Wednesday 29 January 2020

Mid-Week Flash Challenge - Week 142

This week's photo is of a sculpture by Rook Floro. He calls it 'Shadow.' If click on the link you will see a variety of angles it is taken at. 

This week it just poured out onto the page, which was a good thing as I am late with it!!

The General Guidelines can be found here.

How to create a clickable link in Blogger comments can be found on lasts week's post here.

There is also a Facebook group for Mid-Week Flash, if you fancy getting the prompt there.



Shadow


She wanted to be so much more. She wanted to exist fully and to an extent that she was seen and heard and visible to the rest of the world, but no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t seem to achieve it.

She went out of her way to help people; she offered her skills, her assistance, her time, her loyalty. And some of them took it, readily enough, but it was never reciprocated. She was the stormy weather friend: there for all of them through the hard times, but never through the happy times – and never there for her through either times.

Inside she knew she was more, knew she could be more, wanted to be so much more, but could never seem to bring it out. Everyone said you had to support yourself, be independent, be self-sufficient, and she did that, she did all that. But it changed nothing externally.

They said she was surrounding herself with the wrong people, the wrong energy, in the wrong place and the wrong time. She changed all that. Then they said it was her who was wrong, full of the wrong energy, emitting the wrong vibes, that people didn’t want to know her.

No matter which way she turned she couldn’t seem to get it right. And it drained her, it frazzled her, it sucked her dry. And so she stopped. She stopped stepping forward. She stopped speaking up. She stopped trying to engage. Instead she withdrew and isolated herself.

She stopped offering her help, stopped being the first to make contact and she waited. And as she has suspected all along: nothing.

Not from anyone: not those that called themselves friends, and especially not from those that called themselves family. Her fears were confirmed. Her paranoia wasn’t in her head, it was tangible and evident.

She could say she felt lost, but she wasn’t, she was just alone – emotionally and physically.

She still wanted to be so much more, still dreamt of being so much more, felt it stir inside her, but now she wasn’t who she was anymore, she was just a shadow of her former self, trying desperately to find her true self again – her whole self. 





12 comments :

  1. This feels very raw, and emotional Miranda. A very good story.

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  2. This story took some teasing out but here it is. My attempt at this weeks prompt. An Unusual Case

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    1. I loved this. Totally gripped! Such good writing and such a great story for the prompt.

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    2. Thank you, Miranda. I began this one in third person, couldn't get the flow so I deleted and walked away thing about my detective. When I came back it came out in first person instead and I'm really pleased with it,

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    3. Sometimes when you change POV it suddenly comes together. I've had that too, with my short Matilda (in Mostly Dark), it didn't work until I changed it and then it's like it came alive.

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  3. My entry for this week's Flash Fiction Challenge is titled The Shadows of Vagus:

    Blogger: The Shadows of Vagus

    Patreon: The Shadows of Vagus (Has a PDF download, too!)

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    1. Very unique take on the picture and you encompassed the entire tale in the word count which is also impressive. Thanks for joining.

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  4. This prompt seems to have inspired a wide range of ideas!

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    1. It has! That's what I try to do in offering the prompts, if a picture tells a blatant story I tend not to use it.

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  5. More words came from where ever they are coming from. How come I keep hearing that old quote from somewhere, "Ours is not to wonder why! Ours is but to do or die!" ???

    Inside My Eyelids (6)

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    1. Great take on the prompt and very true/real.

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