Sophomore class shares “flash fiction”

Mrs. Scott's sophomore English class composed “flash fiction” stories. Each story is comprised of 250 words or less. The following submissions were voted the top four stories by the students classmates. 

A Search for Happiness

By Caleb Lawrence

The first time James realized that he wasn't happy he was sitting beneath the moon and stars with a fire in front of him. When he finally admitted it to himself, all he could do was laugh. He hated himself even more for what he had. He had known for some time that he wasn't happy but was never willing to admit it to himself. James knew what he had and was eternally grateful for his family and friends. He knew that he had everything a kid could want and more but the one thing he wanted most he didn't have: Happiness.

As James got older, his sibling left and he slowly pushed away his friends. James started hating everyone and everything that he heard and came into contact with. Until one day he realized that he was becoming the very thing he hated. James became obsessed with it. He hated the fact that he let himself become so weak and frail. James's family and friends had no idea what was happening in his head; they only assumed that he was fine. James never told them or asked for help; he knew he would only get disappointment from his family and judgment from his friends. James finally came to the conclusion that he could never accomplish what his family expected of him and that he would never find love. On the day James killed himself; it was a warm sunny day. Nobody expected that this would happen, and nobody realized how much James was hurting inside.

The Bright Side

By Gavin Ertl

On Friday, July 22nd I was diagnosed with a terminal illness. My name is Malcolm Miller, I attend MCHI High School, I am 17 years old. The doctor said I have 7 months to live. I wish it was shorter. I hadn’t really done anything “amazing” with my life. Everything just felt the same to me. I was a good kid; never got in trouble. I thought of my friend Sunny; I couldn’t tell him I only had 7 months. I just didn’t have the strength to tell him. He was always looking on the bright side, maybe that's why his name was Sunny. Nothing mattered in the world to him, but everything mattered at the same time. He had this dumb phrase called “do what excites” and I started putting it into my 7 months that I had left.

I had 2 months left to live, I started to get in trouble. I wasn’t at school anymore; I was hanging out around bad people. I usually hung around the train tracks; my illness was getting worse. The medicine wasn’t helping. I had stolen from a gas station; I had a gun. It was point blank to the clerk’s face. February 3rd, I didn’t feel satisfied in my life. I felt so strong in those moments, but I still wasn’t strong enough to tell Sunny. I wasn’t only going to die from a terminal illness. My life was meaningful, but not to me.

The Book

Jesus Jasper-Lara

Claire walks into the woods. When she looks to her right, she sees a long line of trees. “Something doesn’t look right.”

Claire has been wandering in these woods for many years, she can tell something is wrong. In the corner of her eye, she spots a shiny gold book. Claire starts heading towards the book, keeping an eye out for something that might jump out. Once Claire approached the book, she picked it up. "What is this?"

Once Claire had reached her house, she went directly to her room. She opened the book, but all the pages were blank. She picked up a pencil and drew a picture of a toy car. Suddenly, a toy car appeared from the book in real life! She suddenly realized the book was magical. She went on to draw more things that she wanted. She drew a new bike and even a pet dog. Claire realized that the book was too powerful and that if it landed in the wrong hands, it would be very dangerous. She decided to go into the woods and burn the book. In the middle of the night, she snuck out and headed for the woods. She went to a clear spot to burn the book. She set the book down and lit it on fire. She waited for the book to be burnt entirely before she headed back home.

Going Down

Lola Reimer

"Stay calm Captain Hess, your aircraft is going down." A loud obnoxious beeping fills the cockpit as warnings flash on the screen. In all 10 years of flying fighter jets, he has never been in a situation like this. His engine completely failed over the Pacific Ocean. He has about 75 seconds before his plane hits the water. He thinks about his wife Elsie, and his daughter Charlotte. He thinks of long days in the sun with his family. He thinks of sledding down the hill with his daughter in the New York snow. He thinks of his daughter's ballet performances when he would count down the minutes until he could go home. Now he would trade anything for a chance to spend time with them again. The ocean spirals closer, as he thinks about his mother. Her last memory of her son will be a slammed door after a ruined Christmas Eve, just weeks before. The only thing that Hess feels is regret. Regret for taking all of these experiences for granted. Regret for spending time with his family but wishing he was at home. Regret for never apologizing for a petty argument. He wishes that he would have gotten off of the couch on sunny days. He regrets how he spent his life. Now there is nothing he can do but fall.