Carol Moncado

So over on Facebook, Linnette posted a prompt on the Wake Up Your Muse page. We were talking about it and Jan said she was going to use it for a prompt and it worked for me in Nick and Debbie’s story so…

We decided to do an impromptu Flash Fiction dealie. She wrote two [one about her father and another one that she hasn’t posted yet because it’d make a great query/one sheet/back of book for a novel – warning, Kleenex required] from the same prompt. I worked it into something I need for the novel. So here we go…

She pulled the curtain aside and peered into the darkness as a tear slipped out and trailed down her cheek. Nick moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

He placed a gentle kiss in the crook of her neck. “Are you okay?”

Debbie sniffled and shrugged. “If they go away. If they never, ever find us here.”

“The safe room is ready. We need to have drills.”

“Drills?”

“Like fire drills. Can you get there at night, in the dark, when you think someone’s after you, and take Nicky with you. Can you keep him quiet if you need to? I’d like for you to be able to get him there while blindfolded.”

She peered over her shoulder at him. “Blindfolded? Seriously?”

“I am completely serious.”

“I’m sure you are.” She leaned the back of her head against his chest. “And it makes sense. If they ever get here, we could need to get safe fast. ”

“And not just mobsters. It’s a tornado shelter, too. Darrin told me bad weather can pop up out of nowhere around here. And any time of year. One of the schools not too far from here lost part of a roof in January.”

She groaned. “Year round? Not just in April and May?”

“Nope. Most of them come in the spring, but also other times of year. And a few weeks later you could get a bunch of snow, but you won’t need the safe room for that.”

“No.” She swiped at her cheeks with her fingers. “All right, show me how this safe room works.”