from the tent it is a sand and then a water world
I set my shoes
outside
as if I were entering
sancrosanctity
though really the sand-filled things
would not be convenient
in the tent
still
something east of here
and like a desert
calling
and I guess deserts go to coastlines
too
as this beach doesn’t go to desert
actually
but in its narrow strip
still calls what
to us might be
exotic wanderlust
c l couch
from a prompt provided by Melissa Lemay at https://melissalemay.wordpress.com/2025/03/24/melissas-fandango-flash-fiction-challenge-313/ (photo by Sara Cottle on Unsplash)
my thanks for Melissa!
https://melissalemay.wordpress.com/
(at) https://melissalemay.wordpress.com/2025/03/24/melissas-fandango-flash-fiction-challenge-313/
Hello! Welcome to Melissa’s Fandango Flash Fiction Challenge. Each week I will post an image I grab off the internet and challenge bloggers to write a flash fiction piece or a poem inspired by the image. There are no style or word limits.
If this week’s image inspires you and you wish to participate, please write your post and use the tag #FFFC. Please create a pingback to this post and/or manually add your link in the comments. I hope it will generate some great posts. Don’t forget to stop back and read/comment on the posts of others.
Thank you for participating!
Lemur Looking
Who are you
I am a king
Maybe I’m a girl
But I’m a king
What is a zoo
Don’t look at me
I’ll decide
Who’s worthy
C L Couch
a flash response from Melissa Lemay’s prompt, https://melissalemay.wordpress.com/2024/06/03/melissas-fandango-flash-fiction-challenge-271/
I first read Grace's response at https://graceofthesun.com/playful-climb/
Photo by Stephen Hickman on Unsplash
(tag) #FFFC
Jurassic Pet
Mom
I’ve got
To walk
The dinosaur
She’s not hungry
Anymore
(don’t look for the
other pets)
And she drank a lot
Too
(mess on the kitchen floor
sorry)
I think I’ll name
Her Lovey
Like another castaway
On
Repeat TV
See you later
Mom
Because
I think she’s walking
Me
Mom
(from inside)
Wait
Take your father
(from inside)
What
C L Couch
based on Melissa Lemay’s photo prompt at https://melissalemay.wordpress.com/2024/04/29/melissas-fandango-flash-fiction-challenge-266/, more specifically on reading Grace’s response at https://graceofthesun.com/unusual-companion/
Photo [on this page] by Samuel Scrimshaw on Unsplash
Fox without the Hounds
I live in the suburbs of London
now
I enjoy a better class of
living
by trash
Londoners (Englanders,
Britishers)
Are not allowed to shoot me
Or pretty much molest me
in any way
Parliament
it seems
is on my side
I win
I think
I win
C L Couch
(for Br’er Fox)
for Melissa Lemay’s Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge #259
via https://graceofthesun.com/what-did-the-fox-say/
Peter Lloyd on Unsplash
photograph of one who stands different
(flash fiction challenge--the photograph reacted to is at Melissa's site, link below)
she’d like to talk
I think
she has things to say
and has invested in earth colors
and a visible presence
in a crowd
inside a city
who might keep her from talking?
well
she’s surrounded by black forms
hoods
perhaps hijabs like hers
(though hers is kindly brown)
and on the other side
black uniforms
of police
who also wear
visors hard to see through
and though we cannot see them
there must be weapons
somewhere
she has no actual platform
for her platform
there is a sign close by
she might be holding it
ironically
it says
SILENCE IS VIOLENCE
because
well
it is
silence is violence
if the silence is words
frightened
or (otherwise) brutalized
away from utterance
out of consideration
for fear of weaponry
arrest
and isolation
which would
once again
be silence
and this is a message
to the rest
that keeping silent
is through indifference
or only taciturn
approval
a kind of violence
in and of itself
we let it happen
let the wrong things happen
or keep
the right words
the protest words
the revealing words
get out
it’s like the leave to vote
and then
not bothering
infantilizing values
of democracy
her mouth is covered
I don’t know if
from cultural requirement
protection
from infection
or to illustrate her point
she is not tall
which is to say
everyone is taller
all around her
though she (or whoever)
holds the sign high
higher than everyone
to make her point
and maybe find
an invitation
to speak out
from up higher
sometime
she is not subjugated
yet
she’s there
she’s standing
and the sign is standing
not to mention
that the line
of her suit jacket
sends a message
of some fashion
something lined
through razored words
through silence
after all
the eyes are windows
clearly open
though the message
of a moment
might need more
some exchange
some blinking
we could get
from being there
but she needs to talk
everyone there
everyone here
needs to hear
and heed
what she has to say
the need is ours
outside the frame
to find her
and the source of words
and more
in principle
and action
to take away
C L Couch
(for) Melissa’s Flash Fiction Challenge #249
https://melissalemay.wordpress.com/2024/01/01/melissas-fandango-flash-fiction-challenge-249/
(tag #FFFC)
Photo by Priscilla Gyamfi on Unsplash
Chalk writing on the street near the George Floyd memorial in Minneapolis. "Together we will change the world."

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