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The Overcoming Adversity Bloghop by Nick Wilford |
Nick Wilford is hosting the Overcoming Adversity Bloghop for which he needs the participants to write something about overcoming
adversity for something we believe in. It can either be a flash fiction
piece, or an episode from real life. He would compile all the entries into an anthology which will be released as
soon as possible, with all proceeds going towards his stepson Andrew’s college fund. Andrew has cerebral palsy and needs to study at a college with facilities suited to him.
The following flash fiction is my contribution. It came from the letter D of the #atozchallenge last April: (If you haven’t signed up for the A to Z Challenge yet this year, where have you been?). This is not so much a story of overcoming adversity, but a decision to make a change when faced with adversity, to stop depending even on faith, and let in the light, quite literally.
into the night and yet she did not waken to the world because day and
night had united in her eyes, in her breath, her very bones. All that
was left was a never-ending sunset, and the tower in front of her home
that shot up into the sky.
imagined a sprite sitting high up there watching over her home. Through
the years of her marriage, the beatings, the birthings, the making
love, she kept her eyes on that tower.
now, afraid to move, lest she miss the moment he would walk in, slam
shut the gate with unsteady hands, and she, annoyed, would whisper to
him in a voice that carried in the thin summer air: The children are asleep, can you keep it down for God’s sake?
wails of her infant daughter whose first sob startled her awake on any
given night, and on to her feet. She did not move when her toddling son
tugged at her skirt, nor listen when her parents tried to shake her,
bring her back to them.
brothel where his heart had given out under all the strain he had put it
through. She drew the blinds on her window, did not look up at the
tower again.
the neighbors left, as did her parents and his. She sat by the window,
the baby now a toddler at her knee, the brother playing on the floor. The room lay cocooned in dark, the children fussed.
breathe in the incense-laden air. She snapped up the blinds, shoved the windows
open. The room needed light, devil take the tower. No one had ever sat
in it, she knew that now.
A very strong,emotional piece with the snapping of the blind letting the light in along with the hope for the future.
WOW! I love your writing. This is excellent. I'm just sitting here in awe!
I have chills. Amazing excerpt!
"devil the tower" That was good. Nice flash fiction story.
Wow, this was so sad. I got a sense of hope and new beginnings at the end but it still had a darkness to it even at the end.
Wow, this was a great piece, dark and tragic. Loved the ending when she snapped up the blinds and opened the windows. That was the touch of hope I was looking for. Great job.
I loved the light coming in at the end and her taking commanded.
That excerpt is amazing and very haunting!
Thanks, glad you like it!
This was heavy, in a good way. Well done, Damyanti! 🙂
Thanks, David.
Intense and emotional. A wonderful piece!
Thanks, Michelle! I've missed you! Are you taking part in AZ?
Gorgeous and haunting! A fine addition to Nick's collection. 🙂
E.J, thanks! And thanks for tweeting it too 🙂
Whoa. This was super cool. WEll done.
Thanks, Kelly. Glad you like it.
That was an intense piece. Well done!
That means much, coming from you!
Quite a haunting piece. I enjoyed this a lot. Sounds like she's made a conscious decision to move on with her life after living in fear. Very nice! Thanks for taking part in the blogfest.
Thanks, Nick, for hosting this Bloghop. I'm enjoying doing the rounds.
What a powerful passage! Will there be a part two in April?
Julie
This April, I'm going mostly wordless. Let's see how that pans out.
Very dark, and a big story in so few words. Well done 🙂
My flash fiction always tends to write itself, and most always, it's dark.
Powerful piece. Somehow I knew he wasn't coming home.
Thanks, Alex.
As always, your stories make me think. You've captured a lot of angst in a small number of words.
Thanks Joy, you're always kind.
I think I'm going to pass through your last year A to Z challange.
That's so sweet of you!
What a sad story. I hope she finds herself someday and dreams again, learning that not everyone is that horrible. Great story!
Me too. Something tells me she will.
Wow! You packed a lot of punch into that passage. And you managed to fit in an A-Z plug as well. Nicely done!
Thanks. Smaller stories need to pack a punch, don't they? 🙂
'Devil take the tower.' Interesting. Is this something you're working on to publish?
Hugs and chocolate,
Shelly
Not so far, Shelly. This and others like it were part of my writing exercise last April, when I wrote a story a day 🙂