Flash Fiction by Diane Burton

I've heard of Flash Fiction, but had no idea what it is.

According to definitions, flash fiction is a fictional work of extreme brevity. So, very short, short stories. It could include poetry and narrative. I learned all that after signing up to write such a piece. One thousand words max. The prompt: a change of heart. Did I know what I’d gotten into? Nope. But I did it anyway.

In December, here on The Roses of Prose blog, we write holiday stories for your enjoyment. When I wrote my first one five years ago, I hadn’t written a short story since high school. I write long stories. Full-length novels, 100,000 words long (about 400 pages). I accepted The Roses' challenge in 2013 and every year since. I've had a blast.

The first story, “Christmas in Space,” turned into a novella, Mission to New Earth. The following year’s story is the reward for anyone signing up for my New Release Alert (newsletter). The next two years, the stories dovetailed nice—one beginning where the previous one ended. I turned those into a novel, Romance Rekindled. I just can’t leave an idea alone. 😊

So when Insecure Writers Support Group (an online group that posts on the first Wednesday of the month) joined up with Write…Edit…Publish (both are blog hops) I thought why not? Write a 1,000-word story that indicated a change of heart. I’d never written anything that short and what could I say about anticipating something then changing my mind (or the character’s mind)?

 

Hawaiian Island credit: Wikipedia

Have you ever wanted something so intensely, but when you got it you didn’t like it or it wasn't what you'd thought it would be? Or you looked so forward to a vacation that turned into a bust? Well, that I could identify with. When I was in my 20's and single, I taught with a girlfriend who visited Hawaii every summer. She’d even lived there for two years. We made plans to visit the islands. But when I got there, she said she’d done everything and wanted to spend more time with her boyfriend. I was, more or less, on my own. Lest you think she was totally uncaring, her friends offered to take me anywhere I wanted to go on Oahu. But I’m sure you know how hard it is to ask people to drive you places. (In hindsight, I should’ve rented a car.) So, I took a bus trip on Kaui, rented a car on Maui, and she met me on the Big Island (where she’d never been).

Now here’s the thing: I’d never gone on a vacation by myself before. I’d never even flown by myself. To say that touring the islands on my own was not how I thought that trip would go. But, you know, I learned a lot. I talked to strangers. I visited sites I wanted to see. And I learned I could do it. Was I scared being alone? You betcha. Am I glad I did it? You betcha. 

Remember Vonnie's post a couple of days ago, when she wrote about her adventures in Europe. I could identify with traveling alone.

I used that experience for my piece of flash fiction. Embellished it somewhat. LOL Wish I’d had that handsome “surfer dude” escort me around the islands. Yesterday was the day to post. You can find my flash fiction titled (oh so ingeniously) “Hawaii” on my blog.

Can you guess what I’m going to do next? Yep. Expand it into a long short story or even a novella. Why waste a perfectly good idea?

Diane Burton combines her love of mystery, adventure, science fiction, and romance into writing romantic fiction. She blogs here on the 16th and 30th of each month. She shares snippets from her stories every weekend on her blog.  Her latest release is NUMBERS NEVER LIE, a romantic suspense, available at Amazon, free on Kindle Unlimited.