Every week, Rochelle Wisoff-Fields (thank you, Rochelle!) hosts a flash fiction challenge, to write a complete story, based on a photoprompt, with a beginning, middle and end, in 100 words or less. Post it on your blog, and include the Photoprompt and Inlinkz on your page. Link your story URL. Then the fun starts as you read other peoples’ stories and comment on them!
Get Well Soon!
The helium balloon nodded in the gentle breeze from a fan.
‘Get well soon!’
Liz Nightingale’s eyelids drifted open. She saw the garish good wishes and smiled; she and her grandson, Oliver, had always shared a taste for irony.
Her phone was ringing but Liz didn’t have the strength to answer. The nurse noticed and held the phone where Liz could see it.
There on the screen was a new born baby, protesting her first breaths.
‘We’re calling her Liz, after you,’ said Oliver.
Liz smiled. Her first great-grandchild, and so beautiful.
Gently, with no fuss, her heart stopped beating.
Autumn Leaves 
Such is life, Oliver did something right. There is a school of thought that well are reborn,
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Thank you for your kind comment, Michael. Liz Nightingale and her grandson Oliver were very close. Oliver did everything in his power to make sure Liz saw her great-granddaughter.
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So (well) should read we.
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😉
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An excellent way to go. A good death
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Thank you for your kind comment, Neil. Indeed, Liz went gently.
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Dear Penny,
Such a poignant full circle of life story. I love the way you used the “Get Well” balloon as the ultimate irony. Very touching.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Dear Rochelle
Thank you for your perceptive comment. I’m so glad you spotted the significance of the balloon, and how it illustrates the very relaxed and intimate relationship between Liz and her grandson.
Shalom
Penny xx
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The circle of life. Beautiful story, Penny.
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Thank you for your kind comment, Linda. Indeed, life has gone full circle.
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Poignant story Penny, a good way to go, knowing that life goes on and renews. Beautiful.
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Thank you for your empathic comment, Iain. I’m glad you enjoyed the story.
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A peaceful death is the most any of us can hope for. A very tender and poignant story.
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Thank you for your kind comment, Lisa. It’s a happy ending, really, isn’t it?
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Yes ❤ You're welcome.
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At least she held out until she could greet her great-grandchild. A touching tale indeed.
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Thank you for your empathic comment, Keith. I’m glad you were touched by the story.
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as one life ends another begins. great story.
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Thank you for commenting, Plaridel. I’m glad you enjoyed the story.
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Lovely story.
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Thank you for commenting, creatingahome. Welcome to Friday Fictioneers! I’m glad you enjoyed the story.
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A wonderfully touching story, Penny. Well done.
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Thank you for your empathic comment, Bill. The characters are from a half-finished novel, so I’ve spent many hours with them.
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Full circle, that’s how it should be. Beautifully written, Penny.
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Thank you so much, Gabi. You’re very kind to praise my writing.
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Beautiful story with the touch of irony.
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Thank you for your perceptive comment, Vartika. I’m glad the irony appealed to you; it was more or less the starting point for the story, and it tells us a lot about Liz’s relationship with her grandson, Oliver.
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Sad, but she managed to see her little grandson.
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Thank you for your kind comment, Ali. Not too sad, perhaps – Liz was exhausted and ready to go. To slip away as she looked at her first great grandchild made dying very easy.
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A sad but beautiful story. Liz seems to have been content and surrounded by love as she ended her life. So good that she got to see her first great grandchild.
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Thank you for your perceptive comment, Margaret. Yes, Liz had the love of her family as she died, even though it was expressed through the medium of WhatsApp!
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