Flash Fiction: The Spelling Test

Drawing by Emily Tupper, age 8

Flash Fiction

A flash fiction response to a challenge issued by Chuck Wendig at terribleminds.com.

The assignment was to write a complete story of revenge in 100 words.

I would like to ___________ Chuck’s __________ except I sort of worship him. We have a firm no-__________-ing our idols rule in this house.

One rule we don’t have: it’s alright to throw food at the TV for terrible plot developments, bad dialogue, seasons 2 and 3 of Lost, and the second to last episode of True Blood this season where Marnie’s ghost comes back.

This story is semi-autobiographical, except for the end. My mother was a teacher at my elementry school and she would have ___________ my ___________ if I had responded the way the Main Character does in this flash fiction story.

*****

I wonder if she sat next to me because I looked nice or if the teacher put her there because she was missing half an arm and a leg but it didn’t matter after she looked at my test paper.

“Quit looking!” I carefully spelled the next word. Her neck craned forward.

The teacher’s head swiveled around. We froze.

I put my arm over my answers. Meghan continued to look. Angry, I yanked her pencil from her cracked, burned fingers. A moment later it hung from the white ceiling tile by the point.

I smiled at the final answer. “F-a-i-r.”