10 Tweet Fiction

Since I've always been a fan of flash fiction, I took a cue from @Zombie_Frenzy and decided to try writing Fiction in 10 Tweets over on Twitter (@tokyosteven). Anyway, I went ahead and collected the tweets as a whole here.

"Granny's Love" ©2009

A warm, lazy southern summer day. It seemed like nothing could go wrong, but the chirping birds and white clouds belied the bad news.

Little Suzy carelessly kicked her legs as she sat in her tree swing. Her gaze met the ground where the grass seemed just a bit sadder today.

Earlier in the day, Suzy was told that her grandmother had died. It was hard for her young mind to grasp the concept of death.

Never more would Suzy wrap her arms around her granny. Never more would she smell her grandmother's sweet perfume.

The girl hopped down from her swing and stepped on a passing insect. After all, why should it get to live?

A shrill scream pierced the air. Suzy looked up, toward her home. She didn't see any movement. The girl hopped back into her swing.

After a few swings, tears fell down Suzy's cheeks. "Why did granny have to die?" she asked. Suzy buried her face in her hands as she bawled.

A few heavy footsteps filled the air. Suzy heard them but assumed it was only her mother or father coming to comfort her.

A low, rumbling groan made Suzy open her eyes and look ahead. "Grandmother!" the girl shouted as she ran for a hug.

Suzy's embrace was not met. Instead, only another groan. The girl felt something wet drip onto her head. "Grandmother?" she asked nervously.

The Snow

Since moving to Middle Georgia about 9 years ago, it has only snowed twice - once in 2001 and then again yesterday. Sure I went to bed hearing the warnings of possible snow flurries but really thought nothing of it. I mean come on, it was 65 degrees the day before. But sure enough, when I woke up and looked out the window, I noticed that the precipitation I saw wasn't rain at all. Not hail nor sleet either, it was fine flakes of snow, just as predicted. I marveled over the accuracy of the local weathermen for a moment and then took note that not a single flake had stuck to the ground yet, instantly melting as it lit upon the red Georgia clay.

Mother Nature didn't mesmerize me long as I turned to the television for entertainment, glancing outside only once in a while until about 30 minutes later I noticed that the flakes actually looked larger. I went back to the window and saw that the ground was now covered in snow. Hallelujah! Sure, there was zero accumulation on the roads, but this was bonafide snow! OK, now I was far more impressed.

I couldn't stare out the window all day though; I had plans for lunch. So I got ready and as I drove to the restaurant, I saw a kid in the neighborhood trying his best to make a snow angel in the 1/4" of accumulation. I don't know if he was successful, but it looked like he was having fun. At lunch, my friends and I discussed the snow further as the flurry dwindled down to nothing more than an afterthought.

If there's one thing I can say for Georgians, they're an industrious lot. On my way back home, I noticed no less than half a dozen partial birth snowmen. True we didn't get much snow, but they made the absolute best of what we did have. Oh, and it was also enough to close down all the schools and go to work 2 hours late.