Friday 16 May 2014

Flash Fiction Friday By Kimberly A. McKenzie

An untitled piece By Kimberley A. McKenzie
 
I discovered twilight in the morning when I was eleven. Getting up before the sun, my brother and I would roll the newspapers. Stuffing the papers in a dirty cloth bag, I snatched my bicycle from the porch and pedaled to bring people the words for today before school started. The cool, fresh morning air, waiting on the sun rising from a silent sleep, held expectations and new promises. I would breathe in and out the smell of dew or frost on the grass and wonder at the houses without lights or with one small lamp burning behind curtains. Alone on my paper route, the speed of the bicycle brought me gliding through the silent roads, pushing hard to finish before the world awoke, reveling in the freedom of the first explorers who knew that the pristine moments are always solitary.

Problems with my bicycle sometimes occurred, like a chain around the gears coming loose or a flat tire. If these problems occurred halfway along the paper route, my pristine morning would turn into a long slow trudge dragging a dysfunctional set of bars and wheels along side me as I huffed and puffed to finish with all the designated houses on time. We did not have cell phones and the houses on the paper route held people still in bed or already out the door to an early shift at the strange places that adults went to when they had to report to work early. My work was simple, finish putting papers on porches before the sun rose and revealed my presence. The newspapers were supposed to be magic and appear effortlessly from an open screen door upon customers’ demands.
 
One morning, fog rolled in off the neighborhood park and I could not see the sidewalk in front of me. This was particularly dangerous, as the sidewalk had large cracks and broken cement in places that normally I would navigate around. The fog was also irritating as I could not see the houses’ porches well enough to aim and toss the rolled papers to land square on the doorsteps. I had to place all of the papers within the open screen doors and hope that no one would be too upset to tip me at collections time. I walked my bicycle along instead of pedaling over questionable dangers that might cause me to tumble head over heels onto the road. 
 
Up ahead, in the greyish mist, I thought I saw two shadows moving in my direction. My first thought was that it was strange to see someone else out in the early morning air. My next thought was to be careful, although I was not afraid of strangers, because paper peddlers were easy targets for older kids looking for trouble. The shadows weaved in and out of the fog wavering between the sidewalk and the street. Even though I was moving in their direction, the two people obviously up ahead of me did not seem to come any closer.

Welcome Kimberley A. McKenzie! Thank you for participating in Flash Fiction Friday. This piece reminded me of getting up early to bicycle up to the paddock and let my horse out. Best of luck with your writing.
 
 
 
Tell us three things about yourself Kimberley.

1. I write because I am a writer.
 
2. If I was a character in a book I would be sad, because art is only a semblance of life.
 
3. My super human power would be finding the stories in others.
 
To connect with Kimberley and learn more here are some links.


 
We encourage readers to comment on this Flash Fiction Friday piece. What are your thoughts? 

 

6 comments:

  1. It sounds like an atmospheric start to a mystery or paranormal fiction - are the figures up to no good? Is the fog a portal to other realms? An interesting piece!

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  2. It catches you... I agree with Alex could be the beginning of nice long story or more....

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    1. Kimberley says it is an unfinished piece that requires more attention.

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  3. Love it! I want to know what happens next! JP

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    1. Hopefully Kimberley will continue working on it and then you might find out!

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