Romance Writers Weekly-Flash Fiction (#flash, #romance, #lovewritechat)

It's that time again. If you're coming over from Brenda Margriet's blog, happy to have you! If you missed her, be sure to pop back over. Her offerings are always exciting!

Vacation, work and family have kept me from my blog posts but now I'm back, baby! This week's prompt from Fiona Riplee inspires me. 

The setting: woods, 3 AM. Write a Flash Fiction of 500 words or less that includes the words bubbles, mindful, and deep.

In fact this was a kick in the pants to get words on paper instead of contemplating names, plot points, and characterization in my already cluttered mind. This would be the opening chapter for a novella I'm starting to submit to a shared world. What do you think?

“Are we there yet?” 

Even half-asleep, her inquiry dripped with sarcasm, tinged with anger. If she’d asked once, she’d asked five hundred times between alternately chomping on a huge wad of gum and popping bubbles.

Nothing in his Army training prepared Tanner Stevens for dealing with kids, much less his teenage goddaughter. Mindful that the girl was grieving, though her smart ass comments didn’t reveal that she missed her parents, he inhaled the pine-fresh air before answering.

“No. Probably another couple of hours.” Interminably long hours of open-mouthed gum chewing and waspish one word answers once she woke up. What had he done to deserve this torture?

As soon as the thought popped into his head, he shoved it away. Unfair to blame Jim, his late best friend, and his wife Becky. Certainly they could not have known some jackass would take one too many tequila shots and cross the center line on the rural North Carolina road.

Ashley turned toward the window and mumbled an expletive. He should address it but she wouldn’t be his problem for much longer. No reason to poke a resting tiger. There was no doubt she was angry at being orphaned: mad at the drunk driver, her parents, at God. Even him for taking her to her father’s sister who lived deep in the Black Hills of South Dakota. 

And she’d been acting strangely too. Even for his distant recollection of teenage girls. In the hotel room, she’d paced anxiously by the window at night until he’d told her to calm the hell down. Add to that, she’d been whimpering and growling in her sleep, like an animal. She probably watched way too many of those vampire/werewolf movies. Still, it made for an uneasy night. To be honest, it creeped him out a bit. If she were staying with him, weekly visits to a adolescent shrink would be top of the list.

But she wasn’t and since he wasn’t getting any rest with her in the next bed reenacting Teenage Werewolf in London, driving through the night seemed the best bet. It was not such a great idea at 3AM. As if on cue, a wolf howled in the distance.

Who could live in the middle of nowhere? The narrow ribbon of two lanes snaked between towering Ponderosa pines and while the road was deserted, an awareness prickled the hairs on the back of his neck. It was same sixth sense that saved him countless missions in Baghdad. 

Someone was watching…

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Yes, just a tease. Hope you enjoyed it. Please leave me feedback in the comments. Now it's time to visit Leslie Hachtel, whose stories will take you on an emotional roller coaster. She's fantastic!