He rolled over and squinted at the sun. It took him a second to realize he was lying on the beach. How did I get here? He wondered and groaned. I’ve been sleep-walking again, haven’t I?
He sat up and just as he was about rub his eyes, he noticed his hands were tinted red. They began to shake at the sight. He glanced down his shirt and his mouth immediately gaped open. “What have I done?” He looked to his left and then right. His left was the ocean while on his right was sand, glowing red in the sun and on the sand were drops of blood, aligned to form a path. “No no no.”
He jumped up and stared at the ocean with wide eyes. “What have I done?” He muttered repeatedly beneath his breath as he took several steps forward and stopped abruptly as he heard a loud crunch beneath his bare feet. It was a phone, not his but his wife’s. His heart began to pound. “Oh oh no, Abigail?!”
(~175 Words)
I am participating in Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writer, where we write a piece between 100 and 150 words (more or less 25 words) in length inspired by the photo prompt above.
Very engrossing, open ended read!
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Gripping! What have I done?!?
Enjoyed it.
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Thank you. I’m glad. 🙂
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Oh no! It must be terrible to wake up and not remember how you got there or what you’ve done.
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Yeah!
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awesome check out mine
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Great horror story! It really pulled me in and the ending leaves me wanting to know what happened. Well done!
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Thank you. 🙂
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Goddamn amazing. I love it so much. I hope it was an old phone and not the new Huawei Mate 8.
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Thank you but unfortunately, it’s not an old phone. It was an iPhone.
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Oh no! Oh no! What exactly happened? Did he kill his wife? Sleep walk can be really serious. I love the way you slowly build up the tension. Great story! 🙂
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Yes, it is serious especially when one cannot remember what they did. I left the ending pretty open. So the possibilities are endless. Thank you for reading. 🙂
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You’re most welcome 🙂
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Great mystery. Keeps you glued to the page and looking for more!
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Thank you. 🙂
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oh no! this is such a horrible feeling for him :s
i love the open ending
thank you for such a lovely piece.
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I’m glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading. 🙂
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This is really well done, Yinglan. 🙂 How horrible it must be to wake up in such a situation. I hope he finds he wife safe and sound, though things aren’t looking good for him.
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Thank you and yes, I share the same thought, things are definitely not looking good especially after his discovery of his wife’s phone. Either way, she is dead or in danger.
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Great buildup of tension in your story and leaving us all wondering with the open ending. Many unanswered questions. Well done. 🙂
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Thank you.
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Love it… And I love where it leaves off. You know, there could be a photo, or even a video on that phone. Lots of possibilities!
Interesting the difference in attitudes between Japanese and Americans (my only direct cultural observations) regarding endings. Americans seem to prefer a definite conclusion. Japanese often leave endings open. Seems to frustrate a lot of Americans who get into Japanese film or manta.
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Thanks! Personally, I have a love hate relationship with open endings. I love writing them but reading them, well, let’s just say, it depends on the story.
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Great story, I love that there aren’t any definitive answers to what happened. Did he kill her or did he try to save her? We can imagine, we can guess, but we won’t know for sure. Well done!
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Thank you.
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I wonder what he did. Now this has me imagining all what not. Well done!
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Ha ha, it’s always fun when that happens. 😀
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