This story was selected as a finalist in the MAYDAY 2022 Flash Fiction Contest.
“Once, there was a little girl” no, not a girl, let’s make it a boy this time and wait, this is not a good way to start a story at all. I read somewhere that it’s much better to start the story in medias res like, “The boy was wandering around in a daze, not quite sure where he was headed.” Much better this time, but still, why is he wandering around or what is the reason for his confusion? Probably something or someone is chasing him?
Ok, so I have to think of the plot first, break it down to myself and then commit to writing. Should I create the characters as they come to me or do I have to know precisely how many characters my story should have beforehand? Oh, and there must be a climax and a cool ending, like open-ended? I guess so. Or maybe an unhappy ending, and… a philosophical tone? How about that? Let me organize my thoughts and I will be back on it later, this time with more determination and a fresh idea.
Oh man, how wonderful it would be to get my story published and maybe become famous, wealthy, attract the girls’ attention, travel. I forgot marriage, I would definitely get married, but I heard celebrities usually end up getting divorced and all. Ok, no marriage, but I might want to have kids. Damn, I got confused, I shouldn’t get ahead of myself, remember what happened to dad? Slackers are no go-getters. Phew, let me go grab a cup of tea for now.
“What are you doing? let the tea steep for a couple of more minutes,” my mom said. I pulled my hands away from the pot, stood by the kitchen window, and looked up to the sky: “it’s going to snow tonight, that’s what the weather app says on my smartphone, anyway,” I trailed off. The next thing I knew, I was sitting at my desk again, staring at a blank page which reads “He was wandering around in a daze, not quite sure where he was headed.”
HIMAN HEIDARI is a Kurdish-Iranian scholar and translator. He did his M.A in English Literature and has published many short stories, poems, pieces of translation, and articles in both online and local magazines and journals.
