Via The Red Dress Club:
Flash Fiction can be fun. Write a 300 word piece using this word for inspiration: LIFE. Constructive criticism is encouraged. But bear in mind this is one of my first forays into fiction & not my forte.
“Sex makes the world go round,” my dad says when I catch him looking at a Playboy magazine. “It’s just part of life,” he shrugs. But he isn’t supposed to look at that stuff; he’s my dad. Embarrassed, I retreat to my friend Jamie’s house down the block.
“What’s wrong?” she asks as I push through her front door. I look past her to see her dad sleeping on his worn La-Z-Boy chair in the living room, his mouth hanging open. I whisper, “My dad was reading Playboy.”
“So?” Jamie laughs. “My dad does, too.” A loud snore comes from the khaki chair and I notice her dad’s bare, calloused feet propped up.
“Have you ever even looked at one?” she smirks. I blush and shake my head, “But everyone knows what’s inside,” I say. I may be 11, but I’m not stupid. I hear things.
Jamie grabs my hand and we tiptoe over to the cabinets behind her dad’s chair. After deftly sliding a magazine from the stack inside, she motions for me to do the same. I do so with my heart thundering, then we run with them back to Jamie’s room, where we close the door and turn on Madonna to muffle our voices.
Sprawling out on our stomachs on her bedroom floor, we open the magazines. My left elbow digs into the carpet as I turn the pages. Naked women, lots of them. More heat rises to my face. I think about my stupid empty training bra.
“Do you think we’ll look like this one day soon? You know, with big boobs and hair down there?” I ask Jamie.
“I dunno,” she sighs, “I hope so.”



