December Flash Friday, the Third

This week’s flash fiction was written last year. The inspiration was a writing prompt ‘Children’s story with the theme: peas’ – limit 500 words. Just a bit of fun.

Snow Peas

By Karen J Carlisle (c) 2013

Mum always tells us to eat our greens. They are good for us.  We grow them in the front yard. This year she went pea mad, planting every pea type known.

I hate peas. I swallow them whole, like pills.

Mum planted snow peas. She was hoped I would like them. I did, but not as mum had hoped.

Summer was hot. The snow peas were dying. Mum was sad. I wished I could help. I wanted to chase the heat away. I couldn’t, so I ate the snow peas.

They were cold. As I opened my mouth, a gust of cold air rushed out. It filled the room. Small icicles grew on everything it touched. Mum almost fell off her chair in surprise.  I opened my mouth again, this time freezing mum’s cup of tea. Then I had an idea.

Outside the sun was still beating down. I turned towards the vegetable garden and breathed. The air chilled around me. The temperature dropped. It felt like Spring. If I could lower it for long enough then maybe the peas could survive the heatwave. The temperature continued to drop. Now it was like winter.  Small icicles formed on the leaves, turning the tips black.

I heard the front door slam. Mum stood beside me.

“Oh dear,” she said. “Peas don’t like frost.”

Mum looked sad. I didn’t speak. The peas continued to freeze.  She hugged me.

“Thank you for trying,” she said. Though mum was upset at the loss of her babies, I must admit I was glad that I did not have to eat any more peas that summer.

It took two days for the snow pea effect to wear off. During that time, we discovered many new flavours of icies. Mum decided that she was not going to make me eat peas anymore. I suppose I do love snow peas, after all.

 THE END

*Flash fiction is a short story of less than 800 words (definitions vary from 500-1000 words)

December Flash Friday, the Third