Another Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Contest I've Lost

copyright K.S. Brooks

Yep, lost another one . . . and I'm happy.

This contest provided a photo visual prompt, a grey ocean beach, which reminded me of a short story that I've worked on over the last few years, drafting different beginnings, different storylines, different points of view, but never feeling the story was moving in the right direction.

I think writing this 250-word story got me to the right place, allowed me to discover the right angle. So I celebrate my happy loss.

The short story has had several titles:

• Lonely Is a Bitter Wind
• Waves Like Dragon Wings
• People of the Beach
• Elemental
• Ocean's Daughter

This flash fiction version of the story was written while traveling on Amtrak, so it was a real pleasure to sit in my roomette, watching the miles roll by, drafting offline on Google Docs. Receptivity comes and goes while on the train, so I worked offline after reading the Indies Unlimited writing prompt. And writing on my iPhone 6+ was easy--a little slower than on a laptop, but maybe that's not so bad. I also really like not having to pack around a lot of electronics!

I'm looking forward to expanding the story from this 250-word shorthand version.

The first line of "Ocean's Daughter" reads: Stone and driftwood and the bitter sea–all is grey, water-worn, salt-bleached and half-buried.

The story is posted in the comments section of the UI blog post, if you'd like to read it--250 words, a quick read! I've linked the title above to the blog page.