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Two one-page stories.
By William Van Zyl (Oct 2021).
Listen to the dramatised story on podbean: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-y4nr5-11407a5
At 11:16 am, it was all over. On July 15, 2016 – at 11:17 am – John Parrish ran over his robber-friend, Jack Leonard, and grabbed his bag full of money. They had just robbed the Atlantic Bank in London. Four million and two hundred thousand British Pounds in total were collected. It vanished out of the large walk-in safe in just over 3 minutes.
The get-away car disappeared into the busy streets of London – two unknown men were dressed with tight stockings over their heads. Then, without their tight masks, they weaved through the traffic.
The two remaining bank robbers successfully evaded arrest and were not traced. The trail went cold.
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Five years passed.
——–0———-
Vanessa Parrish graduated from King’s College London as a forensic scientist after 5 years of study. Her short but heartfelt speech touched the hearts of all the attendees at the ceremony.
Did John Parrish double-cross his friend Jack Leonard on that fateful day? The three of them carried handguns with silencers to silence the noise from their pistols – if they had to use it. After investigations, it was concluded that Jack Leonard was shot with a sniper rifle from across the road as he fled from the bank – possibly from the hotel’s second floor, The Ambassador. Findings were inconclusive about who had shot Leonard. Could Jack Leonard be silenced? He had been killed as he ran out of the bank. He died on the pavement in front of the bank – three shots to his chest – he lost his share of the heist to his friend John.
Who shot Leonard? Was it greed? No eyewitness or surveillance footage captured that specific moment of the events.
Vanessa – on graduation day – ended her short speech:
“We all struggle from time to time. I did. Sometimes, taking more baggage on board – could make you stronger. It could make you more resilient. Carry your friend’s baggage; they could be down and out. My father carried his friend’s baggage. He got through; I got through. I am grateful for my education.”
Jack Leonard’s tombstone was unusual. For the past five years’ people visiting the cemetery would stop, look at the large black pistol silencer mounted above the flat stone, and read these unusual words etched on the grey marble:
‘Double-crossed, double-cheated, double-redemption is required.
Someone will pay.
Rest in peace – I will avenge your death.’
Your loving son.
Jonathan.
Table of Contents
My shortest story of fiction to date – ‘a one-pager.’
Only 395 words were used. The whole story is on one page. My inspiration – the world’s shortest stories – is flash fiction.
A short story is a work of prose fiction that can be read in one sitting—usually between 20 minutes to an hour. A piece of fiction shorter than 1,000 words is considered a “short short story” or “flash fiction,” and anything less than 300 words is rightfully called “microfiction.”
My attempt at flash fiction with the prompt – ‘After everyone had left, she did endless pirouettes on his grave’:
Credit: https://headstuff.org/culture/literature/20-micro-fiction-stories/
Here is a different short story.
The Revolving Ballerina:
Listen to the dramatised podcast: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-gnhzv-114077d
The ribbon of the blood-stained ballet shoes chafed Anne Lamington’s left ankle. It had been killing her for years.
One gunshot was all it took to stop the relentless chafing. One would never contrast a revolver with ballet shoes. Would you?
After everyone had left, she did endless pirouettes on his grave (this sentence is not my writing, the rest is). She was spinning out of control – arms stretched out as if claiming her life back. Then unexpectedly, she stopped. Was she rewinding? Anne knelt down respectfully. She carefully looked around and took the revolver out of her bag – wrapped in a white pillowcase – she buried it as deep as she could in the fresh grave.
Her abusive long-time boyfriend was finally gone.
The stains on her ballet shoes had disappeared. The chafing stopped.
She was free to dance again – without pain.
———-0————
The slightly rusted revolver was discovered 1 year later.
———-0————
‘Why did you bury the gun in the grave,’ the lawyer asked?
‘The revolver belonged with him,’ she said with an innocent tone in her voice.
While defending the ballet dancer in court, the lawyer took a revolver and a ballet shoe out of his briefcase. He tied the revolver to the ribbon of the ballet shoe. He then hung the gun from the shoe while holding the shoe in his right hand high above the ground.
‘If I throw the gun and the ballet shoe in the local lake, what would happen your worship?’
‘What are you trying to prove?’ asked the judge.
“The man weighed her down; he abused her for many years. She suffered greatly.”
“Wouldn’t you wanted to get rid of all the dead weight your worship if you were in her shoes?’
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Anne served 4 years in an Italian prison. She practiced and refined her ballet moves and techniques almost every day in that dark, filthy place. However, Anne was ‘free.’ Most mornings, the bright sunlight would shaft through the iron bars of Anne’s prison room, announcing a new day.
———–0————–
She developed into one of the world’s best ballet dancers. Anne is a professional ballet dancer in Italy today. She subsequently wrote a musical and ballet performance based on all the drama she went through. Now, a famous piece: ‘Pirouetting Revolving Ballerina.’
THE END.
How to Write Microfiction in 9 Easy Steps (less than 300 words).
- Make use of strong imagery. Let every single word count.
- Focus on one moment in time.
- Work with just one or two characters. Don’t spread your story too thin.
- Try first-person point of view first. Third-person and omniscient will also do.
- Surprise your reader with short bursts of action, concepts and ideas.
- Move quickly through your story.
- Show don’t tell. Leave lots of ‘golden nuggets’ throughout the story.
- Include a lesson or wisdom embedded in your story.
- Make good use of your title.
Copyright © 2021 by William Van Zyl
Out-Foxed.
* The Revolving Ballerina
All rights reserved. This book or any portion
thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner
whatsoever without the express written permission of the
publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Published by Five House Publishing (New Zealand)
First Publishing, 2021
More eBooks and articles are available at https://fivehousepublishing.com/ More about the author at http://williamvanzyl.com/
