Another
prompt inspired this “micro” (at 186-words, it just is what it is, baby). You can check out his story here:
Now, I don’t know if this is a story so much as it is a plea—to you, to me, to us all—to get off our damn phones. I doubt it will curb the habit that has me reaching for my phone whenever I want to fill an empty second with a video or some music… but it certainly won’t hurt as a reminder that it’s totally okay—good, even—to be bored on occasion. It builds character!
Enjoy,
c.d.
aurora
He said if I didn’t have pictures, then it never really happened.
I didn’t know how to respond to that, and since he seemed like the kind of guy who’d call me a pussy if I told him I was trying to be more present, less filtered, I just shook my head and shot him that sheepish look that says, “Ah, you got me!”
“See this, right here?” he asked, instantly rendering the question perfunctory by thrusting his phone into my face.
Onscreen was a photograph of a beautiful winter landscape. Sleepy evergreen trees coated in dense snow populated the foreground, while vast steaks of pink, green, blue, and purple—each richer than the last—coalesced into a vibrant tapestry overhead. There was a sense of movement too, but only a sense. The picture was just a slice, a sliver—a mere fragment, nothing more.
“Aurora borealis,” he said, stating the obvious, his tone so thoroughly drenched in self-congratulatory pride that I could feel my skin beginning to blister from the hot air.
“See?”
I nodded. And I did… but I was equally sure he never would.
If you liked “aurora,” you’ll also enjoy these micro fictions:
Funny how the second we turn off the tv we reach to turn on Spotify. Silence ceased. It’s concerning. Thank you for the brief interruption while my show was in a commercial, I’ll put down my phone and get back to it if you don’t mind ;)
These prompts have you in a sweet spot!