The first in a series simply called #flashfictionmagic over on social media

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The imp’s long read fingers gripped the rusted clock, cracking the glass face, the roman numerals—

Did they just quiver?

Sasha stared as the VI actually tilted backward and slipped out from under the glass.

“What?” she gasped; hands clenched at her side.

She kneeled gracelessly to the ground as it fell onto the black sand. The V and the VII landed in her hands.

Sasha stood up, angry, tears in her eyes, as VIII fell next. “Stop!” she yelled up at the imp’s face. “Stop this. Why are you doing this?”’

The IV teetered on the edge. He grinned at her, but it was stretched too long, too tight.”

“Why am I not doing this?” he cried, outraged. “I’m simply an observer of all the time you mere mortals waste, thinking you have an unlimited amount.”

Sasha pressed her hands to her head and squeezed her eyes shut. His voice was loud, angry, and somehow inside of her head.

Don’t get distracted, a reminder floated up amidst the imp’s grating voice

“This is what he was talking about,” Sasha muttered. “I need to find Jonas.”

She squared her shoulders and looked this creature in the eye. “You won’t stop me,” she declared and kicked in the face of the clock with her combat boot.

Black chunks of rock and red ash rained down around her. Sasha threw her arms over her head as she ran for cover, crouching in the crevice of a large boulder.

As the red ash and black rock carpeted the sand, bright pinpricks of greens and blues started to shine through just beyond where the imp had been. And there lay Jonas, laying in the grass, as if he had run off into the forest for a nap instead of having been kidnapped.

Sasha shook her head, but breathed a “thank you” as she made her way toward him.

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A group of flash fiction writers writes a story based on a prompt put together by the host, @embarnettauthor. You can follow the hashtag here: #flashfictionmagic.

I’ve been wanting to write and share more stories here and on social media, so I’m hoping this is a low-key way to do that. Enjoy!

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Writing Process Notes:

8/31/23 // 9:40pm-. Dining Room table. Last Friday’s Release Radar. Word Count: 318