Vonkfiksie: "Red Balloon"

Geo-Writing het hierdie jaar (2014) deel uitgemaak van die Brighton Digital Festival. Skrywers kry ’n tema volgens hulle GPS-koördinate en moet daarvolgens ’n verhaal van minder as 300 woorde ty skryf. My tema (vir Johannesburg) was “’n foto van ’n rooi ballon op Facebook”. Die ander verhale kan hier gelees word. Hier is die oorspronklike, Engelse verhaal.

Red Balloon

My parents told me that I was a soul they found floating above a stretch of grass next to the highway on their way to Johannesburg. My mom said I looked like a red balloon, and that she caught me before I could snag on a wiry tree or float down into the prickly winter-brown grass.

I never quite understood how I went from a balloon-shaped soul to human, but I knew I was different. In time the balloon became a silly bedtime story to grow out of. I acted like balloons didn't scare me. I carried balloons around because other children did. Balloons would slip from their fingers and disappear into the sky, but I could never let one go.

When I turned thirteen my parents told me that I was given up by my biological parents. Parents who, like so many others, had left the country. As if leaving me wasn't enough. As if I wasn't enough reason to stay.

It took a lot of time to find her name. On Facebook was a story of her new coffee table book set in Brighton - a far-away world of strangers. Snapshots of her, a red balloon and two toddlers. A photo of a lone red balloon above Brighton.

I choked as my soul spilled onto the floor with my tears. Mom caught me and snapped the laptop shut.

If only I were a balloon. Then I could float away. Then I could disappear. 

#182122396 / gettyimages.com

Geo-Writing Flash Fiction: Red Balloon

Geo-Writing's prompts were based on your location. My prompt (in Johannesburg, South Africa) was 'a photo of a red balloon on Facebook'. You can read all the stories over here.

Red Balloon

My parents told me that I was a soul they found floating above a stretch of grass next to the highway on their way to Johannesburg. My mom said I looked like a red balloon, and that she caught me before I could snag on a wiry tree or float down into the prickly winter-brown grass.

I never quite understood how I went from a balloon-shaped soul to human, but I knew I was different. In time the balloon became a silly bedtime story to grow out of. I acted like balloons didn't scare me. I carried balloons around because other children did. Balloons would slip from their fingers and disappear into the sky, but I could never let one go.

When I turned thirteen my parents told me that I was given up by my biological parents. Parents who, like so many others, had left the country. As if leaving me wasn't enough. As if I wasn't enough reason to stay.

It took a lot of time to find her name. On Facebook was a story of her new coffee table book set in Brighton - a far-away world of strangers. Snapshots of her, a red balloon and two toddlers. A photo of a lone red balloon above Brighton.

I choked as my soul spilled onto the floor with my tears. Mom caught me and snapped the laptop shut.

If only I were a balloon. Then I could float away. Then I could disappear.

#182122396 / gettyimages.com

Geo-Writing Flash Fiction: Red Balloon

Geo-Writing's prompts were based on your location. My prompt (in Johannesburg, South Africa) was 'a photo of a red balloon on Facebook'. You can read all the stories over here.

Red Balloon

My parents told me that I was a soul they found floating above a stretch of grass next to the highway on their way to Johannesburg. My mom said I looked like a red balloon, and that she caught me before I could snag on a wiry tree or float down into the prickly winter-brown grass.

I never quite understood how I went from a balloon-shaped soul to human, but I knew I was different. In time the balloon became a silly bedtime story to grow out of. I acted like balloons didn't scare me. I carried balloons around because other children did. Balloons would slip from their fingers and disappear into the sky, but I could never let one go.

When I turned thirteen my parents told me that I was given up by my biological parents. Parents who, like so many others, had left the country. As if leaving me wasn't enough. As if I wasn't enough reason to stay.

It took a lot of time to find her name. On Facebook was a story of her new coffee table book set in Brighton - a far-away world of strangers. Snapshots of her, a red balloon and two toddlers. A photo of a lone red balloon above Brighton.

I choked as my soul spilled onto the floor with my tears. Mom caught me and snapped the laptop shut.

If only I were a balloon. Then I could float away. Then I could disappear.

#182122396 / gettyimages.com

What I'm up to at the moment

Tea Time Reads

There are now quite a few flash pieces up at A Slip of My Pen, along with a few behind-the-scenes posts about the of inspiration for the stories. These stories are all between 140 and 160 words long – perfect for something to read during tea time. Click here to go to A Slip ofMy Pen.

Content Writing

I’ve started writing web articles and hope to branch out in the future. At the moment the articles includes subjects like James Bond’s Cars, Robin Williams, Time Hacks, and following your dream (yes, that one I did write with myself in mind.). Click here for a complete list and links.

Geo-Writing and Other Writing

Besides the content writing, I’m also busy with a few fiction pieces. Apart from the story semi inspired by Broken Thread, I am also writing a story (maybe even two if all goes well) for Geo-Writing. Geo-Writing is part of the Brighton Digital Festival 2014, where writers are given prompts depending on where they find themselves in the world. At the end of September there will be a whole patchwork of standalone and interrelated stories from across the globe!

A New Look

Apart from doing a bit of redesign and finding out that Getty Images now lets you embed their images on blogs (thank goodness for this wonderful stock photo option!), I’ve now also made a landingpage. The landing page contains links to all the blogs, all my scribbles, and all my web articles. The redesign is still a work in progress, as I am only now working on Kammastories.

Coming up…

I’m working on a new blog series about folklore and mythology. With all the research involved, though, I’m only planning on starting these posts in towards the end of November. In the meanwhile, I’m going to dust off some of the myth and folklore gathering dust in the archives. 

#453048049 / gettyimages.com