How Sweet the Sound (microfiction)



Something moved in the shadows. It loosened itself from the mud where it had lain buried for sixty years. Rising, it swirled, taking form. From its center, a fiddle’s tune sprang forth, leaping and dancing like a candle flame.

In the rocking chair, the old woman smiled, tapped her foot, and hummed along.


Comments

  1. ChristineMay 6, 2020 at 1:08 PM

    Hmm, this makes me wonder whether the old woman summoned the music, or if it is seeking her out. The image in the first paragraph is so vivid - I can definitely picture and even hear it. I feel like it's missing something to connect the music with the woman.

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  2. kathunkMay 7, 2020 at 3:00 PM

    This feels like it could be the start of something interesting! I wasn't sure, though, if the form was a person/being or an instrument. And it was a bit jarring to me that the form came out of the mud, but then the old woman is in "the" chair, like she's in the same space (though I guess she could be on the porch... or just somewhere within earshot...). I liked that it didn't end as a horror/scary story :) I'm always a little resistant to prompts that sound like they're meant to be horror/thriller.

    ReplyDelete
  3. MargaretMay 7, 2020 at 4:19 PM

    I wondered if the creature emerging from the mud had a history with the woman. So many possibilities! I wonder what this would do as flash fiction.

    ReplyDelete

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