Tag Archives: flash fiction

April 8, 2014

‘Grass’ #AtoZChallenge

I’ll sing to you, my love, a song so sweet it will echo for eternity. I long to be near you, but you’ve been taken away to a place I cannot follow. Our hopes and dreams now only memory. I mourn the loss of each cherished moment, each impassioned embrace. I come to this field, run my fingers through the dewy grass as the sun arrives; bask in the shadows as the day retreats. I reach for you, much as I reach for the times we’ll never share again, yet always my hand strikes this vile marker placed above your grace. Still, I feel your radiant smile as I sing; it broadens with each blush upon my cheek. My heart in your hands, as yours is in mine, always.

Welcome to my April AtoZ Blog Challenge post! I hope you enjoyed my ramble, and come back for more! Don’t forget to visit the other bloggers participating by clicking on the badge to the right, or simply using this link. :}

13 Comments | tags: 2014 AtoZChallenge, Blog hop, flash fiction, G, Grass, Nina D'Arcangela, Sotet Angyal, The Dark Angel | posted in 2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge, Flash, Flash Fiction, loss, muse, pain, Writing

April 7, 2014

‘Fluid’ #AtoZChallenge

By Nina D'Arcangela

Sitting before a low table on a pile of cushions, she prepares herself in the company of her four-footed companions. The atmosphere is one of calm anticipation. This is a seeing night, a night when she will leave behind her own world and step into another’s. The dim light cast by the mica wall sconces along with the candles flickering throughout the room, bounce an eerie glow off the collection of oddities surrounding her. The thick lustrous smoke curling upward from the burning incense takes on a nearly animate quality in the strange light. Here, in this place, none can touch her, but she can reach outward and touch so many.

Choosing a vial from the many she keeps stored in this protected sanctum, she pours a small measure into the silver chalice before her. Lifting the cup and holding it close to her body, the drops warm and grow in volume, filling the over-sized goblet just enough to reflect her glittering eyes as she peers into its surface. She watches through the viscous liquid as he steps from his truck. Her vision distorted by the tremble of the precious fluid held captive in the vessel, she observes as his would-be attacker crouches in the darker shadows.

Her heart quickens with expectancy of what is to come; she watches through amber tinted vision as the assailant silently approaches…

15 Comments | tags: 2014 AtoZChallenge, Blog hop, F, flash fiction, Fluid, Nina D'Arcangela, Sotet Angyal, The Dark Angel | posted in 2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge, Flash, Flash Fiction, muse, Writing

April 5, 2014

‘Eight’ #AtoZChallenge

By Nina D'Arcangela

Dwindling twilight; a summer breeze. He hands her a chilled glass of wine. She smiles, thanks him, sips the dry fruity liquid and blushes. He returns the smile, sips from his own glass and looks out over the lapping water of the bay. Taking her hand, her leads her down the steps, across the patio and opens the gate leading to the ocean. Slipping off her shoes, she steps through the gate and onto the cooling sand. He follows. Hand in hand they stroll to the water’s edge. Leaning down, he places a chaste kiss upon her forehead, her cheek, her moistened lips. They walk in silence, letting the water caress their ankles.

Rounding the tip of the inlet, the water is much more aggressive here, the waves coming ashore with more force. The open ocean lies before them. They’ve always dreamed of sailing away together, escaping the drudgery of day to day life and living as nomads on the sea. They walk for what seems hours, both glasses long since drained, both sets of feet tiring of the sand. She smiles in the moonlight and nods back the way they came, indicating they return home. Never one to deny her, he smiles and nods his agreement. They turn, begin the trek back; the tide is coming in once more. She veers towards the gentler sand; he tightens his grip, holding her in place. She glances up, sure he has misread her cue. His face is shadowed, but seems harder, less indulgent. She tries to pull her hand free; he doesn’t allow it. He draws her further into the water; she tugs back, still believing he is playing. The moonlight slants across his face; she sees no mirth in his smile, but an ugliness she didn’t know existed. She begins to panic; he drags her toward the undertow. Being the stronger swimmer, he doesn’t fear the water at night; he relished the fight of the high tide. She swims only when the sea is calm and fears the deeper water. Waves begin to crash over them; she sputters; he grins. Turning with an iron grip on her wrist, he drags her out into the inky blackness.

Eight days crawl by; he still clutches the swim trunks the police believe he was wearing the night he returned home, unable to find her. The detective sits on the opposing deck chair, tells him there is nothing more they can do. He begs, he weeps, he pleads for them to understand she would never enter the water at night alone. The detective understands, is sympathetic, but must still inform him they are declaring her lost at sea. The only item found thus far is her swimsuit with its custom label that washed ashore. He identified it himself she reminds him. He is shattered, a broken man, the love of his life lost. The detective apologizes once more and excuses herself. The police presence withdraws from his home, his life, his world. He is the affluent one; there is no reason to suspect foul play. There wasn’t even a life insurance policy to question; she never purchased one. Playing the part of the grieving widower, he ceremoniously lays her to rest at sea; their friends all mourn his loss.

