Perfection | Flash Fiction #3

Perfect Moment Picture

“The sun was just beginning its mandatory descent, but remained at the perfect height for now, as it stretched its long illuminating arms far across his world, its warm and light touch catching on his week-old stubble.”

For Finn Alexander, this was it.

His arm lay heavy upon his forehead and blocked his eyes from the slowly descending warm glow of the Arizona light.

The gentle balmy breeze weaved and darted its way through the jungle of his hair occasionally brushing stray locks upon his dusty forehead, momentarily blocking his view.

He didn’t mind though.

His back lay still and full against the warm, welcoming crimson sand, his left knee was raised to the perfect level of comfort, while his toes, freed from the constraints of travel worn boots, curled themselves gratefully in and out of the soft earth.

The sun was just beginning its mandatory descent, but remained at the perfect height for now, stretching its long illuminating arms far across the world, its warm and light touch catching on his week-old stubble.

His neck had wriggled its way into the perfect position upon his backpackas his ears soaked up the sound of almost perfect silence around him.

The occasional scuffle of the local insects and the crackling sound of the dried wood upon his campfire were the only sounds that punctuated the perfection.

He didn’t mind though.

His weather-beaten car lay gratefully sleeping in the shade of the huge sycamore tree that had against all odds managed to thrive out here; his tents open door policy gladly welcomed in the blessed cool air.

The dirt track that he had taken was just away to his left, stretching for miles back into the desert, accompanied by the barely audible whisper of the ‘hoots and beeps’ of the Glendale traffic.

With the sounds of dinner slowly cooking nearby, he sat up and gazed out into the distance.

Do you ever have those fleeting moments of pure clarity?

The moments where nothing around you has changed, but suddenly everything is different.

Those perfect moments?

It didn’t matter what happened after this or what happened before. For this brief minute, his world and the world outside it was at peace and everything in it was just right.

For Finn Alexander, this moment was perfect.

One Brief Moment | Flash Fiction #1

bloody-gun

“He looked every bit the conquering hero that he’d always dreamed of being…”

The gun slipped from his blood-stained hand and clattered to the cavern floor.

Unsteady on his feet, his boots kicked up dust as he shuffled, his legs threatening to betray him. His shirt was soaked through from the wound in his side and blood was now dripping freely from his finger tips.

For him though, none of this mattered, all he could do was stare dead ahead at the man he’d just killed.

His eyes never wavered from the spot where the body of nemesis lay. In that brief moment, he looked every bit the conquering hero that he’d always dreamed of being.

I made my way over through the rubble from the battle just as his feet gave way. I caught him mid-collapse and laid him gently against the rocky wall.

I don’t know if he knew I was there. His eyes had the look of someone very far away. It didn’t matter though, no words needed to be spoken then. I was content to sit in silence and just be.

I sat with him until he left, holding his hand as tight as I could.

I watched as his final breath caught in his throat and sat so long with him after that this became a distant memory.

I watched his far away eyes take off for greener pastures and watched as his soul departed, his body finally free of the terrible burdens placed upon him.

I bade goodbye to him soon after, leaving him there to rest, the man who’d saved my life.