Good afternoon everyone!
I hope you're having a good week. I'm back with a 400 word flash fiction short story. This week's prompt was:
Setting: The story ends in a forest.
Action: A hypochondriac (someone who's anxious about their health) attempts to write off signs of an illness.
“I’m not sick, I promise!”
“Ciana, don’t lie to me.”
I look at my girlfriend and frown, “I’m doing just fine!”
I hold in a cough and do what I can to make it look natural.
“You’re trying to convince a nurse you’re not sick.” Nakia shakes her head.
“And I’m a nurse, so I’d know when I was sick.” I pout.
“If you say so.” Nakia narrows her eyes.
“Why don’t we take a walk? Taking the trail will give me much needed fresh air.”
“That sounds fun,” Nakia says.
So we head onto the trail, the pollen in the air forcing the cough to escape.
“Ciana…”
“Just clearing my throat.” I smile at my girlfriend to distract her.
I continue to hide the cough as we near the center of the forest. I don’t want to be sick right now, but I’m going to do this for Nakia no matter what.
The birds sing a sweet tune, since it’s still early morning. The sun sends rays through the cover of the trees, highlighting certain flowers and critters.
“This morning is so beautiful,” Nakia says.
“I’m enjoying the fresh spring air.” I say.
“We should take this walk more often, if we ever get the time.” She laughs.
“I agree, we should make our free mornings for walks only.” I laugh.
The trees start to clear into a small pond where Nakia and I often stop to sit. As we step closer to the calm waters, I cough again.
“You don’t have to hide your cold.” Nakia huffs.
I sigh, “I know, but I didn’t want it to ruin today…”
“What’s special about today?”
I pull a small box out from my bag.
“Ciana, you’re not-”
“Not proposing,” I promise with a laugh, “just a little gift.”
I hand her to the box to open, and she smiles when she sees what’s inside.
“These are adorable.” She takes the pair of necklaces out from the box, putting hers around her neck.
The one she places around her neck is the shape of a crescent moon, which fits perfectly around mine, which is half of a sunflower. She places my necklace around my neck.
“I just… wanted to give you something nice.” A cough interrupts my sentence.
“Thank you,” she kisses my cheek, “but you need to rest now.”
“Fine fine,” I mutter, “I’ll go home and take a nap.”
I hope you enjoyed this fun little story! Have a wonderful week.
-Rosetta 💖
Image by Luca Bravo