As many of you know I attended a writer's conference recently. One of the presentations covered flash fiction. I dabbled many years ago in short prompt responses when I was starting out in writing, largely because the thought of writing a novel seemed an 'impossible task', so creating flash fiction was not on my radar at that time.

Flash Fiction is a fictional piece of prose in extreme brevity, but still offering character and plot development. This genre is defined by word count, which includes a six-word story, a 280-character story; commonly known as twitterature', a dribble or minisaga, 50 words, a drabble, or microfiction, 100-words, sudden fiction (750 words), flash fiction (1000 words), nanotale and micro-story.

I want to thank Finnian Burnett for teaching me this new genre.

So I am offering you the chance to read the result of the session, in its raw state. This is my first flash fiction attempt.

Escape

Anna taps her right foot, staring at Toby reading the morning paper and sipping his coffee. She glances at her watch, the second hand ticks into position. Toby's exit is imminent.

At last he stands, straightens his tie, and walks out of the kitchen. No kiss, no goodbye, not even a glance. Anna picks up his mug, rinses it and puts it in the dishwasher as the front door closes. A rush of breath escapes her lungs.

She twists her wedding ring, but it refuses to budge, she swears. There's little time. Promising herself she will get rid of the damn thing later, she runs upstairs into the spare bedroom. The suitcase slides out from underneath the bed, the token of her resolve.

Another glance at her watch - twenty minutes left to catch the bus and freedom. At the front door she wrenches the gold band off and throws it on the tiled floor. It makes a cling sound just like a lock opening. In reality it is unlocking her emotional imprisonment.

A burst of sunshine greets her as she opens the door, she twists the large heavy suitcase to exit the house. The air feels good, fresh scented with cherry blossom. Her life will change, some good, some bad, but much better away from him and his control. Years spent diminished will stop. Filled with apprehension, she can feel an inner strength begin to grow.

Let me know what you think in the comments.