Yesterday I had the wonderful opportunity to visit Pembroke College with the SCBWI group – writers and illustrators. We had a fantastic time.
A statue – Figure in a Shelter – by Henry Moore caught my eye and I wrote a short piece of flash fiction using it as inspiration. So today I thought I’d share with you the photos and flash fiction plus a Tanka too.
For Green I used greenery and devilry for magic.
This ended up very Dr Who like!
Behold a statue,
What devilry can this be?
A woman captured,
Fooled by the lush greenery,
Buckled, damaged by a child.
A statue dominated the landscape of green, lush perfection. Two halves beckoned to her to approach. She hesitated, unsure. Captured within she imagined that a triangle of light fell on the woman within enveloping her hunched over body. But she couldn’t see her expression. She didn’t smile, frown or speak. It was as if a terrible freak of nature had broken the woman’s heart and left her mute.
One side of the statue curled inwards pointing an accusing, gnarled finger. It resembled a walnut cracked – its hard exterior broken and lost without its other significant half.
The missing part curved into a perfect mould with no sharp edges or broken pieces. Its womb-like space quivered dancing away from her – out of reach.
She sighed.
She felt a hand grip her fingertips. A child’s hand, small, urgent. The voice of this hand spoke to her. ‘Come on!’
It was her four-year-old niece urging her to move away from the statue to come and play.
This small person reminded her that she was needed. Wanted. She felt a tug and another and another.
She gazed at her niece’s playful grey eyes and saw the truth. Tiny freckles speckled across her face like displaced rays of sunshine.
‘This is for you,’ she said.
It was a sunflower. Such a beautiful gift, but wilted.
The woman cried.
‘Why are you crying, Aunty?’ asked the little girl.
The statue murmured. The two halves moved inwards to caress the woman.
The girl vanished.
And so did the woman.
© M J Mallon 2018
My lovely SCBWI friends and I enjoying the sunshine and sharing our work:
To enter Colleen’s challenge please follow the link below:
Buy Paperback Book link: http://mybook.to/TheCurseofTime
Unique Selling Point: Unique, Imaginative, ‘Charming, enchanting and richly layered this is purely delightful.’
“This delightful book will appeal to teens and young adults who love stories filled with magical crystals, dark family curses, and mysteries waiting to be solved around every corner. Each chapter leads you on a journey of discovery where Amelina earns the right to use three wizard stones to reset the balance of time and finally break the curse that holds her family hostage. A captivating tale!” – Colleen M. Chesebro (Editor)
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