This week’s Flash Fiction challenge comes from Carrot Ranch. Send your submission by Saturday February 19th.
February 14, 2022, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about zippers. What are the zippers for? What challenges do they present to the story? Go where the prompt leads!
Agent Donohue unzipped an oddly-shaped black bag and broke into a sweat, frozen like a statue, watching the red numbers speedily count down. Before he knew it, Donohue saw “Fail” in red.
“What went through your mind?” asked Agent Morrow.
“I … don’t know,” Donohue answered quietly. “Greene told me stay away because I had a family, so he faced it. Saw him blown to pieces.” He turned to Morrow unblinking, “Told his parents. Worst days of my life. It should’ve been me.”
“Losing a partner is never easy,” said Morrow. “You know what you need to do, right?”
Thanks for reading.
Read and Write Here 
Leanne, you pulled me into a scene where I felt empathy for the loss of a partner. The “unzipping” set a tone for a tragic end, but I feel like the story is just unfolding.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You hit the nail on the head, Charli. Many of us feel paralyzed from the loss of someone significant, so the journey of healing after such a traumatizing event becomes the story. How/when does Agent Donohue stop feeling survivor’s guilt? Maybe he never stops feeling survivor’s guilt. Does this tragedy make him stuck in time? So many questions for the reader to answer to create their own ending.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, that opening line opens a potent story. Well done!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks D.!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Greene was a brave man. Leanne, I have a question. Excuse my ignorance if it’s obvious. What’s the red numbers counting down?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Gloria, all of us come with different prior knowledge and experiences, and writers often rely on readers having some of prior knowledge.
Agent Donohue was working with a simulated explosive, and the red numbers counting down was the timer counting down to explode.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, I see now. Thanks Leanne.
LikeLiked by 1 person