CBA Record January 2019

Flash Fiction Creative Writing Contest –Third Place– Quietly l By Daniel P. Lindsey

 Ana slumped down into the curve of cracked orange plastic. From here she could avoid the gaze of the receptionist, a large block of woman with an accent heavy on borscht and light on vowels. Not that Ana was judging. Her maternal grandparents came over from the steppes of Eastern Europe–so far east it was Asia, depending on who you asked. Gramma Ulyana had been her favorite person in the world, but, had she been here, she would have been the one judging. Ana didn’t need the reminder. A whoosh of air and a chime of bell. Ana felt a chill, and then, even without look- ing, she knew: her mother. Ana stayed very still. When she was little she and her mother played a modified version of Hide and Seek. The Hider would go into the next room and find a spot in plain view, and after a count of twenty the Seeker would come into the room with eyes closed, moving slowly and feeling along the wall. The Hider would sit as still and as quiet as possible, while the Seeker would listen and reach out and creep along. If the Hider could remain undetected for more than two minutes, she won the round. Ana started counting. Maybe if she concentrated hard enough her mother would play the game. Maybe if she could last two minutes, her mother would go away. “Ana?” She looked up. For a confused moment she found herself staring into the face of Gramma Ulyana. How could that be? Was the force of Gramma Ulyana’s disapproval so great that she had summoned herself here from beyond the grave?

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