The buzz of a thousand hidden insects filled the air, but that wasn’t the sound Nylee was straining to hear. Her ears flicked in the direction of a rustle of leaves that was entirely too close. Her stripes hid her well against the dappled tree trunk, but even the bio-richness of the jungle couldn’t disguise her smell.
She leapt from her tucked hiding spot, hurtled over an enormous fallen branch, and crashed through the underbrush. Sweat bristled out her fur as she tore through the lush foliage, searching for a suitable tree. If the Ngiri didn’t smell her, it certainly had heard her now.
Spotting a low branch on a wide, gnarled trunk that looked as old as the forest itself, she scrambled up the side. Her claws found purchase in the tiny cracks left by generations of burrowing creatures, and she quickly reached the limb. As she sucked in gulps of air, the Ngiri snuffled to a stop below her. He snorted and let fly a few quills from his prickly coat, but she was too high for them – or his razor sharp teeth – to reach.
“No lunch for you today,” Nylee said. She settled into the crook of the branch and waited for the Ngiri to grow bored and leave. While she recovered her breath, she planned how to get back to The Games.
(Outtake from my short story, The Silent Treatment)
The half-men-half-beast people of Dr. Moreau didn’t take over my real-life, and so I’m back, trying to write today, to submit The Silent Treatment to a contest that’s due. I just realized how Dr. Moreau-ish the setting was, and so today’s posting is some flash fiction fun.
The non-fiction musings will resume tommorrow.
Anyone else out there enamored with flash fiction?
I'm writing on Dr. Moreau tomorrow, so color me weirded out.
Whoa, that's some funky resonance! I'm looking forward to your insights! 🙂
Here's a bit of 6th century BC flash fiction! (Aesop's Fables)
THE VIXEN AND THE LIONESS
A vixen sneered at the Lioness because she never bore more than one cub.
"Only one," the lioness replied, "but a lion."
I love brevity in a writer; to say so much with so little. The timeless work of a master craftsman. I think the short attention span of today's reader demands it. Then you get a mega-sucessful novels like Twilight and the later Harry Potter books pouring cold water over that theory! Perhaps strong, identifiable characters are the key.
I love your extract, hooked me straight away. Hope it does well in the contest.
Leanne – There is definitely artistry in the shorts. Thanks for sharing that tidbit!
I would be thrilled if I did well in the contest, but even if not, it was fun to write something new. Thanks!