Captive by Jennifer Braunfels
The pounding of his boots neared behind her. Her three-year-old, in his blue train pajamas, bounced on her hip. His fingertips dug into her skin. His tears soaked her shoulder. She cried out every time something pierced her bare feet, but she kept running.
As he spat curses at her, she pressed her mouth against her son’s ear and whispered, “Pretend you’re riding an animal. Pretend I’m a pony like the one you rode at the farm last summer.”
Her husband’s footsteps stopped. The familiar click of him loading his gun. The nearest house was only a hundred feet away. She felt sure she would make it.
Jennifer Braunfels lives in Maine, where she’s taught high school English for twenty-five years. Her short story, “That’s All, Folks” was published in the Whiskey Tit Journal. Her short story, “Devil’s Inkwell,” received an Honorable Mention in the WOW! Women on Writing Fall 2021 Flash Fiction contest. Jen hopes to become a “real writer” someday. .
www.jenniferbraunfelsmaineauthor.com
Photograph by Erin Towns – erintowns.me
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Loved this story. Flash fiction the way it should be for me.
Thank you.