A short story (written by me)

Hello again :D

Two posts in one day I hear you say, it can't be! I'm spoiling you all today... Anyways, here is a short story I have written, it's for my university Creative Writing lesson but I wanted to share it. I hope you enjoy reading it.

(ps. It's flash fiction and had to be about 500 words long)

AVM

She stood with her nose pressed against the glass case, a small finger pointed at the animal inside and a look of confusion on her face.

“Daddy, what is that?”

She was pointing at a small otter which was floating on its back in the pool in its enclosure. I crouched down next to her and she looked up at me expectantly, her eyes were wide and her brow was furrowed in concentration.

“It’s an otter.”

“Oh okay. A boy or a girl?”

She turned back to look at the other while I looked at the small silver plaque on the glass case and read it aloud to her.

“This is Oliver, he is a 5-year-old male otter.”

“I like him.”

She smiled and pushed her nose up against the glass, her breath causing a small circle of condensation. She knocked on the glass and waved at the otter that was still drifting around the pool.

“Hello Oliver.”

She sighed.

“Where is Mummy? I think she would like Oliver.”

I looked at her and her big, green eyes studied my face, she looked just like her mother. It was a sunny day but I felt cold and full of dread.

“Daddy.”

I tried to think of an excuse. My thoughts were interrupted when I spotted a Policeman a few hundred yards in front of me. I stood up and held out my hand and she took it.

“Mummy is sick today, she had to stay at home remember?”

She sighed and looked at the ground.

“Ok.”

It was a mistake for me to think the zoo would be busy today; there were no crowds to hide amongst just a few innocent people strolling along and peering into the different animal enclosures. No-one else was here trying to hide.

We left the zoo.

“Do we have to go Daddy?”

“Yes sweetheart, I’m sorry.”

I could tell she was disappointed because she kept slowing down and turning to face the gates that we were walking away from.

We walked to the car and I helped her into her car seat before getting in myself, I put my hands on the wheel and closed my eyes thinking where I could go from here.

I felt like a rebellious teen running away from home but with more guilt and fear.

I opened my eyes.

My phone vibrated in my coat pocket, I hesitated praying it was a text and not a phone call. I reached for it and saw the small blue light flashing, phew, just a text.

It was from my brother; I clicked on the unread message and wondered if he knew.

“What’s going on, Angie just rang me, where the fuck are you?!”

Shit.

There was a picture attached to the message, I clicked open and waited for the image to load.

It was a CCTV image showing a middle-aged man holding hands with a small girl.

There was a thud as my phone fell onto the car floor.

“Daddy, what’s wrong?”

END.