Fall Frenzy. . . and Fall Writing Frenzy

Fall Frenzy . . . 

When I tell you that Fall has been a frenzy this year, believe me.  Summer was wonderful -- still FULL, but full of summer school and writing and travel and relaxation and leadership conference for NCRA, and more travel and friends and family and. . . . . Then August came -- and the frenzy began.  We were traveling to GA to spend time with family on the heels of making a decision to open our new family venture -- Serendipity: Vintage, Gifts, and Antiques. Currently, we just have a little 6x8 booth in an antique mall an hour away.  Between starting from scratch with that, (You can read my earlier blog post for more details on that here: ​https://www.tonnyefletcher.com/snippets-bits-of-life-blog/our-serendipity-story ) starting a brand new school year (still in the middle of a pandemic), starting up year 6 (I think) of CCNCRA, our local NCRA council (of which I'm serving as president this year), home improvements and family /house responsibilities, my writing time has SUFFERED!  Bigtime!  My nice organized writing life with its schedules and goals went flying out the window at jet speed!  It has taken me a while to get things back going, and it's still not where I want it, but I was able to attend SCBWI-Carolinas' conference, and I had a couple of writing pieces accepted by them for inclusion in a little anthology they are putting together. I've managed a few drafts and critiques and revisions during this time, but it has not been at my normal productivity. In fact, I didn't manage a single blog post in September!  But, it's okay.  Life happens.  And you have to live it.  And that, brings me to Fall WRITING Frenzy!

​Fall Writing Frenzy

I love Twitter writing contests!  You can read more about my history with them in several blog posts, including this one: https://www.tonnyefletcher.com/snippets-bits-of-life-blog/what-i-gain-from-losing
It is time once again for Fall Writing Frenzy!  I love visual prompts, so this is one of my favorites.  The organizers give us about 15 photos of the season to choose from and our task is to write a story or poem related to one of the images in less than 200 words. You can read all the entries and find out more at Lydia's blog here: ​https://lydialukidis.wordpress.com/fallwritingfrenzy-2021-rules/

Normally, I like to write about several of the photos and then choose my favorite with the help of some of my critique partners.  However, since Fall was a frenzy with some writing thrown in ;-), I only had time to write one story this year.  This photo spoke to me.  It was beautiful and eery -- the perfect mix of dark and light.  It led me to a story very unlike MOST of my stories -- since this one is more dark than light, and for an older audience of kidlit than I usually write. This one is young adult (YA), and checks in at 156 words. I hope you like it -- or at least find it interesting.

Scythe

Scythe hung ominously, severing clouds to allow vision.  It was important to see tonight, but his light was waning. 

Harvest season -- he surveyed the town.  Who would he harvest to restore his light rather than fade into utter darkness?

His sharp eyes zoomed in, illuminating the young homeless man: both he and the whiskey bottle half empty, Scythe snorted. Liver wasted, brain fried.  He’s not worth harvesting. No spark, no light.

His dark light sought another:  A  teenager, licking her wounds from the boyfriend.  He had ditched her for someone else. She had considered taking her own life.  Nah. Her glow has already faded.

Scouring the outskirts, a young woman caught his eye.  As she walked, her bright scarf created a ribbon of color in the night, and she hummed a cheery tune.  Light. FULL. OF. LIGHT.  She can restore the light.

Scythe slid behind the clouds as his evil blade struck and, temporarily,  darkness swallowed light.