Thursday, June 30, 2011

Tom

Flash Fiction Friday – from http://www.flashfictionfriday.com/


Prompt: Write a happy story.

Up to 1000 words.

      -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tom



Tom watched as the horizon bobbed up and down, as the world slowly drifted past. Life, he thought, didn’t get much better than this.


What more could a boy ever want than a day like today? Some days were bad, some good, but today? Well today was amazing.

Tiredness pulled on the boy’s eyelids, making them oh so heavy, but there was no way they were closing right now, not a chance.

There was someone to go and see; someone to cuddle.

As Tom rode his dad’s shoulders, he rested his chin upon the balding head and clung on tightly around his solid neck.

The strong shoulders felt safe, felt warm.

Earlier they had played football together, and Dad had let him win again – but not without some light fowls and blatant cheating, which always made Tom laugh until his ribs ached.

Tom’s dad had taken him to McDonalds for dinner – a rare treat, and he’d even allowed him pudding. Since when was anyone ever allowed pudding in McDonalds?

The man had just smiled warmly and sat there watching him eat.

Silent.

Thinking.

Worrying.

The greying man had done a lot of worrying recently.

But then the phone call came.

That brilliant, wonderful phone call.

It was Tom’s mum, calling from the hospital.

The results were in – she had beaten it!

The Cancer was gone!

Everything was new, everything was different. Dad jumped up, and with tears in his eyes gave the boy the biggest, strongest bear hug he’d ever had, before popping to the counter and ordering himself an apple pie.

This was a special occasion after all!

And now, as the light faded in the distance Tom sighed. They were on the way to get her; they were heading to the hospital to bring her home.

But not before Tom passed on that bear hug to his mum.

Some things were too good not to share.

12 comments:

Beach Bum said...

Excellent! I fell down again on this prompt, looking forward to readings everyone's stories.

Kristy said...

It is a treat to read something full of such love and gratitude!

fallen monkey said...

Oh, happy day! Captures that great feeling of when it seems your heart could burst from overflowing with good news and good vibes, and it feels too selfish to keep it all to yourself. :)

Now I want McDonald's.

Annie (Lady M) x said...

That was a lovely heart-warming story ..... and all done in a 100 words? Kudos to you chuck!! I loved the way you managed to weave a whole history into such a few words. ;-)

Sue H said...

Feel-good factor soaring! Well done - you can feel that bearhug leap right off the screen :-)

Barbara said...

So, the plan was to zip through my hideously crowded reader, reading but not commenting. I couldn't not comment on this though. What a wonderful piece of writing.

Dammit though, did you have to make me cry?

Barbara Bruederlin said...

What a lovely story! Telling the tale through the eyes of a child was particularly inspired and really increased the feel good factor. Nicely done!

Glen said...

Beach Bum - cheers

Kristy - everyone needs a treat now and again

FM - me too :-)

Annie - thanks I didn't actually do a word count, so it's nice to know

Sue - great!

Barbara - Sorry to force you into commenting (glad you did though)

Barbara B - thank you very much!

christina said...

awwww! made me all warm and fuzzy.

Thomas Pluck said...

Aww. Made me feel like a kid again. Great job on the perspective here.

Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw said...

Yours is the second story from this week's prompt, to make me cry... thanks for touching my heart!

A good, heart-warming tale, through the innocence of youth.

Very nicely done.

Jenny said...

Amazing! I loved this! Such a touching story (: