Flowers for Her #flashfiction
As we leave summer behind us and step into the colder months of fall, it can be a nice time to step back and remember summer. Nothing brings summer to mind like a field of wild flowers, waving to and fro in a warm breeze.
Maybe you can tell me why the Indies Unlimited flash fiction challenge this week brings us to something more.
But before we get into that we should talk for a moment about what this is all about. Every Saturday the folks over at Indies Unlimited give us a picture and written prompt. We then have until Tuesday to write a 250 word story based on these prompts.
You never really know where the prompts might take you…
Flowers for Her
photo by K.S. Brooks
She was always amazed by the beauty of nature. Thousands of people would probably have driven by the massive field of flowers and paid it very little mind. She needed more than that.
This is the picture she took after she stopped the car. They found her body near the middle of the field…
Sunflowers swayed to the soft breeze’s rhythm. Fallen leaves washed over her body. Detective Grace shot pics of the area but could find nothing to explain what happened.
He followed the trail through the field from her car but where she lay he found nothing out of place. It was like she came to the center of the field and dropped.
The swollen cut in her neck, unlike a knife wound, appeared to be the cause of death. Or at least led to the blood loss. He circled around her body, and snapped more pictures. No signs of struggle, no signs of anyone else in the area aside from his inspection.
He opened his contact list on his phone. Wouldn’t take but a moment to inform the emts by the road they could pick up the body.
As he slid the phone back into his pocket he noticed a silvery glint of light further into the field. He couldn’t let it go.
He pushed through the weeds, the reflection led him further into the deepest thicket of wildflowers. The reflected light fell away when a shadow rose up behind him.
The emts arrived at the scene, how far back was that? He turned back to see a scarecrow loom over the field. The sun had shifted and placed him in its shadow.
A lopsided smile had been sewn into the burlap of its face. And its button eyes, the button eyes followed him as he pushed past it.
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