TBC Publishing Pride Month Flash Fiction Challenge, #28 of 30

TBC Publishing Pride Month Flash Fiction Challenge, 28 of 30

Title: Saved by a Metaphor

Author: R. Scott Tyler

Genre: Fantasy

Word count (500 max): 473

Noomi and Reina had been friends since childhood. Their moms both worked in the countess’s castle, and the families lived together to save money because even peasants working at the castle didn’t make much.

“Noomi, you will soon need to marry so you won’t turn 14 without any options,” Noomi’s mom told her as she got ready for work one day. “There is a chimney sweep at the castle who has a 15-year-old son who is already in his second year as apprentice to the blacksmith. His dad would be happy to get some help in their house as his mother is no longer with them.”

“No, Mom, I will live with Reina when I move out. Her father is gone, and they need more help as well,” Noomi replied, not expecting the punch on her ear given by her mother.

“That is for being so direct and negligent as a daughter,” her mother hissed at her. “You are beautiful, and the blacksmith will make a good living as soon as his apprenticeship is done.”

“But Mom, Reina and I have always planned on living together. Ever since we were little girls,” Noomi retorted, holding her smarting ear. “Reina says we can be our own family.”

Noomi was ready this time, and she ran as her mother turned on her with both fists this time. She ran headlong into her father as he was coming to the kitchen to get his food for a day spent in the fields, bent at the waist, harvesting.

He shoved Noomi roughly aside and pushed his wife back in the kitchen, asking her gruffly if his pack was ready for the day. Of course, Noomi’s mother had been up for hours already, getting everything ready for everyone else before she left to work at the castle in the hot kitchen.

Noomi slipped into Reina’s and her mom’s room and sat on the tatami mat next to Reina, quietly sobbing while telling her the morning story.

Reina’s mom, ready to go to work herself, patted her on the back and said, “As two flowers, you will have to make your way in this world; you will not be planted in a garden together. You will have to jump into the mouth of a fish or bird and let them transport you to a better garden if you want to grow together.”

She smiled at them and immediately left for work, hooking her arm through Noomi’s mom, who glowered at the two girls as they went out the door of the house.

Noomi didn’t understand the advice, but Raina said, “There, you see? Momma knows, and that was her advice. We need to find that fish or bird quickly.”

Noomi leaned in and hugged Raina tighter. “You find the metaphor, and I will be there with you, as always.”

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The Chariot. Forward movement, determination, the ability to overcome obstacles.