Week 12 Story Lab: Microfiction: Two More Fictional Stories
The Survival Instinct
As her assailants dragged her into the white van, three thoughts flashed through her mind.
The first was in the voice of her self-defense coach. "You have to want life in that moment. Your will to survive must be stronger than your fear of death."
The next was her father's. "You gave up too early. That's why the other girl won--you need to push all the way to the finish line."
The final one was her own. "You are valuable, and you deserve to live." Hot blood lit her limbs on fire.
And she fought with everything she had.
Echoes of a Child
She made birthday cake, chocolate flavor, just the way he liked it. What she didn't know: this year, her son would never come home again.
Author's Note: The first story, "The Survival Instinct," is a drabble, a 100-word story. Although it draws on lessons that I've learned about a survival mindset from self-defense classes, the scenario and protagonist are fictional. The unnamed woman is in the process of being abducted, dragged into a van by her attackers. In the moment the attack occurs, the woman calls upon her training, her life experiences, and her own will to survive in order to fight. Although the pacing of the story makes the moment extended, in reality these thoughts would happen in the briefest instant.
The second story, "Echoes of a Child," is a piece of hint fiction, which is a 25-word story. Because the story is so short, it is by very nature purposefully vague. Exactly who this mother is, and exactly why her son will never come home again--those details I leave up to the reader.
Hi Kenzie,
ReplyDeleteWow, this is the first bit of microfiction I have read this semester, and it was quite impressive. The fact that you were able to convey so much with so few words is really neat. The first story was a pretty scary scenario to imagine oneself in, and the second one was so intriguing. What could have happened to her son? No matter what, it is a bit of a sad story. I prefer happy endings.
Hi Kenzie,
ReplyDeleteI love microfiction because of how much you're able to convey in such a small story, and you did just that. It also makes every word that much more meaningful.
I found your first story compelling and inspiring. I like the picture you included because it provides context to the voices in her head.
That second story hits hard, it could be the opening line of a book but it also stands alone so well.