FLASH FICTION TUESDAY: Here Kitty, Kitty

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Now on Tuesdays…at least for the foreseeable future…welcome to Flash Fiction Tuesday. In case you don’t know what flash fiction is, it is an extremely short story (sometimes created in 100 words or less) with a beginning, middle, and an ending,

But in my case, I write flash fiction with an open ending. I allow my readers to draw their own conclusion as to what happens.  This week’s story came to me in a dream and when I woke up, I had to write it down…

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Slate grey clouds slammed into scorched trees and darkened the sky as Dra’con slowly made his way up the rocky terrain. The stench from decaying flesh almost made him gag. Dra’con only stopped long enough to tighten the grimy cloth covering his lower face before sidestepping what looked like the remains of a coyote and continued his climb.

It had only been three days since the great fire, but already the villagers were nervously looking over their shoulders and wondering when will the creature strike next? The elders tried to calm the crowd with words even they didn’t believe. Dra’con knew there would be no stopping the panic once the others realized most of their food source had been wiped away with the flames. A quick death in battle was better than a slow, agonizing one as children and old ones would probably succumb first to the gnawing hunger of the upcoming winter with nothing to fill their bellies.

Dra’con concentrated so hard on not losing his footing as he climbed over charred tree limbs and stumbled around small boulders that, at first, he didn’t notice the fresh impressions made on the blackened forest floor. Moving closer to investigate, his foot tripped over a small root, causing him to come to a stop inside the crater. For a moment Dra’con didn’t understand what he was looking at, but the final realization made a cold sweat suddenly wash over him. Slowly drawing his weapon from his side, Dra’con carefully traced the massive paw print with the tip of his sword until it softly struck the other side of his boot. 

It was here.

And from what Dra’con could see, the beast was far larger than the elders had first supposed. No matter, the people depended on him to drive it from their land. The children thought him a hero and when had heroes ever turned their back on danger just because their bellies clinched with fear?

Taking a moment to kneel in the great beast’s footprint, Dra’con offered up a prayer to the gods before standing up. Then, thrusting the sword firmly back into its scabbard, he threw his shoulders back and with renewed determination, continued up the path in front of him. Only one thing was on his mind.

Here kitty, kitty…

***What happens next? What made the paw print? Will Dra’con be able to save the village? Or will the upcoming winter add to the body count? Share your comments and endings to this story below!***


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***WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT!***WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT!***

I’m happy to announce the winner of week one of my TWELVE WEEKS OF LUNADAR free giveaway! Ariel (aka author R M Archer) has won the cool bookmarks for entering my Rafflecopter FREEBIES giveaway! Congratulations Ariel…I’ve already sent you an email and once I receive your mailing address, those bookmarks will be winging their way to you soon! 

 

 

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***DON’T FORGET! It’s week two of THE TWELVE WEEKS OF LUNADAR giveaway and this week you get a chance to win the cool fairie house shown above! Just click on the pile of presents to the right of this post and choose how you would like to enter the FREE giveaway. Winners will be announced every Monday in my INDIE AUTHOR’S JOURNEY post, so enter the FREE giveaway and check next Monday to see if you’ve won!***

***ALSO…it’s not too late to tell all your educator or school librarian friends about their chance to pick up a FREE copy of LUNADAR: Homeward Bound during my LUNADAR Pay It Forward FREE giveaway! I’m giving away THOUSANDS of ebook copies between now and Friday, November 2nd, in exchange for an honest review on Amazon. All they have to do is send me a Facebook message or email with their valid email address and I will send them their FREE copy, along with a copy of the Lunadar map I sketched. Hurry and share the good news about this FREE ebook giveaway before time runs out!*** 

***AND…it’s countdown time to the release of LUNADAR: Homeward Bound on 10/15/18! You can now pre-order your print copy through Amazon and other online retailers, so get your copy today!***

 

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Ruler by day, a reluctant pirate by night, 18-year-old Princess Ariana fights for her subjects in the waterfall city of  Lunadar. In a kingdom surrounded by fairies and mermaids, and ravaged by deadly Drundles, only a chosen few are trusted to guard her daughter, Candra, as the secret heir to the throne.

But it only takes one ill-fated meeting for Ariana to suddenly be plunged into an escalating web of secrets found in her father’s journal, a deadly kidnapping, and an ever-weakening resolve to turn her back on the call of the merman’s song.

With Ariana’s world falling apart and the future of Lunadar at stake, how will she bring her father’s murderer to justice and fulfill a deathbed promise to protect Lunadar’s legacy?

 

donna

 

International best selling, award-winning author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a ‘ninja’ writer of children’s picture books, chapter books, young adult novels and inspirational essays by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books, and the host of WRITERLY WISDOM, a resource series for writers. Donna is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators and Children’s Book Insider. She is a lover of dark chocolate, going to the beach and adding to her growing book collection. Donna’s latest book, LUNADAR: Homeward Bound (a YA fantasy), ebook edition, is now available from Amazon, with the print edition coming October 15, 2018.

Donna L

Hybrid award winning author; aspiring sketch artist; and 4th Degree Senior Certified Taekwondo Instructor. Host of BOOK NOOK REVIEWS. Member of SCBWI. Mom to fabulous son and adventurer delving into the tricky world of indie-publishing.

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