For National Storytelling Week, the library at my university held a flash fiction competition for entries that were 100 words or under and inspired by the painting ‘Grasmere’ by George Fennel Robson. Below is my entry.

I left a piece of myself in Grasmere, atop Helm Crag to watch the Lion play on cloudless nights. To remember flying higher than kites and flowing through the world like a stream beneath the peaks. To see the jigsaws in the land and the lambs as they mow. Most of all, I left a piece to remember you, to remember us, as we ascended through madness and broke petty illusions. To hold our hearts in mind and memorise the strength we forged. I left a piece of us in Grasmere. [91 WORDS]

This was given second place in the competition and I won the prizes of a bookish t-shirt and two books! The t-shirt was from Out of Print and is inspired by Kafka’s Metamorphosis, the two books are Thin Air by Michelle Paver and The Therapist by B.A. Paris. I’m very pleased to have won second with this dinky little microfiction piece and hoping it’s a good sign for future writing.