Penprints Flash Fiction Dash

Hey y'all! I hope you're having a great Wednesday! Today I have something special for you: another flash fiction. Even though I set Final Friday Flash Fiction aside for a while, I still love writing it. So imagine my delight when I saw that Rosalie Valentine was hosting another Flash Fiction Dash! I participated last year and had a wonderful time, so I jumped at the chance to sign up again.

I chuckled a bit when she sent me my prompt. I wrote a flash fiction a number of years ago that matched the picture perfectly, so I had to try really hard to not copy it. So here you go! I hope you enjoy it.

The Last of the Lightning Bearers

I am the last of the lightning bearers. Our beautiful, gray realm was left to me. A home I don’t want to own alone.

We were once a great people, mighty and filled with power. We filled the sky with streams of bright light. The lightning was our art, the crackling that followed, our music. We decorated our land with all sorts of gray. Warm gray, cold gray, and every shade in between. Someone might think it dreary, but to me it is home. Or was.

Now we are brought low. Our people were hunted to the very last man. Many searched for the source of our people’s power. How are we to know where we found our gift? That secret was buried with my most ancient forefathers. Centuries have passed since we knew the answer.

But knowing wouldn’t have mattered. We were all killed. All except me. My people surrounded me with their powerful light, protecting me from the attackers. With their deaths, they brought the destruction of those who would oppress us. All of this to save one. All of this to save me. I would have rather died by their side in honor.

Some days I dreamed of them. I imagined myself joining them. Their cold hands pushed me back, telling me to stay. To maintain our land. I couldn’t imagine why. All the beautiful shades of gray turned cold and angry. One lightning bearer can’t perform a symphony in the sky. My paintings pale in comparison to those of the old days. But I try. My hands tingled all the time in anticipation of the music and painting I’ll make in the sky. Yes, it’s a solo dance, but it’s all that I have.

So I held my hand out. The lightning tickled my fingers. I closed my eyes as it surged through my body. I let it fill me up and smiled as best as this broken heart could. Then my eyes opened and the song began. I threw my hands up and my colors fly through the air. The crackling that followed echoed through the valley like powerful drumming. Perfect.

I let my arms sweep to the sides and let the colors flow throughout the air. The lines intersected and wove together, creating rainbows of bright colors, contrasting against the gray clouds. The hillsides began to become beautiful again, with their ashy shades. The wind picked up, swirling up dust and grass. They provided texture to my paintings.

I watched as the art show unfolded, flowing with my movements. My hair flew in every direction, tickling my face. I giggled. My heart began to beat in tempo with the cracks of thunder.

I breathed slower as peace flooded through me, mixing with the lightning. The last of the lightning bearers wasn’t an awful fate. Now this valley was hopeful again. Filled with beauty and music. They left me this gift. They reminded me why I stayed. I stayed to celebrate the gift we have. To make this land a paradise again. 

I hope you enjoyed that story! Hop on over to Rosalie's blog next week. She should have the wrap-up post by the 21st, filled with other incredible stories from the challenge.

And I'm going to try and have another post go out today. I know, it's a bit taboo in the blogging world to post twice in a day, but whatever. I've got some things going on and I need some sort of place to rant and hash it all out and this post isn't the place. I'm not sure if I will or not, but just thought I might let y'all know in case I do.

How's y'all's weeks going? Did any of you participate in Rosalie's challenge? Did you have fun?