As I promised yesterday, I am posting one of the three flash fiction stories I submitted to NANO Fiction for the 2015 NANO Prize. Unfortunately, I did not win. The story I post below is titled “The Sun Around Angel Wings”. I hope you enjoy.

The Sun Around Angel Wings

 

I grab the spine and tear it away from the shelf. The book falls into my palm. It’s the wrong character. I throw it on the ground. I grasp another—same result.

And so I continue. I empty the shelf once filled with X-Men titles until only a few remain. Characters glare up at me from their covers with their battle-ready poses. I search for my Holy Grail.

Years ago, my mother gave me an X-Men book of which I have regretfully forgotten the name, but not its cover. Angel, dressed in his classic blue-and-yellow, dives toward the reader with his fists pressed forward. The sun blazed around him and outlined the hero in a partial silhouette. The sunlight burned its way through the gaps between his feathers, the image forever imprinted among my memories.

“I don’t read these anymore,” I told my mother when she gave it to me. I threw it away unread.

My comic fascination revived. I keep at it. I claw away at the books on the shelf. I picture my mother’s near-perpetual grimace. I see sunlight fray the edges. I hear store clerks ask what the hell I’m doing. I persist.

The books lie on the floor—no Angel. The guilt that built for years finally clutches my throat. I cannot breathe. An employee pulls me up from my hands and knees.

“I’m sorry,” I say. “I would like to read it now.”

THE END

So what did you think? Please let me know in the comment section below or on my Facebook page.