Photo by The UpNorth Memories

It was a joy to play with some flash fiction today, courtesy of Charli Mills’ wonderful community at The Carrot Ranch. Those of you who have read this blog since the early days, when I was just starting to build relationships with other writers on Twitter, know flash fiction has always been a love of mine. It’s such a beautiful, concise, fun form. 

This 99 word story is a result of a prompt from The Carrot Ranch: Fanny Hooe. Legend says Fanny was visiting her sister, when she disappeared into a Michigan lake, or was eaten by bears while fetching berries. In any case, locals say she was never seen again, and the lake was named after her. Records, however, show that she probably moved area and became Mrs White and had a child. Anyway, here’s my take.

Fanny Hooe

They say she had hair like spun hay and her pretty soprano voice soothed the most wretched heart. They say the touch of her lips fell like satin on the roughest cheek, and old crones wept when they looked upon her, in mourning for their lost youth.

But I know her legend to be a brittle lie. 

Always the lesser sister, the one who hooted at others’ misfortune, interested only in men’s purses, not their hearts. That lake was the making of Fanny Hooe. When she emerged from it, her sins had been washed away. 

She found new life.