A215 - Weekly Writing Challenge 5.

Week 5 - Flash Fiction

 Write a piece of flash fiction using the prompt 'now or never'

Guidelines vary with regards to Flash Fiction; some being as little as 300 words. For the purpose of this challenge, anything up to 600 words is acceptable.

NOW OR NEVER

Sarah made her way gravely towards the front door. Before she entered, she wriggled off her engagement ring and slipped it in her jeans pocket. It helped a little. She felt like part of the dreaded task was already completed.

It was not that she did not love Matt anymore; she just hated the way he rolled his cigarettes, the sounds he made when he ate and the smell of his shampoo. Sarah knew her complaints were unreasonable and that he was no different now from the clever, strong, handsome man she had adored six years ago, so maybe it was her who had changed. She used to get jealous when she saw women pointlessly flirting with him but now she longed for him to have an affair. She thought she would burst with joy if that happened. Anything would be better than the look of shocked devastation and the tears she would soon have to face.

Sarah had hoped Matt would sense there was something wrong when she started joining clubs and going to pub quizzes just to avoid having to stay home with him. Finding excuses not to have sex was the hardest part as he knew better than anyone what an appetite for it she usually had. Sometimes, she found herself trying to start arguments, hoping he would get so sick of her that he would leave. None of these tactics worked, however. If anything they made him quietly miserable, while being even more eager to make her happy. She often cried when she thought about her treatment of him and had decided today that he deserved to be told the truth.

Sarah noticed her neighbour was eyeing her from across the road and realised she could not stand on the doorstep, fiddling with her keys, any longer. With a deep breath she opened the door. She could not have felt more scared if she had been walking to her death.

‘Matt?’ she called, closing the door.

He appeared from the kitchen to her left, looking serious and pale.

‘Something’s happened’, he said.

I’ve been seeing someone else; I’ve been seeing someone else…Sarah’s mind chanted desperately, praying these would be his next words.

‘My dad died’. Matt’s eyes fell to the floor while he covered his crumpled face with his hands.

Sarah rushed to her fiancé and wrapped him in her arms, while behind his neck she replaced the ring that, for a few minutes, she had been free from.