Carrot Ranch #FlashFiction Challenge #99Words ‘Wish upon a star’

This 99-word flash fiction piece was written in response to Charli Mills’ weekly challenge at Carrot Ranch. Thanks Charli for the prompt!

January 21, 2021, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story that rephrases “light at the end of the tunnel.” Think of how the cliche replacement communicates a hopeful ending and aligns with your character or story. Go where the prompt leads!

Wish Upon a Star

We were trapped.

Heavy snow covered the city, jamming doors and roads.

Soon it would reach our windows and block our view of the static sea.

“Mum, why did the moon disappear?”

Thirty, twelve-hour days had passed since the moon exploded and vanished.

 “I want to go home.”

Asteroids were crashing all over the planet, causing tidal waves and earthquakes.   

Archie pointed to the gigantic stars lighting up the sky. “I wish one of them would come and be our moon!”

“Who needs a moon when hundreds of stars are shining brighter than ever?” I said, hugging my son.

 *****

Well, that’s where ‘the light at the end of the tunnel’ took me.

In this case, mother and son are hoping a gigantic star will take over the Moon’s vital role as the Earth’s satellite so they can recover their lives, but the outcome is uncertain, in spite of the brightness of the light or the stars.

I haven’t taken part in this challenge for over a year, in fact, I haven’t written much flash fiction in the same amount of time.

I enjoy the challenge of writing flash fiction, and I think it’s helped me improve my writing as I explained in this post, so I’ll be gradually getting back into the routine.

Hope you’re having a creative Monday!