Paper, Unfolding
A double shot of flash fiction
This is the latest serving of ‘Double Espresso’; two short stories based on the same prompt - a 50-word tale, and a 100-word imagining. Two sho(r)t stories … the Double Espresso.
I regularly enjoy playing with the flash fiction writing prompts offered by
Recently, the word ‘paper’ invited a whole range of interpretations, including a 70-word piece that became the 100-word tale included below. The 50-word response was inspired by an idea from one of the other contributing writers but it is my own take on the notion of a paper plane.
I hope you enjoy these short stories, designed to be sipped as Coffee Break fiction.
Soaring Love
I chose my words carefully. From the terrace that was my retreat from the searing heat of the city, I had watched her, elegant coolness in female form. Leaning on the railings, my heart stopped momentarily as feelings of love soared, embraced tightly in the folds of a paper plane.
(50 words)
Sign, her life
Thick vellum feels particular. It has a special something about it. Somehow it offers substance and weight. There is unspoken meaning in its heft. It rustles distinctively, especially when a breeze from the open window of a tower room catches it, or a hand brushes against it in the moment of writing. Just before the quill scratches a signature onto the sheet of paper conveyed from Rome to this outpost of papal enforcement. The inquisitor swallowed a draught of fine wine to drown his distaste at the ease with which his Lordship incriminates his own daughter to save his skin.
(100 words)