Short Short

One of the most exciting classes I am teaching now is creative writing. Despite the oxymoronic course title (all writing is creative, and this class more aptly should be called Literary Writing), I have really been energized by talking about writing. I even got off my lazy behind and started a new story, so something must be in the air.

I assigned a short short of no more than 200 words as a blog exercise this weekend, and told the class I would participate as well. Kind of a Nancie Atwell thing. But before I go into my own story, I wanted to give a link to one of my favorite writers and a piece of flash fiction she has posted on her web site. The writer is Hollis Seamon, and the her story is called "Natural Disasters." It's a very sad short about the death of a parent and some of life's little ironies that accompanied that death.

So, here it is. It's called "Lunch Break."

He had been planning this for weeks. She would drop by his desk on the way to lunch like she always did. He opened his top desk drawer and fiddled with the wrapped box inside. The red bow was getting worn.

Over the top of his monitor he caught sight of her. She seemed to float down the aisle between the desks. She stopped before his and smiled at him. “Hey,” she said, “you doing lunch?”

“Not yet,” he said, and when she seemed puzzled, he reached into his drawer and produced the box. “This is for you.”

She looked at him over her glasses and pushed her auburn bangs out of the way. “What’s this?”

“Open it.”

She pulled on the ribbon and popped up the red velvet box top. Her eyes focused on the contents inside. Her hand went reflexively to her throat. “Oh,” she said, moving her hand from her neck to the desk for support. Her eyes went to his as if to ask a question. “I can’t…”

But he didn’t hear. He was already moving out of his chair and reaching for the shaking hand that she raised at him as she backed into the aisle.

It's a lot harder than it looks. In the future, I'll post some of the cool shorts that pop up from the class in this spot. Hopefully I'll be able to continue the story,too.

Keep writing!