Flash Fiction: Brothers in Arms

This was written for the 17 July Flash! Friday competition. The prompts for the week can be seen here, and included the photo below.

Brothers in Arms

Books were gathered in the town square. More were added as residents threw down volumes that fell with pages fluttering like dying moths in the flames. Everything had to burn. The choking smoke would wipe the slate clean. The pile grew; stories, poetry, history, science, the word of God. All had to be destroyed. From the ashes a new world would arise. A utopia. A world of peace. So they say.

Riot Police. CC2.0 photo by Thomas Hawk.

A man tried running away with a few volumes clutched in his arms. Guards tackled him and he fell, his head cracking on the flagstones. Books fell to be scooped up and thrown onto the still growing pile. The historian was dragged to his feet and guns with live ammunition pointed at him. He put his hands in the air and surrendered to the inevitable. He saw behind the guards a figure flitting through the shadows. Some volumes would be saved.

The caught man looked at each guard in turn. The face behind one of the rifles was his brother’s. His finger was on the trigger. Doing his job just like the others. Without question, without thought. Without knowing how many times this scene had played itself out through time.

He closed his eyes and waited for the bullet. He did not want to see who fired first.

Writing Links of the Week and Flash Fiction

Here are the links to my articles published last week. To read some more (on a wide variety of topics) go to my webpage.

Important Facts About Food Allergies

What is Fool’s Paradise Day?

Affordable Winter School Holiday Fun

Monday Flash Fiction

This micro fiction story was written for last week’s Friday’s Flash!Friday competition. The full prompts can be seen over here.

At the End of the Rainbow

“It’s just half your soul. What do you want a whole one for if half will do?” the scaly man in the black suit grinned.

Chemical Factory. CC2.0 photo by Astrid Westvang.

Behind him the behemoth stood half finished. Soon the factory would start belching smoke and leaving traces of soot on every shack. The bright lights of the city beyond sang of future riches as they danced and swayed seductively in lines of yellow and red. The siren song pulled at heartstrings, dulled the senses, made promises of skyscrapers and mansions it could not keep. Just like it’s called to you for the past decade. 

“Just half?”

The sirens sing of a pot of gold just out of reach.

You can’t shut out the song forever. It grows and changes and stretches its way into lying promises spilling from so many mouths.

The man nods.

The sirens close in on their prey.

Flash Fiction - The Souls of Trees

This story was also written for Flash! Friday - you had to include a farmer as character. It’s also midwinter over here… It's also for this story which I posted Loreena McKennit's The Mummer's Dance.

The Souls of Trees
The buyers stared at the last of the acorns enclosed in the pen.  Rising from each was a wispy, humanoid figure veiled in green light. They flickered as they danced to hidden music. Only the chosen could hear the music this far from the forest.
“Got them new from the forest just yesterday,” the tree-soul farmer said.
“They look…” one man began, teeth chattering. His words curled pure white in the air. The farmer struggled to read his lips.
“Sickly,” the second added.

Photo by Fritz Bielmeier

“They become strong when planted,” the farmer said, opening the pen.

The figures danced around them to the music that charmed people into the woods with fairy lights, will-o’-the-wisps, and wilis that made you forget about a world beyond the forest.  But the town needed their light to survive winter. They were hope.

“I’ll take this one.”
The farmer sent the fluttering figure to sleep with a few words and wrapped the acorn in a cloth.

He took the last acorn for himself and planted it in the corner of his room, where it flickered and danced and grew into a strong sapling. Where it lit the long dark of winter. Where it sang to him of spring every night until he fell asleep.

Favourite Music Friday – The Mummer’s Dance

I love Loreena McKennit’s music and The Mummer’s Dance is one of my favourites. It’s also serving as part of the inspiration for the Flash! Friday story I’m busy with today (no title thus far).  It just popped into my head when I saw the end of the story in my mind...

The story itself will be posted later tonight.