088 Adventures in Flashficking! · 11:04am May 28th, 2017
088 Adventures in Flashficking!
As you may remember, I've decided to start gathering short stories to one day publish them in form of an anthology that will expand on the world of Of Lilies and Chestnuts. The source of ideas? A laid-back group Flashfic with monthly prompts and 150 words limit. Previously, I had the opportunity to answer a Getting Warmer prompt. The May one was trickier - Laugh So You Don't Cry - and here's the story I came up with, titled Joy of Tears.
Joy of Tears
Chestnut’s world was drowning in tears.
“I can always come with a visit, right?”
“You know we don’t do such things once we’re out,” Wind Whisper replied. “Speaking of, I guess you should go now.”
She followed his stare to the Canterlot Orphanarium’s gate behind which her new, kind of super cool parents were waiting. “Goodbye, Wind.” She embraced her bestest friend ever, heavy droplets burning her cheeks. “See you in ten years when we’re both grown-up?”
Wind Whisper snickered mischievously. “Let me check the calendar,” he said on a serious note. “Because, you know, I may be busy breaking some Wonderbolt records in ten years.”
“I’m sure you will. Why do you think I’m setting our meeting up already? Wait, you’re not telling me you’re actually already busy, are you?”
The colt shrugged. “I’ll have my manager contact your secretary.”
They shared one last chuckle. Then they parted ways.
It should be apparent that this scene happens pretty much right after the original story. Freshly adopted Chestnut is saying goodbye to her friends, Wind Whisper and Glavia, both of which you can meet in Operation Wonderbit, and the latter also in Arcane Realms (I'm not too happy I had to cut her out here, but the word limit allowed me to only fit Chestnut's closer friend).
It's a strange goodbye. Usually when we're saying our farewells, some part of us wishes for the other person to stay so we could share each other's company a little while longer. From an orphan's point of view, both Chestnut and Wind Whisper are actually happy that she's leaving (because she found a new home), but at the same time they both regret that he didn't get so lucky. What remains here are his dreams, presented in form of a young pegasus' classical desire of joining the Wonderbolts, to which he's clinging in these trying times.
In the end, it's about accepting one's fate, and facing it bravely. He's willing to laugh for his best friend so she wouldn't have to cry for him - which brings us back to the prompt itself. I hope you enjoyed it! You can check other entries in this thread.
Since I'm actually liking this short format, I'd be happy to increase the output of such stories, but for that, I need prompts. Feel free to throw one at me in the comments below and I'll do my best to create a scene in the next edition of Adventures in Flashficking!
And since we're on the topic of dreams and Wonderbolts...
~Prane
Still cute, but not quite the levels of the first one. Although, as you describe it, the type of Goodbye it is makes it a more smile-inducing one, even if it isn't as cute
And you wanted prompts?
Let's see... Trick or Treating on Halloween.
How about: Time for School
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I'm liking both of them. The Halloween one (which I understand technically extends to Nightmare Night as well, because pony) feels more difficult since I've never actually participated in treat-or-tricking - it's not a tradition where I come from, but I think I've seen enough of it in movies and cartoons to get the idea and, hopefully, capture the feeling.
Conversely, the school one seems to be giving a bit more freedom. There's definitely something to tell when it comes to first days of school, both from a kid's and their parents' perspective.
Sure, let's try them. If all goes well we'll be seeing not one, but three shorts with the next blog post.
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And yes, Nightmare Night works too, I suppose xp
I'm glad you like the idea