This is my second attempt at Flash Fiction. We were given ‘shade’ as a prompt and another 150 word limit.
I wanted to write about a girl who was allergic to sunlight; focusing on her desperation to escape her life, to find normality somehow, somewhere, even if short-lived.
I belong in the shadows, a bleak existence, the star of a monochrome horror film. I catch my reflection in the mirror, a freak of nature, my skin so alabaster white. Fragile. A prisoner of my own genetic makeup, a f*ck up of code, forcing me to scamper from the house to the car for weekly hospital visits, prescriptions, relentless tests…
I place my hand against the tinted window as a group of teenagers amble by, laughing, unaware I even exist.
I turned 16 today. But I have no friends for a birthday party, only over-protective parents who, in dedicating their lives to me, have neglected their own.
They are bickering again downstairs, and I cannot bear the guilt any longer.
I dream of a cool night breeze, waves lapping on the seashore.
My fingers bleed, but I am close…
…one more hinge.
Copyright © 2019 Lottie McKnight. All rights reserved.