FICTION | FLASH FICTION | PROMPT | DESERT | THE FICTION WRITER’S DEN
Reevaluating Life Choices
Jeff’s trek across the desert takes a turn…
Sandy had warned him about this. Jeff hadn’t been prepared for this trek across the desert, and he knew it. He couldn’t admit it to her at the time because he’d already bragged to everyone about it. And he’d be damned if he was going to back out of a bet.
With each step through the gravelly sand, he reflected on their relationship. Sandy was beautiful inside and out. He wondered why he hadn’t proposed yet. What was holding him back? And he wondered what it was that made her stick by his side all these years.
If Jeff made it out, he was going to take the plunge, it was decided. That’s how he liked to make decisions. Once he made his mind up, he was doing it, there was no going back. He was very definitive like that.
He tossed his snakeskin aside and opened up his pack. He pulled out his beloved Bear Grylls autobiography and rubbed it for luck one more time. This was it. He estimated that it was approximately twenty more miles to the main freeway. Surely someone would stop for him there.
He put his pack back on, adjusted the boxers on his head and continued on his way.
Three days later Jeff, sun beaten and broken, wandered upon a well-travelled path. Finally, he’d reached some semblance of civilization. He spotted some hikers in the distance, and he started waving erratically. He tried to yell but no sound came out, he hadn’t had water in two days.
He pictured Sandy’s face as he passed out.
This is a continuation of Making Your Characters Squirm! (Idea 7), written by JF Danskin at The Fiction Writer’s Den.
The prompt: Write a flash fiction story about a highly overconfident person who wants to prove that they can cross the desert.
My original drabble is here:
And here is the prequel by JF Danskin:
Thank you for reading my story. I’d love to hear your responses.
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