A Boom of Blue by Nada Adel Sobhi - Flash Fiction

BOOM!

The sound jolts my mind from the multitude of swirling thoughts within. I open my eyes to a background of blue. The smoke surprises me. Is it lethal? Am I going to die?

And yet, there is something kind about it. Soothing even.

I hear people screaming. Several run in my periphery but my eyes are entranced by the ever-growing flower of blue before me.

I grab onto the bench for support. My legs beg me to rise and investigate, but my hammering heart tells me to hold still, sit a moment longer and enjoy the blue.

The yelling fades. I don't know if everyone has run away and left me alone – not that I could complain – or if the smoke has some deafening effect, not complaining about that either.

The bursting blue transfixes me and yet it calls to me. I'm moving! My legs walk of their own accord. They haven't asked my brain for permission. Is that normal?

The blue is growing bigger or is it because I'm the one moving closer?

I stand at the mere edge of the alluring color. It is opaque. I see nothing beside or beyond it.

My hand, too, moves without asking my mind about its next step. It touches the blue smoke and for a moment nothing happens.

Then it engulfs me!

I don't scream or cry. I close my eyes and breathe, bracing myself for the possible end.

Something soft touches my cheek. I open my eyes. It is an old man with eyes as blue as the breathtaking flower of smoke. Time stands still. Then he smiles.

"You are brave," he says.

I wonder if that is true.

He hands me gift box.

I wonder if this some kind of Pandora's box, but as I run my hand over it. Something tells me it is far stronger and more beautiful.

"For the artist and warrior within," he explains. 

By: Nada Adel Sobhi (Nadaness In Motion)

Written Monday, 15 January 2018 at 23:27

(The image was originally posted by Visual Verse as their January writing prompt)