Here’s a flash fiction story I wrote during one of my practice writing sessions:
Daisy and the Freedom Field
By Linda Jo Martin
Daisy ran across the road into the park, glad to get away from the city streets. There she found quiet tranquility in the center of a frantic city, the place where she’d been born, where she was raised, where she had always lived.
She made her way to the baseball field. It was empty, deserted, peaceful. She let herself in through the rusty metal gate and walked to the dugout where she could sit in the shade and enjoy a few minutes by herself. Ah, the scent of freedom – a brilliant orbed, blue skied, grass under the feet kind of expansive freedom that comes from a lifetime penned in by huge buildings and asphalt byways.
Daisy mellowed into the joy of aloneness, and relaxed for the first time that day. Between the stress of her job at the grocery store and her crazy, distressing relationship with Arden, she rarely found time for herself, but that was to change, she’d decided. She reached into her pocket where she’d hidden her treasure – a bus ticket to a small town in Idaho – a place she’d never been to where Arden would never think to look for her.
She smiled slightly, and looked out at the ball field as two children came in through a gate on the other side of the field. They had a big red ball with them, and tossed it back and forth. She watched them wishing she’d had an easy relationship with Arden where both of them had equal rights and an opportunity to toss things back and forth, where neither felt downtrodden or afraid to speak. But that wasn’t the way it was.
Her practical side forced her to shrug off the useless thoughts. By midnight she’d be gone along with her savings account, enough for her to live on until she found another job. She was ready. It was time for freedom from Arden and from the dusty city and the tiring job, and it was way too late for remorse.
…
“Daisy and the Freedom Field” Not wishing to disturb her, I sat silently alongside Daisy in that dusty dugout because you had painted such a vivid picture with your words. Now I find myself wondering what became
of her in Idaho.Did she fall in love with a potato farmer and raise a boy who grew to play baseball and fell for a city girl and left the rural life behind him?
This is a nicely written story~ Kept it up!
Nicely written! 🙂 It was a nice read. 🙂
Hello,
I could call myself a random reader who happened upon your blog in search of flash fiction writing tips. I must say I very much enjoy this piece; the theme really speaks to me in a very subtle way.
Wonderful write.
Great read, Linda! It’s great to hear from you again. I go back to your blog from time to time whenever I find myself in a rut. Thank you for sharing your extraordinary insight and helpful words with the rest of us. God Bless. 🙂