Fiction in a Flash: Bound

'Flash fiction' is an increasingly popular genre, with many well-known lifestyle magazines publishing examples and a great number of competions running at any one time. It is, literally, fiction 'in a flash': a whole story in a very short space of time, say 100 words or less. You may have encountered it as 'mini sagas', though through Forward Press these are limited to just 50 words.

But a story must have a beginning, a middle and an end, and this is very difficult to do in such a short space of time! Now, I've promised not to ask you to attempt anything I'm not prepared to have a go at myself, so here's an example of mine, entitled Bound:

Gradually, she came to.

Her mouth was dry and she ran her tongue over cracked lips. The darkness was disorientating, and there was a strange numbness in her legs. Pinned back into the chair, bound and blind-folded, the fear pulsed quickly through her body. She was aware of movement around her, though helpless in her own immobility.

Suddenly, her captor spoke. “We will shortly be coming into land. Please ensure that your seatbelts are fastened…” intoned the tinny voice. She removed the air-line eye mask and smiled groggily at a fellow passenger. “Sorry, was I snoring?” she asked.

You can see that the beginning attempts to create tension: Where is she? What has happened? Has the protagonist been captured? Starting with 'Gradually, she came to' suggests that she may have been unconscious.

I am playing with the reader's expectations in the middle part of the story. The description of her dry mouth and aching limbs, reference to a blind-fold and being 'bound' reinforce the idea of capture or kidnap.

I am trying to surprise the reader at the end. She hasn't been kidnapped at all and is merely asleep on an ordinary flight. Were you fooled?

The title is also a play on words. She is bound by her seatbelt but also 'outbound' on the flight.

Now your turn. Have a go at writing your own flash fiction story. Make sure that the whole narrative takes place in 100 words or less (mine is 98!) Remember to comment to let me know that you've had a go.

Good luck!