Three months later, he sails into port; she waits for him in the lavish bungalow they purchased on the French island of Réunion. They’ve had no contact in the months between. For two estranged lovers, it has been a long wait. They reunite; he pours each of them a chilled glass of wine; she asks if there was suspicion on his part. He tells her of his hysterics, burying his wife at sea, the long journey to reach the island. She asks again if he was suspected of having a hand in his wife’s death. He laughs as he answers that while he did indeed have exactly that – a hand in his wife’s death – they never suspected a thing. She asks how that could be. He smiles, places his wine on the table and cups her face while reassuring her the plan was flawless. Convincing her older sister to marry him, then gift him her wealth was a stroke of genius; it placed him above reproach and set them up to share a lifetime of extravagance. She’s the one he loves. The wedding; a ruse.

She smiles in return; she’s been swimming these waters for a while and knows which underwater caves have air pockets, and which don’t.

12 Comments | tags: 2014 AtoZChallenge, Blog hop, E, Eight, flash fiction, Nina D'Arcangela, Sotet Angyal, The Dark Angel | posted in 2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge, Flash, Flash Fiction, loss, Writing

April 4, 2014

‘Debris’ #AtoZChallenge

By Nina D'Arcangela

Pushing his way through the crowd in a near panic, the old man searches each and every face, praying to God that one of them belongs to his grandson. Back at the house, the ruckus of screeching brakes as the train derailed woke them all earlier than expected. He, however, woke moments before it began with a dreadful pit in his stomach. Still searching the faces, he catches sight of a book fluttering on the side of the tracks, a sketchbook. His heart clenches and he nearly drops to the ground from the pain, but he can’t – he has to know. Making his way through the debris, he looks down, and there among the other rubble is a rendering of the most beautiful woman he has ever seen; it’s his own wife the way she looked on their wedding day, the way she looks in the portrait that hangs over the dining room mantle.

With a shaking hand, he begins to reach for it, but falls as his knees give way. Police and onlookers rush to his side; he knows they are speaking to him, but can’t make out their muffled voices as their hands try to lift him to his feet. It’s all a blur of motion and sound, his only focus is the dried blood splattered across the page. The soul-wrenching horror of a celebration that will never take place pushes him beyond his body’s limit. As the burgeoning morning blackens to night once more before his eyes, he has a fleeting thought – his grandson describing the eerie, almost mystical way 250 tons of speeding metal hurtling down the tracks is nearly silent until it’s just upon you…

(part two of two… yesterday, ‘C’, was part one)

8 Comments | tags: 2014 AtoZChallenge, Blog hop, D, Debris, flash fiction, Nina D'Arcangela, Sotet Angyal, The Dark Angel | posted in 2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge, Flash, Flash Fiction, loss, muse, pain, Writing

April 3, 2014

‘Cat Nap’ #AtoZChallenge

By Nina D'Arcangela

The tracks seem so lonely at night, that’s one of the things he likes about coming here – the solitude. Most kids his age would rather hang out with their friends, or go to a party. But not him, he likes the quiet of the night and the silence of the tracks. He’s been coming here as often as he can since he was knee high to a grasshopper, that’s what his gramps says. His grandfather is the only one who knows about his late night forays to the station. It’s their secret, has been for the better part of fourteen years. Yeah, it’s lonely out here at night, but that’s alright with him.

He walks the fifty yards or so down the tracks to the last lamp post past the junction and sits down, sketch book in hand. One day, after he becomes famous, he’s going to come back here and draw that lamp post, and the view back to the station – well, the shack that holds the automatic ticket dispenser and bench that everyone calls a station. But for tonight, his last night before going off to college, he’ll sit and draw like he’s done every other night. Once his pencil starts moving, his hand will know what to do.

Looking down at what he’s sketched, he thinks to himself, not too bad. He’s happy, but stiff and sore. He needs to get home and catch a cat nap before helping his mom set up for the going away party she’s planning for him. Stretching to his feet, he relishes the smell of the predawn musk that hangs in the air – there’s nothing like it, and he knows he’ll miss it when he’s away. Collecting his knapsack, still looking down at the drawing, he starts heading back to the junction.

