Mum hates TV.
When my father still lived with us, she bitched about how much he watched the stupid thing.
Now she leaves it on all day. “For company,” she says.
I hear the women talk about her. How she couldn’t keep a husband. I want to punch them in the face—they don’t know anything.
I got my father’s temper.
She’s different, my mum. Fights back with her mind, not her hands.
Half the neighborhood can’t pay their bills but they can see our TV glowing through the windows. They know we have power.
And can waste it.
Flash Fiction Challenge over at Carrot Ranch
February 3, 2016 prompt: Power – In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story about power
….more? 😊
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Perhaps… 😊 #mast
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…yay!!! 😊 #mast
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LOL. Love it Sarah. What a wonderful twist on the prompt. Love the power she wielded and wasted.
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Yes. Wielding power (literally) in more ways than one. ⚡️ Thanks!
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More I want but what is #mast?
#FeelingOutOfIt 😦
Great flash – leaves so many questions..
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I guess it does leave questions. I’m so used to writing a complete story in 99 words, it’s weird that my flash has been incomplete lately. Maybe I can spin that in a positive way – that I’m so good, readers want more! 😜 Or not.
No, you didn’t miss anything. It’s something Eric and I made up and started writing to each other on Twitter a bit ago after a back-and-forth “you’re awesome”, “love your poem”, “you’re so talented”, etc. (don’t know when we carried it over to our blogs). It’s: Mutual Admiration Society of Twitter ❤️
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I think leaving loads of questions or a low blow to the belly is the way to go with these things! Keep us thinking 💭
And thx for explaining MAST. Someone has to appreciate what we do. (Stalks Eric..) 👀
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😄
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Subtle…and well done. Power of the mind. Love it. 🙂
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Power. Such a huge topic. Here, trying really hard in just 99 words, I attempted power of the mind, power of electricity, and a position of power. Might need to be a bit longer to get those all through. Ah, well. Fun and love the challenge, as always. Thanks, Kate! 💕
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Whoa…fantastic play on multiple ideas of power! Power of the mind, power to rise above, power to show her kid a different way…leaving that tv on. Stellar writing!
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Thanks, Charli. Fantastic prompt. Feels good to be back playing with 99 words again! 💫
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Since we started the anthology project, I truly have a renewed respect for flash fiction, both its form and results.
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Ha! “Stuff them!” I can hear her say. I understand sometimes the need for ‘company’, but mostly I sit at the computer and have my own thoughts and those of my friends for company.
Great flash. I hope the son learns to control his temper.
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That is so interesting you thought the narrator is a boy. I’m reading it in a completely new way. I wonder what other readers thought. ? Thanks! I can see the mother feeling quite smug inside that brightly-lit little apartment with a TV showing off their power. Stuff them, indeed!
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Hmm. If you didn’t identify the character as male, then I was just slipping into habits from years of male dominance. I must work on that. Bec challenged it a lot when she was young. It’s interesting how it just sneaks in unnoticed – until someone else notices! Thanks. 🙂
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I just did the same thing. I was editing some flash and I assumed the narrator was male. I don’t know why… Doesn’t matter. It works either way.
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Pleased to hear it! 🙂
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Sarah, you have an amazing ability to bring to life hard-knock stories, with the full range of emotions in only 99 words, Here, you’ve given me anger, revenge, protectiveness (daughter of her mother), loneliness, abandonment, poverty, family breakdown. I felt it…deep in my gut… ❤
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Aw, Sherri. Thank you. I feel so much when I’m writing these tiny pieces. It’s nice when someone reads it and feels all of those emotions, too. ❤
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🙂 ❤
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Powerful one, Sarah.
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Thanks, Anne. ❤
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