Every Friday over on Instagram, author Emily Barnett hosts a beautiful little event called FLASH FICTION MAGIC. It’s a great opportunity for writers to practice writing short fiction based on the weekly prompt, which Emily posts on her IG feed each week. I like to periodically challenge myself with doing things that are hard for me as a writer, and short fiction is one of them, so this has been a fun way to grow my skill on a low-key deadline. When I have a completed piece, I’ll share it here for your eyeballs! Just know that these flash fics may or may not be any good, lolol, because they ARE done quickly, after all, and usually haven’t been seen by anyone else before I post them. So go easy on me! 😉

I hope you enjoy today’s piece!

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Prompt: “SUMMER’S END”

September 4, 2020

Of all the months in the year, September was the worst for poor Rickety. Not because of the weather, mind you. Rickety rather enjoyed the cool breezes and colorful boldness emerging in the foliage, along with the skittering of small creatures preparing for winter, and the crisp smell of the pumpkin patch and apple orchard emanating from Farmer Getty’s down the road.

Indeed, it was not fair September in and of herself that bothered Rickety.

It was the sudden absence of his children.

For you see, as a humble country swing of homemade origin, Rickety was assembled from a slab of wood tied with rope on each side and strung up to the thickest branch of the old oak tree in the Daleys’ front yard. And as such, Rickety’s life was a messy kind of simple filled with relentless comings and goings. The slow fade from season to season wore on him increasingly with each year, perhaps even more so on the inside than the outside, for with it came the aging of the Daley children—and they were the sole purpose for Rickety’s existence.

All through spring and summer, the Daley children treated Rickety to long, glorious days of dedicated playtime, of swinging games galore that made Rickety feel as alive as ever. But year after year, come summer’s end, come September…the Daley children returned to school, and with school came shorter days, and even shorter outside playtime with Rickety. Some days, like Thursdays after piano lessons, and Fridays after soccer practice, there was no playtime at all. And furthermore, year after year, the Daley children seemed to care less and less about spending time with Rickety, and their schedules became more and more tightly packed with activities.

What was a rickety old swing to do in the month of September without one’s precious children?

But this year, Rickety intended to try something new, something that would grab the attention of the Daley children every day when they returned home from school: he would give rides to the family of squirrels that lived in his oak tree! He would even let them juggle their acorns between one another while they rode.

If that didn’t procure the notice of the Daley children, surely nothing would.

© 2020 Baj Goodson

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Written by Baj Goodson

Instagram | @bajgoodson

#flashfictionmagic


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