(part one of two… tomorrow, ‘D’, will be part two)

12 Comments | tags: 2014 AtoZChallenge, Blog hop, C, Cat Nap, flash fiction, Nina D'Arcangela, Sotet Angyal, The Dark Angel | posted in 2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge, Flash, Flash Fiction, loss, muse, pain, Writing

April 2, 2014

‘Bloom’ #AtoZChallenge

By Nina D'Arcangela

The tantalizing scent from years gone by draws her to the past. Ruminating once more, she sits before the window and looks out over the garden. The laughter and joy of children running amongst the flowers and tall grasses brings a sad smile to her face. She leans her head upon the pane, her delicate hand reaching up to join with the leaded glass as well. Shifting to stare upward toward the warm glow of the sun, she squints. With a sigh, her eyes drop to her lap, her hand follows. She longs to run in the tall grasses, to play amongst the riot of fragrant flowers now in bloom, but alas, the braces upon her legs no longer allow such things. No matter the grandeur surrounding her, it does nothing to alleviate the pang of loss she feels. She rolls back to the desk and rings for the nurse, her sole companion during the hours her uncle is at work. The brace upon her left leg is beginning to chafe once more; it irritates what little skin she is able to feel. She longs for her mother, her father, but most of all – her younger brother. The year is 1957; the news she reads is encouraging but for her, it comes too late.

16 Comments | tags: 2014 AtoZChallenge, B, Blog hop, Bloom, flash fiction, Nina D'Arcangela, Sotet Angyal, The Dark Angel | posted in 2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge, Flash, Flash Fiction, loss, muse, pain, Writing

April 1, 2014

‘Abrade’ #AtoZChallenge

By Nina D'Arcangela

A girl stands alone upon a cliff; the winds abrade the stone face of the rock much as they abrade her worn and tattered memories. Memories once held dear and cherished, memories never meant to betray or show the truth behind the lie… memories that should have carried her through a lifetime of sorrows both overwhelming and small. Buffeted by the wind, tossed about by the images playing in her mind, she opens her arms as she opens her eyes. Her tears glisten on the edge of the precipice. Spilling forth, they are carried on the breeze to yet another sorrowful moment in her existence.

Welcome to my A to Z Blog Challenge post! I hope you enjoyed my ramble, and come back for more! Don’t forget to visit the other bloggers participating by clicking on the badge to the right, or simply using this link. :}

24 Comments | tags: 2014 A to Z Challenge, A, Abrade, Bloghop, flash fiction, Nina D'Arcangela, Sotet Angyal, The Dark Angel | posted in 2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge, Flash, Flash Fiction, loss, muse, pain, Writing

April 5, 2013

Egret

By Nina D'Arcangela

Crisp snowy white and regal, you move with a fluidity that shames most creatures. Long, needle-like beak, a brilliant hue of yellow, used to pluck small fish and amphibious morsels from the waters you feast upon. Still you stand, almost statuesque, waiting for opportunity. A splendid creature, moving meticulously through your real… But to see you spread your wings and take flight, the grandeur of such a sight makes you nothing less than queen of your domain. Soaring close above the water’s surface, your reflection ripples with equal beauty.

Mating season arrives, your brilliant verdant plumes draw them, they flock to you. Eight, ten, perhaps twelve suitors this season. They sit amongst the trees waiting for you to choose. A prize chosen, you dance together on the air, you lead, he follows. You perch among the foliage, building together, creating together, but now that the creation is complete, he leaves. In your nest you wait, you birth, you rear. The smaller of the young lost to the larger, yet still they are yours to accept. Youth does not always grant grace, but in time, it will come.

You, the Egret queen, soar magnificently over the waters, and stalk this pond upon foot with serene patients as the others watch with jealous pride.

I’m doing the 2013 Blogging from A to Z Challenge! Pop back everyday but Sunday through the month of April for a new letter prompt to spawn my deranged ramblings! ;}

12 Comments | tags: A to Z Challenge, bird, E, Egret, flash, flash fiction, flight, majectic, Nina D, Nina D'Arcangela | posted in 2013 Blogging from A to Z Challenge, Flash, Flash Fiction, muse

April 4, 2013

Delicious

By Nina D'Arcangela

She had never seen anything more delightful, delectable or delicious in all her life. With her nose pressed to the glass of the shop window, hands cupped around her eyes to cut down on the sun’s glare, she stared into the Patisserie wishing she had enough coin to indulge in such sweets. But her mother had only given her enough money to buy a loaf of bread, a few eggs, and a bit of milk for tonight’s supper. She wouldn’t dare squander their meager cache on something as frivolous as a cream filled pastry! It would be unconscionable. Still… they looked delicious. Her stomach let out a loud grumble.

An older gentleman walking past not only saw her, but heard her body emit the mournful noise. Walking stick tapping the ground to catch her attention, he asked her if she saw something in the window that caught her fancy. In a near panic, she turned around. Looking left then right then left again. Rubbing her moist palms on her filthy tunic, she stuttered a response that even she couldn’t understand.

