Pure Flash

Just an off-the-cuff flash piece for Tuesday morning - not previously written, just from my imaginary brain to my fingers, onto the keyboard and here.


Cool water swept around her ankles. Underfoot, the mossy stones felt slimy and vaguely soft under their layer of algae. Carol wasn't paying attention to that. It was there, on the edge of her awareness but what held her attention were the tadpoles darting around in their pool. Squatting down, her bottom only an inch or so from the surface of the water, she was fascinated and watched them, not moving.

On the other side of the trees that banded the creek her brothers were playing ball with their friends. They didn't know she had gotten bored and wandered off but she could still hear their shouts and laughter, the occasional ping of their aluminum bat. Out there, it was hot summertime with sear grass and crinkling skin. Here, it was cool and just a touch damp.

A dirty finger with a ragged nail, black along the edge, pushed a strand of blonde hair back over her ear. Not so she could see better, just by habit, and she inched a little closer.

"There's a fish," she whispered to the tadpoles.

No one listened. They just kept wriggling around until, an instant later the brown fish darted forward, snapping one of the flailing tadpoles into its mouth before disappearing back into the shadows.

"Oh!" She hadn't expected that.

At six, it was the first time she had witnessed Nature and it was all of shocking and scary and interesting. She didn't feel anything for the tadpole, but was curious about the fish. She stayed there for a while longer, until Brad shouting her name got her attention.

"Hey, where are you?" He was coming closer. Still outside the trees, but not as far as he had been.

She stood up and cautiously made her way to the muddy bank. "I'm in the creek."

"What are you doing down there?" Brad pushed through the bushes, not bothering with the thread of a path but bulling through, as he always did.

"Watchin' tadpoles." She scrambled up the bank to where she had left her flip-flops. "There's a fish. He ate one of 'em."

Kevin, the brother that separated Carol from Brad appeared. "A fish? No there ain't."

"Yes there is! I saw 'im."

"Where?"

"There." She pointed at the pool. "He was under a rock and then he came out and grabbed a tadpole. He ate it."

Kevin slithered down the bank, leaving streaks in the soft soil, and then started edging the water toward where his sister had pointed. "I don't believe you."

"He's there."

"Come on, Kev, we've gotta get home. Mom's making burgers tonight and she's gonna be mad if we're late."

"I wanna see the fish."

Brad was curious, too, so after only a moment's hesitation, he followed his brother. Carol watched, thought about home and dinner, and then decided they would wait.

"Where was it?"

She pointed at the deepest part of the pool, its depths hidden by overhanging rocks and the deep shadow of the footbridge that spanned the creek.

"Was it big?"

"Not very." She held her hands up, index fingers pointing, "About this big."

Brad's eyebrows lifted and Kevin snorted, "That's not a fish! That's just a minnow. Come on, we're wasting our time."

Kevin turned and trudged back to where he could climb the bank, his siblings trailing behind.

Behind them, not caring about the stir that he'd caused, the brown trout emerged again, continuing its existence without paying attention to anything but its own needs.

* * * * *

Have a lovely day!

Best~
Philippa

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