What's So Funny?
Russell Gayer, author speaker
On the Way Down
Today’s Friday Flash Fiction post is my take on the photo prompt provided by Madison Woods. Visit her website http://madisonwoods.wordpress.com/ and find links to other Friday Flash Fiction stories from authors around the globe.
On the Way Down
Uh, oh. This is gonna hurt.
Slapped in the face by that sad realization that there’s no way I can catch myself. Mother earth is fast approaching.
Arms flailing, cries of desperation pierce the forest in a long, deep moan of slow motion agony. I close my eyes and brace for the inevitable. My nose plows a furrow in the moldy loam beneath the leaves. Instinctively, I look around to see if anyone saw me fall.
What caused me to trip? All I can find is a broken mushroom. No greenbriar, no grapevine, not even an Indian powder-puff.
Stupid mushroom!
6 Comments on “On the Way Down”
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What's So Funny? 
Russell, at first I thought you were writing an ominous, frightening tale, full of tension. And, I guess you were . . . until I got to the ending and saw that your character tripped over a mushroom. Then, I had to laugh. Good one again!
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Hahahaha taken down by a mushroom! Great story, Russell. The middle paragraph was the best with arms flailing, cries of desperation, and nose in the moldy loam. Well done! 🙂
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At first I thought the narrator was falling from a great distance, like from an airplane (without a chute). But as I thought further, I saw how the juxtaposition between the reality of a short fall and the long-drawn-out "trip" made the piece work. Very funny/ironic.My piece is at http://furiousfictions.com.
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You are the funny one. No one can trip on a mushroom! But you have to blame the nearest, funniest thing! Our prompt. Delightful.At least the loam looked soft.Lindaura
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Delightful! A sense of humor–I like that. I agree with Siobhan, the middle paragraph had me chuckling out loud. Well done.
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Faires put those mushrooms in our way so we can trip and fall. And while laying spread-eagle on the ground we can comptempate the meaning of life and realize we should slow down and smell the roses. hahhha. Do you believe that one, Russell?Loved it!
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