At that moment, the shopkeeper – having witnessed this transpire from inside – stepped through the doorway to ask if anything was amiss. The older gentleman, such as he was, tipped his hat to the shopkeeper and replied that all was well, and he and his ‘granddaughter’ were indeed about to patronize this fine establishment and partake of its wonderful offerings. The young girl stuttered again as the shopkeeper held the door open. This time the older gentleman was close enough to make out the words “But I have no coin, sir. It would be stealing.”

Bending down to rest his palm upon her head, he replied, “Nonsense child, stealing is for the poor, and I can see you are anything but. You wouldn’t deny an older gentleman the privilege of indulging a young lady with a delicious morsel, now would you?”

“No, sir, I would not, but…”

“Then it’s settled. Have you picked your treat yet? I know what mine shall be. They make the most scrumptious chocolate Pasticiotti here!” He smiled as he shooed the shopkeeper away and held the door for her to enter.

“Oh, yes, sir! That was the very thing I was looking at through the window. They do look marvelous, don’t they?” She grinned from ear to ear with excitement, eliciting a small chuckle from the old man.

“Then please, my dear, after you.”

She entered the shop unsure of herself; she’d never been in such a fine bakery before. She could barely contain her excitement. The older gentleman ordered two chocolate Pasticiotti and guided her to one of several small tables lining the wall. After instructing her to wash up in the ladies room at the rear, he drew in a deep breath that carried with it all the marvelous aromas held captive within the shop. He then released that breath upon a sigh, and leaned his walking stick against the wall.

When the young girl returned, the desserts had been served, and the older gentleman seemed to have fallen asleep. Unease filled her once again, but the scent of the sweet cream filling was too much for her to resist. She found herself gobbling as fast as she could. The pastry, it seemed, was slightly larger than her eyes and her belly, for she began to feel very full. The shopkeeper came over to ask if all was well, and she replied that indeed it was, however, her ‘grandfather’ seemed to have fallen asleep. Gazing at the old man, the shopkeeper smiled. He retrieved a box from beneath the counter and packaged the older gentleman’s treat inside it, along with the remains of hers as well.

Handing her the box, he told her to run along and take the gift home to share with her family. Gratefully she thanked him, and asked if she should wake the older gentleman to thank him as well. The shopkeeper simply shook his head and told her to let the older man sleep, he would pass along her gratitude once the gentleman woke.

Hopping off her seat, she thanked the shopkeeper again, said a silent thank you to the sleeping older gentleman and headed out the door feeling happy and bright.

Once the door closed, the shopkeeper looked sadly upon the old man, his hat still resting at an awkward angle upon his head, as it was most days. “Ah, Granddad, you need to find your rest. Please, I beg of you. I enjoy your daily visits, and I know how much you loved this shop and the children who visited it while you were here, but your soul needs to find a home of its own now.” And with that, he placed the silver handle of the walking stick back into the older gentleman’s hands, and watched with tears in his eyes as his Granddad slowly dissipated.

Wiping his eyes dry, and the table clean, he went about his business as the latest in a long line of family proprietors of the Patisserie; all the while praying for his Granddad’s soul to find peace, but knowing he would see him again the following day.

I’m doing the 2013 Blogging from A to Z Challenge! Pop back everyday but Sunday through the month of April for a new letter prompt to spawn my deranged ramblings! ;}

18 Comments | tags: A to Z Challenge, Delicious, flash fiction, ghost, Nina D, Nina D'Arcangela, pastry, sweets, treats, wishes | posted in 2013 Blogging from A to Z Challenge, Flash, Flash Fiction

April 1, 2013

Apathy

By Nina D'Arcangela

Sitting before you, watching your fluids drain slowly into the thirsty dirt below, I feel nothing. You twitch in pain; agony the mate of your very soul. Once you were all that mattered to me. Once you were the light in my sky, the air I breathed, the blood I bled; now you are nothing. To scoff is beyond me, I have not enough emotion in my chilled heart to bear you ill will. Your fall, the fall of all before my eyes, has left me nothing but a hollow shell. No echo of crashing waves, no wondrous Alabaster beauty, just jagged shards remain to rend and tear the soles of those unfortunate enough to tread where I now lie. Yes, a lie – one that stole my humanity and brought me to your side on this dark night, moonlight glinting off the dagger in my hand. Staring into your dazed eyes, indifference is all I feel. Apathy is all my abandoned faith will allow me to embrace as I watch the final breath expel from your body.

I’m doing the 2013 Blogging from A to Z Challenge! Pop back everyday but Sunday through the month of April for a new letter prompt to spawn my deranged ramblings! ;}