Arriving at the beach, she reflected on her life. It seemed the earth had given way at her feet often, stranding her on top of precipitous cliffs. Life’s incessant strife had eroded her strength, faith and hope. She stood on the edge of the rocky shore.
The daily grind faced her like a vicious beast growling, foaming at the mouth with malice. Should she end it now? Walk into the ocean until the toes no longer touch the shifting sands? Can she drown herself if she knew how to swim?
A tide of emotion swept her out , far from the shore to answer all her questions. She felt a nibble , then another. A school of small fish were nibbling at the callouses of her sole, tickling her. She couldn’t stop laughing until there were tears in her eyes. A wave lapped it up as if the ocean wasn’t salty enough.
She swam back ashore.
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The above story was in response to ‘Monday’s finish the story’ flash fiction challenge. This unique flash fiction challenge provides a new photo each week, and the first sentence of a story. The challenge is to finish the story using 100-150 words, not including the sentence provided. Details are available in this link:
https://mondaysfinishthestory.wordpress.com/2015/05/11/mondays-finish-the-story-may-11th-17th-2015/
Word count: 145 excluding sentence provided and title.
Roots & Water 