My Short Short Story for the Day

Kneeling by the pond, Helen closed her eyes letting her mind drift back. Was it really just a few months ago. It felt like a lifetime and only an instant. How strange the mind can be. Helen gently set the first pink flower in the water. Why was it so hard to move on? The doctors said there was no indication of physical trauma. The psychiatrists said there was no indication of mental trauma. But she knew what she saw, what she felt, what she went through. It was real, the pain was real, the fear was real. She couldn't explain why there were no indications of any of it. She gently set the second pink flower in the water. Her parents begged her to forget about it, to stop talking about it. Her boyfriend told her to move on, get over it. Her friends pretended to sympathize at first but soon stopped calling, visiting, texting until she was left alone. She gently set the third pink flower in the water. She watched as the flowers lined up, touching each other. Then they started to vibrate ever so slightly. Helen stared until her eyes grew so dry she had to blink and when she looked again it was there. The white flower. Exactly as it had been before.

“Oh, no.” Helen whispered. “Not again.”

My Short Short Story for the Day

Once upon a time there was a little shark named Charlie and he lived in the great big ocean. He was swimming around looking for some tasty fish to eat when a magical fairy appeared. The fairy asked if he wanted to be a fairy for the day. He didn’t hesitate.

“Yes.” He said. Poof!

She handed him a wand. “Have fun! I’ll be back tomorrow. Same time. Same place.”

Charlie couldn't believe it. He was a real fairy. Wings and all. He waved his magic wand and lots of tasty fish appeared. “Wow! It's true. It's really really true!”

So Charlie decided to test out his brand new wings. He wiggled around and was about to flap his fins when he realized, his fins were gone. He now had little fairy feet and hands and sparkly wings on his back.

“Oh, boy!” Charlie smiled then kicked his feet and flew right out of the water.

He kept flying up, up, up into the air. As he was flying around in the air doing loop de loops he noticed there was a tiny little whale way down in the ocean looking up at him. He flew back down towards the whale and as he got closer he realized the whale wasn't so tiny after all. In fact he was quite large. Charlie slowed down and fluttered in the air just above the whale's eye.

“Who are you?” The whale asked.

“Why, I'm Charlie the shark.” Charlie said proudly.

“You don't look like a shark.” The whale replied.

“Oh, right.” Charlie said. “I'm actually a fairy today.”

“A fairy?” The whale didn't believe him.

“Yes, a real live fairy.” Charlie said spinning around to show off his wings. “And I can grant wishes, too. Is there anything you want?”

“Um? I wouldn't mind some yummy plankton.” Said the whale.

“No problem.” With a flick of his wand Charlie made a whole bunch of plankton appear.

The whale gobbled them all up and as he swam away he said. “Thank you!”

Charlie thought he made a very good fairy. And for that whole day, he was indeed a very good fairy.

My Short Short Story for the Day

For anyone who has ever wished for a super power, beware. It's not always as great as it may seem. You see, I have a super power so I know what I'm talking about. I was born with it, my dad is a scientist and created some kind of super vitamin that he had my mom take while she was pregnant. It was only supposed to make her very healthy, which it did, but there was a side effect he hadn't counted on. I learned of my uniqueness when I was 5. My baby brother was about 2 months old at the time and I was very upset that they spent so much time with him. Every little thing he did was sooooooo cute that I just got pushed aside. So one night I went into his room to reason with him but as you know, babies are clueless.

I stood by his crib looking at him through the bars. “I wish you were a puppy.”

There was a quick flash of light and poof, my baby brother was gone and a cute, little puppy was sitting in his crib staring at me. I couldn't move. I was scared, happy, anxious and mad all at once. I didn't know what had happened or what to do. The puppy took matters into his own hands, er, paws and yipped. My parents came on the run. My mom gasped and nearly fainted.

My dad was calmer and knelt down beside me. “Honey, what happened?”

“I wished he was a puppy, but I didn't mean it. Honest! I'm sorry!” I wailed.

“It's ok, honey. Just wish him back.” Daddy looked so calm and he was patting my back.

“Ok. I wish my baby brother was back.” I said choking on the sobs.

Another flash of light and poof, my baby brother was back. My mom quickly checked him over for any signs of puppy and hugged him tight. My brother was smiling and making happy baby noises.

My dad hugged me. “You did good kiddo.”

My Short Short Story for the Day

What a lovely spot Jan thought brushing a few fallen leaves off the bench. After checking for bugs she sat down and closed her eyes. I can't believe I agreed to a blind date. And at my age. Sure, 41 wasn't that old but she certainly wasn't a teenager anymore and blind dates were best left to the youngsters not people set in their ways. I have my job, my kids, my hobbies to keep me happy. I just don't need anymore change in my life right now. He's probably not even my type. Whatever that is. What if he's some crazed lunatic or something? Well, of course Beth wouldn't set me up with someone like that. Best friends don't do that to each other. Jan smiled and took a slow, deep breath. Holding it for a moment she cleared her mind and let it out slowly. A bird sang in the tree overhead and she heard the distant sound of laughter. The smell of fresh cut grass tickled her nose and the warm breeze gently brushed the hair off her cheek. She let the tension seep out and a smile spread across her face.

