Visual Dare: Enamoured

Source: Getty Images: by Constance Bannister Corp

Molly’s tangled mop of curls shook as she pirouetted beside the car. She jumped and twirled, and I couldn’t help but smile. She bounced and leaped with outstretched arms and balanced on her toes. Another spin with fingers extended, and then off balance, and she landed in a heap on the floor.

Giggles erupted and Molly gazed up at me. She rocked onto her feet and the glinting wheel hub caught her eye as she leaned against it to stand. Her fingerprints faded as she gazed at her reflection. Her mirror image grinned back and her delighted laugh rang out.

“Mummy, look, boo-ti-full me!”

“Yes, sweetheart, you’re beautiful, always beautiful.” My smile crinkled my eyes and warmed my soul. Tears prickled as her innocent recognition of beauty and confidence far surpassed my own, and I hoped it would last her lifetime.

(141 Words)

Enamour – verb: past participle: enamoured be filled with love for…

My first VisDare for Angela Goff in a while…go see the others, enjoy!

Five Sentence Fiction: Innocence

Iced Wings © Lisa Shambrook

The air was still, the aluminium table, cold, and the professor watched transfixed as the butterfly fluttered before his nose. Its fragile wings whispered against his unshaven cheek as he gently unscrewed the Petri dish lid and squeezed a silver drop from his pipette, watching it spread like tiny veins across the honeyed glaze.

Enticed by the sweet aroma the butterfly floated to the dish to imbibe and as it did, crystals swept across the creature’s entire body in frosted feathers of rime.

The professor stared in wonder at the intricate lattice of silver coating the butterfly’s wings in a work of exquisite art, his own hand imitating Jack Frost, and he leaned in close. Warmth from his breath gilded the frozen creature and filigree lace glistened, and regret shaded his features as one delicate touch shattered the butterfly into a million sparkles, like a burst bubble.

What’s your take on innocence?
Write your own Five Sentence Fiction and take a look at the other contributions!

12 Days of Christmas: Sea

Day eight and we’re at the sea…

Photograph by Lisa Shambrook (Please do not use)

Sea

Alice went to the beach with one intention.

Not to return.

She walked to the beach, wiping tears away as she approached the dunes, and stood for a moment as the breeze lifted her hair from her face. 

The ocean rolled in, wave after wave, never ending, and she tightened her resolve with a deep sigh.

 She knelt and untied her trainers, kicking them off and leaving them behind as she stepped, barefoot, across the soft, hot sand. 

Her toes wriggled and sand trickled through them, raising a momentary smile, but her legs, now heavy though single-minded, still propelled her towards the shore. The sand kicked up behind her and drifted across the dune, and her feet stepped across the tide line, across the mounds of wet seaweed, and the sand firmed beneath her toes.

She stopped and closed her eyes, allowing the gentle gusts of wind to caress her face, one last pleasantry…and she tried to calm her hammering heart. She braced and breathed in salty ocean air, tasting the salt tracing her lips. She listened to her brain, to her grief, to her despair and stepped forward. 

She opened her eyes as a young girl raced past.

The girl ran into the water, leaping over waves and giggling, she hitched up her shorts, already darkened by splashing water, and stopped. Alice watched as the girl in the orange shirt threw out her arms in abandon and turned her face towards the glorious evening sun, enjoying the simple delight of waves at her feet, wind on her arms and the warmth of the sun on her face.  

Alice sank to the wet sand, tears rolling down her cheeks, and a newfound innocence engulfed her, and her hand gently trailed across her newly rounded stomach.

(295 Words)

 A Jar of Fireflies 12 Days of Christmas

Day Eight: August – Sea

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