A Little Flash Fiction

I was all set to do another post about my experiences as an author, and then I decided I didn't really feel like it. The post wasn't coming out well, and it wasn't very original. So, instead, I decided that once a month, beginning today, I'm going to try to post a flash fiction story. If you're not familiar with that term, it is a really, really short story. This is the absolute opposite of the way I usually write, so it'll be a fun challenge.

This first story isn't new. I wrote it a number of years ago after I'd been hiking. There was a very sad tree along the hiking trail, and I felt like this was the story it was begging me to write. I'm doing a blog tour called "From Earth Day to Arbor Day" starting next Thursday to celebrate my environmental themed novels Cry of the Sea and Whisper of the Woods, so I thought this story might be a good lead in for that event.

G. H. + L. F.
by D. G. Driver                                                                   

         Yes, I’m glad to know that you’re in love. It has been my pleasure to provide a shady place for you two to picnic or just lie for a while. Sometimes I can’t help it, but I have always tried not to let anything drop on you. A good wind can’t be stopped. When it rains, I’ve made it up to you by blocking enough of the drizzle so you could huddle close together and stay fairly dry. You always kiss unashamedly in front of me, but I’ve never told you to stop. I wouldn’t, no matter how jealous or embarrassed I got.
          Yes, I’m glad to know that you’re in love. That your love life memories include me makes me proud. I’m just wondering if maybe you could have used a camera. You know, taken a photograph. Or you could have drawn on a pad. A watercolor would have done me a great justice. You might have written a poem, a sonnet, a song. A plaque set in the ground would have been a suggestion of mine if you’d asked.
          Yes, I’m glad to know that you’re in love. I just think it makes more sense that the tattoos be on your body not mine. The tip of your knife slices through my outer layer and makes me want to scream. You keep digging deeper and deeper to make sure I really feel it. To make sure the scar lasts forever. I’d give anything for you to stop. Please. Take some of my fruit, some leaves for your albums. I didn’t do anything to deserve this.
          Yes, I’m glad to know that you’re in love. Others will see what you wrote, though, and they won’t care. They won’t know what the initials stand for. When you come back as an old married couple to look on your handiwork, you’ll see thirty other copycat hearts and names carved into me. All of those people, all of those knives, all of those scars to remind me of how much you two love each other.
          Yes, I’m glad to know that you’re in love. Still, with every fiber in my being, I pray that a lightning bolt will strike me so that I will never see another pair of lovers again.

I hope you enjoyed that. If you did, poke around my website a little bit and see if anything else I've written might appeal to you. I'd love to hear from you, so leave a comment if you like the idea of me posting these short stories.

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