“You're beautiful.” The words were spoken quietly.

Jan opened her eyes and her smile grew. “You must be Adam.” She stood and extended her hand. His grip was firm but not overpowering. She liked the feel of her hand in his. It felt...right.

My Short Short Story for the Day

“That's it!” Karen shouted racing towards the beautiful blue flowers. “I found them! I found them!” Her heart was pounding as the sweat streamed down her back. After 3 long days, her search was at an end. As she reached the flowers her body collapsed giving into exhaustion. She lay on the ground staring up at those beautiful blue blossoms. “At last.” She sighed as her eyes started to close. No, no, no! She thought pulling herself up into a sitting position. Can't sleep, must keep moving. She crawled over to the flowers and opened her sack. She cut several stems and put them into the bag, careful not to damage them. She filled her bag so full she almost wasn't able to close it. After a struggle it was closed and on her back. Now she had to get herself up and moving. It should only be a couple days to get back home but she had to move, she couldn't risk even an hour or two of sleep. How will I make it? The thought pushed into her mind but she firmly shoved it back. Must move. Now! She hauled herself up onto her feet and began moving one foot in front of the other. Light faded and turned to dark but she kept on walking, her eyes automatically adjusting. Light came again and Karen kept moving. Can't stop. Can't stop. Can't stop. She repeated ignoring her hunger, her thirst and especially her doubts. As the light faded once more and the darkness descended she crested a hill. Can't stop. Can't stop. Can't stop. Halfway down the hill her foot caught on a root and she tumbled down the rest of the way. Without hesitation she pulled herself up onto her feet again and walked. Can't stop. Can't stop. Can't stop. Darkness gave way to light and with those first rays of morning Karen walked back into her village. “She's back! She's back!” The shout went out and several people rushed to her. There was a gentle tug as her pack was removed. “She has the flowers! She did it!” With those words she let her eyelids slide shut.

My Short Short Story for the Day

Once upon a time there was a little bunny who lived in a nice little house. Each morning her owner, Sally, let her out of her cage to hop around for a while. On one special day, bunny was hoping around enjoying the chance to stretch her legs when she came across a trail of colorful stones. She hopped over to the first stone and sniffed it. It smelled a little odd but the colors were so pretty that bunny decided to see where it lead. She hopped all the way down the hall and into Sally's brother, John's room. The trail ended there. She looked around but couldn't see anyone.

“Hello? Anyone in here?” She asked sniffing the air.

“Over here.” A small voice spoke from the corner.

Bunny hopped over and looked up. There was a cage high up on the shelf. “Oh, hello there.” She said.

“What do you want?” The voice asked.

“Uh, well, I was just wondering who left the trail of colorful rocks out there.” Bunny said wriggling her nose.

“Me.” The voice said.

“Why?” Bunny squinted trying to see into the shadow.

“Well, it's not like I have any choice.” The voice came out of the shadows and was a small brown bunny.

“Oh, a bunny! I didn't know there was another bunny. How long have you lived here?” Bunny was very excited to make a new friend.

“Not long.” The bunny said. “And you might want to put that down.”

“Yes, mom, I'm cleaning it up right now.” John walked into the room cleaning up the rocks as he came. Then dumping them in the toilet and flushing. “All done.”

After he left, Bunny turned to her new friend. “Are those...”

“Yup.”

“Ewww!' Bunny quickly dropped the stone and wiped her paws on the bedspread.

My Short Short Story for the Day

Meira walked toward the door tugging her sweater closed. She could feel the chill seeping through the window panes.

“So I have to go out in that?” She said mesmerized by the drifts.

“You have to. I can't. You know I can't.” Sam said.

“I know.” Meira whispered slowly turning around. She pulled on a thick pair of sweatpants over her jeans. Then she put on two pairs of wool socks, wrapped a scarf around her neck, tugged on Sam's jacket, laced up her boots and finished with ski gloves.

“Are you sure that's not too much?” Sam eyed her.

“Well, I don't want to freeze.” She snapped then taking a breath. “Don't worry. I'll be careful.”

Meira gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and turned to face the door again. She shivered just thinking about what was out there. The snow would make it that much harder. No, she couldn't think about that. Not now. She had to go before she lost all courage. She grabbed the doorknob, took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then yanked open the door threw herself into the snow pulling the door shut behind her. Without looking back she climbed to her feet and began trudging as quickly as she could. The air was so cold it hurt her lungs to breath. Her feet were already tingling from the cold and her face was numb even under the ski mask. She reached the edge of the field and slowed to a halt. The darkness of the forest lurked before her. If only there was another way around. She straightened and stepped forward. As if on cue she heard a screeching howl pierce the air. With a shudder she began to jog.

“Please let me be fast enough today.” She whispered into the wind.