The Year has started anew and there are more choices to face when the flash fiction challenge of New Year’s Revolution arrived. This year, Cara Michaels is hosting the New Year’s Revolution flash fiction challenge, but you get to pick the word for your tale. #NYR2020.
WRITERS: Be sure to check out the challenge and add your story for a chance to win ($10 Amazon card for 1st place, $5 for 2nd).
This year, we offered five word prompts that rhyme with “revolution” to choose from to set your muse on fire. I chose the word “Evolution.” And the story that jumped out for me was my upcoming #ConcreteAngelsMC tale, Angel Ink.
Haley
“Hey, Jeff. Thanks for coming.” He wrapped me in a hug and I closed my eyes, taking what comfort I could.
“Not a problem. What was so urgent that we had to meet at a random rest stop?” He pushed me back and scanned my face.
I was struck at how beautiful he was with clear light-brown eyes, golden brown skin, dark hair and full lips thanks to his mixed race heritage. He stood a good six inches taller than me with a sleek, athletic frame and shoulders slightly broader than mine. We could’ve been siblings as we shared the same eye shape and wide mouth, and as far as I was concerned, we were.
“I gotta tell you something and you have to hear me out before you label me as crazy or insane or off my rocker, okay?” I led him over to one of the picnic tables they’d installed inside to allow travelers shelter from the wind. I sat down facing the door to keep an eye on people coming into the rest stop and waited for him to join me.
Jeff raised an eyebrow but settled at the table across from me. “What’s going on, Haley? First you want to drive out here to this random rest stop. Does this have to do with the Concrete Angels? You already know I thought you were crazy for spending time with them.”
“Yeah, you did until you met Sam and Talon, and now you love them.”
Jeff blushed and glanced out the windows at the parking lot. “Love is a strong word.”
I opened my mouth to ask more about that, but I was only stalling and pulled my curiosity back under control.
“Okay, this is something so big and so out there that I need you to promise me you’ll tell no one. Not even family or lovers.”
He snorted. “I don’t talk to family since they disowned me and I don’t have a lover.” But his voice suggested there was a ‘yet’ at the end of his sentence.
Focus.
“Jeff, I need you to promise you’ll tell no one.”
He tilted his head and the humor left his face. “Okay, okay. I promise. What is it?”
I gathered my courage with a sigh. How did I present the news that people around us weren’t human? Even thinking it made me question my own sanity and I’d seen Torch shift into a real, fire-breathing, winged dragon. And Karma turned into a red, glowing Death Angel.
“Just spit it out, Haley.”
“The bikers of the Concrete Angels MC aren’t human.” I bit my lip after the words came out in a rush.
“What?”
Oh, glory, he’s gonna make me say it again.
“They aren’t human.”
He snorted. “What, are you saying they’re aliens?” He smirked, but I shook my head as my heart sank. He wouldn’t believe me.
“No, not aliens. Not like from outer space. They’re inhuman, “other,” mythical even.”
He looked at me like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. When I didn’t grin or laugh, he frowned.
“You’re being serious.”
“Yes. Very serious. Why do you think I had you meet me way the hell out here to talk about this?” I threw my hands out. “They’re not all human.”
“How do you know they’re ‘not all human’? They told you?”
I shook my head. “They didn’t have to. I saw them when they threw off their human disguises.”
“Oh, come on, Haley.” Jeff rose to his feet and paced to the window. “Human disguises? We aren’t in some sci-fi flick or a fantasy story. This is real life. Mythical creatures don’t exist.”
Little did he know. I didn’t say anything. What if I’d made a mistake telling him? I had my reasons for doing so, but if he wouldn’t believe me, I’d wasted the effort to bring him into the new world I’d discovered. I rubbed my chin and studied the little flecks in the plastic table.
“Think of it as New Year’s Evolution.”
“What?” He turned to stare at me.
“New Year’s Evolution – a shift in the year matching a growth in understanding.” That sounded wise and pithy, right?
“But it’s March, not even close to New Year’s.”
I shrugged. “I don’t think the time frame is important. This is a new year, a new beginning and a whole new understanding for us. It’s evolution of perspective and like it or not, we can’t go back to not understanding.”
749 ineligible #ConcreteAngelsMC words / © 2020 Siobhan Muir
Love it, a really great story for the theme. Excellent job.
Thank you, Mason.
I love what you do with characters and relationships, there’s real chemistry in all of your scenes! Of course, in this case there is the huge question of who do you tell a revelation like that, and how? I already liked Haley, but now Jeff has my attention too.
Thanks, David. I suspect Jeff will get his own story. But right now he’s just very concerned about his favorite cousin.
Ok I’m gonna need the rest if this. When is it out? And are there others out already in this story/series? It’s brilliant! Written with humour, engaging & I connected immediately. And not only was Haley curious at what lay behind his responses, I was too. More!