Hello!! And welcome to June . . . already! I have no idea what happened to May. I blinked and it was gone and I didn’t get a thing done. So there it is. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for June, shall we. Anyway, this month’s flash fiction photo is this one:

And, this is what I wrote for it. Hope you enjoy it!

 

Willow shouldered her pack more firmly as she and the CPS woman walked up the steps to the front door. Someone long ago must have tried to liven the place up by painting it a beachy aqua, but now it was peeling away to reveal the battered wood beneath. Tentatively, she gripped the oddly ornate knocker and rapped sharply twice.

She wondered what would happen if no one answered. Would CPS try to find her a home? Or would they dump her in a shelter somewhere? She’d never find out since the door opened to reveal an elderly woman. This woman wasn’t frail, as Willow thought she’d be, since the woman was her great aunt. Instead, she stood tall dressed in battered jeans and an old flannel shirt. Her gray hair hung in a heavy plait nearly to her waist.

“It’s about time you got here,” the woman said. “You said one and it’s nearly half past three.”

“Well, we—” CPS lady started to say, but the woman cut her off.

“Don’t need no excuses. I’m Carrie Jamison,” she said, directing her speech to Willow. “Come on in now and we’ll get you settled.”

“I’m Mrs. Tanner and I need to go over some things with you,” the social worker interjected.

“You’re over two hours late and it messed with my whole day. You can leave whatever paperwork you have and I’ll read it later. Right now, my great niece needs to come in and see where she’ll be living.”

“Mrs. Jamison—” Mrs. Tanner began.

“That would be Ms., I never married. Never saw a reason for it.”

Willow tried not to stare, as her aunt nudged the other woman out of the way.

“Come on now, I’m sure you tired and hungry.”

Willow stepped inside and looked around at where she’d be staying. The inside was so different from the outside, she almost went back out to make sure she was in the same house. The hardwood floors gleamed and the house smelled of spices and cookies. Willow’s stomach rumbled and her mouth began to water, since breakfast had been at eight.

Willow turned as the door closed and she found herself alone with her aunt. She wasn’t sure what to say, since she’d never met the woman before. Her grandmother had cut her daughter off when she’d gotten pregnant so Willow hadn’t known her mother’s family.

“I don’t know how much you know about your family, but you can call me Aunt Carrie. I know your name is Willow.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Willow said. “And I don’t know anything about my family. My mother didn’t talk about her family at all.”

Hell, her mother didn’t talk about much of anything, but Willow wouldn’t say that out loud.

Her aunt gave a small smile, almost as if she could hear Willow’s thoughts.

“Well, you’ll have plenty of time to learn. I might as well tell you, before you hear in town, they say I’m a witch. Now let me show you to your room.”

She walked past Willow and started up the stairs. All Willow could do was stare after her with her mouth hanging open.

 

That’s it for me. Now go and see what my amazing friend Kris Norris did with it.