Catching Comets (Flash Fiction)
"Catching Comets"
By Asche Keegan
Abigail Avalee breathed against her bedroom window, enthralled by the dancing snowflakes just beyond the glass.
“What is that?” she asked, fogging the glass even further.
“Those are snowflakes,” her mother said, entertaining her daughter a touch longer, for snow did not fall often in southern San Heights.
Abigail gaped, tracing their path through the night, watching as they fell out of sight to melt on the ground. Lifting her gaze back up to the sky, she saw a flash of golden light, left streaking across the outer edges of the atmosphere. “And what was that?” she asked in awe.
Taken by surprise, her mother took in the last glimmer of gold. Twenty years ago, her own mother had taken her stargazing, pointing out the sparkling lights that made up a meteor shower. But now Abigail was looking at her expectantly, and she had to give an answer. “That was a comet, and now it’s time for bed.”
“I want to touch the comet and the snow,” Abigail murmured, but she took her mother’s hand and went straight to her bed.
“Don’t worry, you’ll get to tomorrow.”
~ ~ ~
“What is that?” she asked, fogging the glass even further.
“Those are snowflakes,” her mother said, entertaining her daughter a touch longer, for snow did not fall often in southern San Heights.
Abigail gaped, tracing their path through the night, watching as they fell out of sight to melt on the ground. Lifting her gaze back up to the sky, she saw a flash of golden light, left streaking across the outer edges of the atmosphere. “And what was that?” she asked in awe.
Taken by surprise, her mother took in the last glimmer of gold. Twenty years ago, her own mother had taken her stargazing, pointing out the sparkling lights that made up a meteor shower. But now Abigail was looking at her expectantly, and she had to give an answer. “That was a comet, and now it’s time for bed.”
“I want to touch the comet and the snow,” Abigail murmured, but she took her mother’s hand and went straight to her bed.
“Don’t worry, you’ll get to tomorrow.”
~ ~ ~
When Abigail woke up the next day, she ran to her window and saw that the world had changed color. Delighted, she ran outside immediately and touched the white ground with her finger. The frigid bite raced up and down her arm, and she yanked her finger away. Surveying the landscape before her, she saw that it was untouched—minus a series of small prints that led towards the dense woods behind her house.
“It’s the comet!” she exclaimed, suddenly connecting the two magics of the night before. In her mind, Abigail saw a river of stardust, with comets dancing and leaping in it like the fish at the neighbor’s pond.
Without going back for a coat or scarf, she followed the tracks hoping to find the comet. It didn’t take long for her to start to get cold, to shiver. But now the tracks were veering off into the bushes, and she wondered if the comet was inside.
Though the bushes hid most of her sight, she could still look through it and see a darling rabbit, sniffing his nose and staring back at her. At first she felt disappointed, but after seeing his velvety fur and thinking about how nice he would be to have as a pet, she slowly slid her hand out to him and through the bushes.
Perhaps the rabbit sensed that she was a good, curious soul, or that if he went with her his future days would be filled with plenty of good food and a good friend. Regardless, he sniffed her hand, gradually coming forward until he was cupped mostly in one hand, which Abigail gradually pulled back towards herself.
Now, the cold was starting to hit, and though she had a rabbit, she didn’t have a coat. Holding the rabbit close to her chest, she began to stumble backward, following the footsteps the two of them left.
“Are you a comet?” she asked the rabbit. He twitched his nose but didn’t reply, and Abigail frowned in confusion. “That’s not a good answer, you know. Are you magical?”
She was starting to stumble now, the cold driving her to the ground, and she thought she’d take a moment to rest and wait for a little bit before continuing on through the snow.
She shivered and clutched the rabbit close to her chest, and found to her confusion that stopping only made her colder.
But thankfully in the distance, she heard a loud shout, and she spied her mother racing towards them.
“Thank goodness you’re okay; I thought you were lost!” her mother scooped Abigail up into her arms, and she held onto her rabbit.
“Why did you run out like that?” her mom asked. “Don’t you know you’re not supposed to leave by yourself?”
“But I was catching Comet,” Abigail replied, holding up the rabbit.
Her mom seemed at a loss for words at first, but finally replied, “I suppose there’s more than one way to stargaze. Come on, let’s get you warmed up.”
4 comments
This is so beautiful. I love how you capture the small, innocent perspective and at the same time make your readers feel what the mother is thinking. Excellently done. Your writing keeps getting better and better. *claps*
ReplyDeleteThank you!!
DeleteThis is so SWEET and perfect
ReplyDeleteAhhHhh I'm glad you liked it :D
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