woman. Something moved in his peripheral, and spotted a dark figure staring quietly at him from the doorway. He gathered all the strength in his tiny lungs and burst out with a scream of, “NO!” Although everyone in the room simply heard an infant’s cry, the figure bowed its head and retreated. The next thing he knew, he was warm and safe in his mother’s loving arms.

He saw Death again as a young boy, with this second encounter triggering memories of the first. He was in the midst of a round of tug-o-war, when one of the boys suggested they’d have more space if they spread out across the quiet neighborhood road. As he was one of the boys on the ends, he tied the rope around his waist, thinking it would give him better leverage. The folly of his choice became clear when the 1934 Cadillac Fleetwood careened around the corner and plowed into the taunt rope.

Time slowed and in the moment before his head connected with the unforgiving metal of the hood, he saw the familiar figure watching from the street corner. Once again, he screamed, “NO!” The onlookers heard it as a natural reaction from a frighted child, but the creature again bowed its head and withdrew.

In the war, Death was a constant presence, forever appearing at the periphery. Observing, but never beckoning to him, no matter how many times he begged it for release from the horrors around him.

Many years later, he saw Death for the final time in the hospital, their journey together coming full circle. Again he felt cold, more cold than he thought possible. However this time, when something moved in his peripheral and he turned to see the shadow at his bedside, he smiled. In a quiet voice, he slowly whispered, “My, my. You certainly are a creature of absolute convictions, aren’t you?”

Death merely returned the smile. The next thing he knew, he was warm and safe in loving arms once again.

Now that I’ve spent some time editing, I’m hoping to actually get some new writing done in the coming weeks. I might even try to do some kind of Flash Fiction Friday kind of thing, to keep it in the front of my brain.

Speaking of writing, I spotted a recent tweet from fellow Hivian @wolven-znz, in which he asked what were some good writing communities to post in. Obviously I know about the amazing FreeWrite folks, and @niallon11 replied with a link to his awesome and newly formed 500wordsaday community challenge, but I thought I’d ask here as well – what are some of your favorite writing communities and/or writerly type people on the Hive Blockchain? And for my WordPress friends, what are some good Twitter tags (beside the obvious #writingcommunity) to use when sharing?

Please feel free to shout out in the comments with suggestions (and feedback on my bit of writing, if the spirit moves you), and thanks so much for reading!

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