Mid-Week Flash Challenge - Week 262

This image was once up on Etsy as an item for sale but it is no longer available so I can't credit either the company of the person who took the picture. But it is rather wonderful. 

I tried to think a little out of the box, and my mood infected this one, and it's run over the word count, but I can't edit it anymore without ruining the story. Enjoy. 

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.

Lifting Life

Felicity needed it today more than ever. It was yet another overcast day and her mood reflected it. She felt sad. In fact she often felt sad, although she was someone who kept it to herself. People saw her as sociable and outgoing – and she was, but she also felt deeply disconnected from everything around her. She lived alone and worked from home. She spent most days not seeing anyone or speaking to anyone. Only at weekends, when she arranged to meet others, and although they were great people, they were surface friends; no deep and meaningful conversations or relationships. It was taking a toll on her and she didn’t know how to change it.

She picked up the little bottle she’d bought at a shop that sold herbs and tinctures. ‘Sun Dust, sprinkle anytime to add a little light in your life.’ She wondered if it was just a sales gimmick. But the shop assistant had assured her it was very real and would bring her what she needed. The assistant had advised her to sprinkle just a few grains of it around her room to brighten up her life, so she took out the cork stopper and sprinkled a little over different areas of the house.

She waited. Nothing happened. Maybe it was a gimmick.

There was a bright flash at her window. Great, lightning, now there was going to be a storm to make the day darker.

Felicity went to the window to watch it but didn’t see any more and there was no rain. The clouds were grey but they didn’t look that heavy. Maybe it was just a random strike.

She went to the kitchen to make some breakfast. She was about to switch on the light when she saw the sun had broken through the clouds here at the back of the house. Yet while she was clearing the dishes out of the kitchen sink she glanced out and saw the clouds were still there, blanketing the sky. It must have been just a brief glimpse.

She looked down into the sink again and saw sun glinting off the chrome of the pans. She frowned. Where was it coming from?

She looked round the room and saw beams of light cutting across the counter. She opened the back door and stepped outside but it was still completely dull and chilly. She came back inside and saw the outline of the window frame cast across the kitchen table as though it was full sunshine outside.

Was it real? Could the Sun Dust be doing that? She couldn’t think what else it could be.

Felicity went out of the kitchen and checked all the rooms she’s sprinkled it in, even upstairs. Sure enough, they were all lit up with invisible sunshine. It was glorious.

She smiled. And when she left her bedroom she felt her feet lift more than usual. When she reached the stairs she floated down them rather than stepped. What was going on?

She kept her hand on the banister, worried she might not be able to stay grounded if she didn’t. But at the bottom she had to let go to get into the lounge, and glided across the floor, plopping down onto the sofa, although it didn’t feel like she was actually touching it.

She giggled at the idea, and then she couldn’t stop and lay there laughing for at least half an hour, not really sure what she was laughing at.  Her sides ached. What was happening? Had the bottle released some kind of laughing gas?

Felicity didn’t know, and no longer cared. She felt good. She hadn’t felt this good in years, in fact not since she last fell in love.

That was it; it felt like falling in love. Only there was just her. But that was okay. She liked that it was just her; she was enjoying herself on her own for the first time ever. She realised she could be happy all by herself. She didn’t need other people to have a good time. She could do things by herself that would make her happy.

The revelation made her want to go for a walk, It didn’t matter it was overcast; it didn’t stop nature being wonderful. She couldn’t wait to get out in it and breathe in the air.

Felicity stepped out of the front door with a big smile on her face. But by the time she reached the road her feet were no longer gliding, the weight of her body had returned. And when she reached the woods she began to wonder what she was doing there. She did, however, enjoy the trees and the smell of the foliage on a dank, cold day.

When she reached the lake in the middle, she saw the ducks and wished she’d brought something to feed them. And although when she returned home less light and happy than she had been, she felt at peace. She knew now what she needed to do.

The Sun Dust might have been the catalyst, but she understood that her sadness was because she kept herself cooped up and didn’t appreciate herself enough, or the outside world she lived in.

She smiled. She’d use the dust again, she knew that, but now she had a deeper understanding that to change her life for the better it started within.