Principles – Five Sentence Fiction

It’s time for my latest offering to Lillie McFerrin’s Five Sentence Fiction, a weekly prompt where there is no word limit, just a limit on the number of sentences. Plus, although she provides a word prompt, it is just for direction only – you don’t have to include the word itself in your contribution.

This week, the prompt is  – LETTERS.

letter

Do let me know what you think of my offering below – and whilst you’re at it, why not take a look at everyone else’s offerings (I’m sure they’ll be fabulous), and even give it a go yourself…

*****

– Principles –

Granny had kept all the letters from her childhood sweetheart – they were tied together with a faded ribbon and hidden in a battered suitcase on top of her wardrobe.

Now Granny was gone, there was nothing to stop me from reading them at last.

As a little girl, I had been fascinated with them as she allowed me to organise the envelopes into date order, or by their colour – but I was never, ever to take the letters out, let alone read them.

I settled myself down to read, gradually unwinding the secrets of her mysterious youth.

I never expected to learn that she had been abandoned by her sweetheart for daring to fight for women’s suffrage – his loss.

800px-Votes_for_Women_lapel_pin_(Nancy)

Image from Wikimedia Commons – Nancy

Lillie McFerrin Writes


Remembrance Day

I was not just enshrined in black and white
trained to react to a whistle
and launch myself over the top
I didn’t just stare at No Man’s Land
jumping at every falling leaf
nerves shot to pieces, trembling with fear
I was not just shipped hastily to Europe
attempting to aid our Allies
in facing down the Nazi machine
I was not just despatched to the Mediterranean
sand-whipped and sweating
to fight in a theatre far flung from home
I am not a romantic notion of old boys and idealism
telling war stories of camaraderie
I am not decades past.
I am the young man hobbling down the street
I am the hands held out for a bit of spare change
I am the woman bound to a wheelchair
I am the mental health patient facing down the day
I am sitting next to you on the bus.
I am here.
Remember, I am here.

****

Tomorrow is Remembrance Sunday here in the UK, and of course Monday is 11th November, Armistice Day.

Copyright - Nicola J Cutts

Copyright – Nicola J Cutts

The Light Fantastic – Five Sentence Fiction

It’s time for my latest offering to Lillie McFerrin’s Five Sentence Fiction, a weekly prompt where there is no word limit, just a limit on the number of sentences. Plus, although she provides a word prompt, it is just for direction only – you don’t have to include the word itself in your contribution.

This week, the prompt is  – DANCING.

old-couple-dancingImage Source

Do let me know what you think of my offering below – and whilst you’re at it, why not take a look at everyone else’s offerings (I’m sure they’ll be fabulous), and even give it a go yourself…

*****

– The Light Fantastic –

Maeve hummed to herself as Georgie guided her round, completing the reverse turn and feather finish to perfection, their signature move.

The music played on, the lights shone, her dress sparkling and glinting as it swayed around her calves – soft kisses against her skin.

Finally it came to an end, and she prepared her stage smile to acknowledge the applause from enchanted audience.

“We’re just too avant-garde for them, sweetheart,” whispered Georgie, as they marched across the dance floor, heads held high.

Silence followed their departure – 1930s Blackpool was just not ready for the sight of two women dancing together in public, not yet.

Lillie McFerrin Writes