Flash Friday Fiction (20)

Dottie over at Tink's Place have come up with the idea for a Monday Morning Flash Fiction challenge. Each Monday a new picture prompt will be posted and if you choose to participate you post your story on Friday - 350 words, give or take.

I have to thank Blodeuedd at Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell for introducing me to this fun meme. I don't know if I'll be able to keep up with every week, but I'll give it a try from time to time.

The Image This Week:

By:  Melissa

Vivanian stood in the field looking down at her home town. The warming spring breeze blew her long pale hair over the points of her ears as the bright morning sun rose on the horizon. She wondered if she should return. She knew her mother was still alive but didn’t know if she would be happy to see her come back, even for a visit.

Vivanian had been gone for two human life lengths as elves lived longer lives. In this warring time to live long was unusual. But when you made a life out of running the other direction it was easy to outlive many. Vivanian looked down at her feet which seemed stuck in mud and weighted down with huge rocks. They didn’t want to move toward the town.

Her small band of travelers had stopped here to supply up and move on. Vivanian thought about staying out in the woods waiting for her group to return. But…it had been years for her mother to recover from the heartbreak of Vivanian’s let down. Vivanian was a prized fighter and was expected to fight bravely for her family and pride. But she left, running the opposite direction from the wars. That was all her mother saw along with the elders of the pride as well. But her mother had no idea the secrets Vivanian carried with her on the mission of running away from the battles. The small band Vivanian ran with worked on deeper, bigger missions that others don’t know of or understand the larger picture over all.

Once again making the easy choice even though it stung the heart like a bee in her chest, Vivanian turned and returned to the edge of the field to the woods. She removed her sword and armor, started a fire to cook on, and prepared her sack for a nap. After preparing her breakfast, Vivanian laid down starring into the fire trying to forget about the ache in her heart to try to be the stronger person she has become, and carry on with the mission that affected more all the races in years to come.