If cloud dreams came true, then I’d be there with you, in our own little home in the sky.
– Popular song, early Pyanni period
Photo credit: Mike Powell
The clouds piled heavy over the city. Linsalla saw her husband’s face in one.
If only she had realized, helped him sooner.
The cloud morphed into her father. She chided herself. All those years of Guild school, training her mind so rigorously, yet her imagination still bested her.
The clouds grew abnormally quickly, unnaturally purple.
Alarm bells rang in her head, then across the city.
Linsalla almost ran to the Guild before remembering her expulsion.
Only five remained—servants, friends—whom she had not destroyed or dismayed. Those, she would protect.
With her life.
“To the cellar! We’re under attack.”
Word count: 100
Linsalla is the main character in my novel, “The Curse of Corwallen Manor.” I keep writing all these flash fiction pieces that have absolutely nothing to do with my novel, and worry that I’m giving my readers the wrong idea! And then I write this, which also doesn’t happen in the novel. But it could have.
Inspired by this week’s Friday Fictioneer’s challenge. Thanks as always to our fairy blog-mother Rochelle Wisoff-Fields! See the original photo prompt below, and click here to see the other stories or to post your own.
Photo © Emmy L Gant
Dear Joy,
Perhaps the flash fiction you write with your characters will be fodder for another novel. 😉
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Hm, interesting idea, Rochelle! So far, the little bits and pieces are more about me fleshing out what the characters were like before the novel begins — backstory stuff — or what they’re doing “backstage” between scenes or chapters. This scene, for instance, would have happened before the novel begins, after Linsalla has just experienced the destruction of pretty much her whole life but before she hears that she’s inherited Corwallen Manor, when she’s near her lowest point and desperate.
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Great stuff! Maybe the Guild will be sorry the expelled her during the battle, it sounds like she’s going to fight hard.
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Thanks Ali! Alas, no. She stays expelled through the rest of the novel. There was a *scandal*, you see. (Oooo!)
Given that this doesn’t actually come up in the novel, I have to assume that between the Wizard Guild, the Entovanite Temple, and the Royal Guard, they manage to handle this attack with minimal damage to the city. It’s the biggest city in this region, so they’re pretty used to fending off attacks by now.
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A scandal! Meet me at the water cooler and you can fill me in 🙂
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You just might have to wait for the novel. 😉
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And there I was, still secretly hoping for The Flaming Lutes… 😉
Great flash, very foreboding. She is one determined woman, and her backstory is interesting. I sometimes have the problem that I include a flash fiction into my wannabe-timeline and it throws the whole thing into a new direction. How can I ever finish anything, I wonder? I think Linsalla is an intriguing character already. FF is great for playing with ideas though, isn’t it?
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Ah good point, G — if The Flaming Lutes don’t show up in the novel (which I already said) they could still show up *before* the novel begins. Hm….
Glad you liked the little hint about who Linsalla is! Hopefully I won’t get thrown in a new direction by any of my “extra” stories because yes, doing FF with my characters is fun. The thing I love most about flash fiction (versus novel) is how it can actually be FINISHED in one day. Whew!
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Great story…Linsalla sounds like a very interesting character. I love the quote from the song too 🙂
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Thanks, Sammi! I’m so glad Linsalla is coming across as interesting. And so glad you noticed the song – that was my favorite part, I think – thank you!
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You know I’m a fan of the quotes and sayings 🙂 It’s such a clever way of introducing your readers to the customs and cultures of all the different people.
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And a fun way to invent them, too. So apparently the Pyanni have this cultural concept of “cloud dreams” — interesting. 😉
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I like the idea of fleshing out a character in flash before putting them in a Novell… There seem to be a Midas touch in Lisella.
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I actually already have the character pretty well fleshed out, but it’s fun to be able to introduce her to other people before the whole novel is ready (which will be a while). I was curious about why she evoked the Midas touch – because she feels she’s destroyed her family? Hm, interesting. Well, when you get to know her better, you’ll realize that she didn’t really destroy them. She just feels guilty for not stopping them from destroying themselves, because she thinks everything is her responsibility. The world on her shoulders!
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Well written with intriguing hints on what might be coming.
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Thanks! I wish I could say “read the novel to learn more,” but I suppose I have to finish writing it first. 😉
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Yes, that’s the downside:) Well, when it’s done, I’ll find out more.
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It’s a great idea to flesh out your characters by creating all your ‘ backstuff” for pieces of flash. It should really help you to get into your characters’ heads when you do write scenes from your actual book. I love the idea of the clouds morphing into the different faces and the regret it kindles in Linsalla.
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Thanks Millie! I really liked the idea of “cloud dreams” too — this sense that people can imagine almost anything (or anyone) in the clouds. The flash pieces are fun, but they don’t give me much room to explore. I’m working on a prequel chapter about something important that happened early in the novel’s timeline that doesn’t get shown in the novel itself, to flesh out the various characters’ reactions to it.
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Your flash fiction pieces will perhaps provide hints of additional routes your storyline and/or characters could take. Each prompt can send us in several different ways. Clouds are really inspirational things and I love the way that inspired you to write this story. keep working on that prequel.
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Will do!
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