Flash Fiction Friday: Flower Girl

(Source image: unknown title, photo by Mina Bast)

Stacy loved flowers.

As soon as she saw the long-stemmed crimson roses in his hand, she pulled him down the hall toward the bedroom.  She didn’t even bother smelling them, or reading the folded note tucked into the bouquet.  She cast open the door, stripped off his clothes, and flung him onto the bed.

The roses were forgotten, leaves and petals strewn chaotically about the mattress and the floor.  Stacy doffed her own clothing and climbed upon the bed to have her way with him.

Some days, thought Bill, being a flower delivery boy sure is worth it. (98)

-Jack

Behind the Scenes

Some weeks, I find that writing a Flash Fiction Friday story that does the prompt photo justice, includes the required phrase or word, and does not exceed the limit, is easier than others.  I wrote this story in four minutes, as once I determined where it was headed the words flowed very easily.  However, determining this path, and especially the twist at the end, proved challenging.

Knowing that the required word was “folded”, and taking into account her position relative to the man, I considered taking the obvious route and using “folded” to describe her body.  I decided against it relatively quickly, and instead considered other uses for the word.  Somehow I hadn’t noticed the flowers adjacent to the man’s knee, and when I did it made sense that “folded” could refer to a love note included in a bouquet of flowers.

Unwilling to write about a simple, straightforward tryst inspired by a gift of roses, I considered other angles.  In each possible idea, the two people pictured were not necessarily the giver and the recipient of the flowers; I wanted there to be a surprise at the end.  However, none of the ideas I came up with were exactly what I wanted them to be.  I thought about it for awhile, and then it hit me, almost ridiculous in its obviousness:  The recipient fucks the delivery boy.

Deleted Scenes

As with last week, there wasn’t anything that I couldn’t fit, even given the double-digit word limit.  Initially, I inadvertently omitted reference to the folded note, and in order to make it fit I had to remove a few arguably unnecessary words.  I tend to write in a florid style to begin with, and conforming to a word limit forces me to keep my writing leaner than it would be otherwise.

Soundtrack

Given the subject matter, I think "Kiss From a Rose" by Seal is a pretty good choice.

If you'd like to take part in the fun, or see who else participated this week, check out Erotic Flash Fiction Friday.