November is Flash Nano month where hundreds of anglo writers are given a daily prompt to trigger a flash fiction piece of under 1,000 words. This is the first year I haven’t done it around a business conference in Lisbon. The first prompt was “14 Years Ago” and here’s my Flash Fiction story.
Flash Nano No 1. 14 Years Ago – Single Mom
14 years ago today, she’d brought Ellen home from the hospital. The baby had weighed seven pounds, eleven ounces and was not a pretty baby, although some people lied and said she was.
Others commented on things like her ears (perfectly shaped) nose (cute).
Ellen had been a good baby. Within five weeks she slept through the night. Oh, she cried when she had colic, but that was short lived.
Granted, she was a little slow to walk, but once she did nothing could stop her. Her playpen and crib were pieces of furniture to crawl out of.
By then she was no longer ugly. Her head no longer resembled an inverted gourd. In fact, she’d become darn right cute.
As her mother, Gina adored her although she had debated giving her up for adoption. Had she known she was pregnant earlier, Ellen might have been aborted. At 23, single and with the father wanting nothing to do with either of them, Gina wasn’t sure she could raise a child.
Fortunately, she was secretary or personal assistant as she preferred, to a boss who let her bring the baby to work for the first six months. Her boss was a woman, far more understanding about a single mom than her parents had been who had thrown her out saying they would have nothing to do with a daughter who sinned.
When Ellen was no longer able to be confined and wandered around the office, Gina began the search for a babysitter. A co-worker, had a neighbor who had two small children, and offered to take care of Ellen.
It didn’t work. Ellen cried every time she was left. Then Gina noticed the bruises on Ellen’s hands and legs.
Again her boss understood and helped her find day care. It took up half Gina’sr pay.
Gina missed dating, but men she met didn’t want a girlfriend with baggage someone who had to be home to make the babysitter’s curfew. One babysitter who took a ride with Gina’s date said he made a pass at her.
Gina decided that it was better not to date. She found comfort in books and television. At Christmas time she tried to believe the fairy stories in Hallmark Christmas movies could happen to her but in her daily routine of dropping Ellen at day care, working, picking her up, feeding her and putting her to bed, incognito princes were hard to find.
A co-worker invited Gina and Ellen to Christmas dinner. Tom, the co-worker’s older brother, didn’t mind a woman with baggage. He understood curfews. Over the years they became a family.
Two days ago, they celebrated Ellen’s 14th birthday. The house had been full of giggly teenage girls. Today, the anniversary of Gina deciding to keep Ellen, she celebrated quietly telling no one what she almost did 14 years ago.
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