PLUTO

Well, it failed to make the cut, but this was my entry into this week's Faber Academy #quickfic flash fiction competition where the task was to write a 250 word story prompted by the image attached.

It was my first attempts at one of their contests, because I only found out about it today,  so (for once) I wasn't too disappointed at my total and utter pathetic failure…

Anyway… here it is:

Far out, all alone in the inky, icy darkness, she waited.

Forgotten, left at the periphery whilst her sexier, louder, and more colourful sisters got all of the attention, she was often overlooked and, occasionally, not even considered part of the family any more.

Sometimes she looked back regretfully at those long-forgotten days when they were all much closer together and things had seemed a lot warmer, before she’d been given the cold shoulder and the star of the show had flung her out into the dark, silent cold.

Outside, she watched and waited, diminished, and sometimes ignored as the rest of them danced their merry dances and hogged all of the warmth, and the bluest of the sisterhood sent out gifts and visited all of her siblings.

One of them even had a ring and yet still got so much attention.

She tried not to be bitter, and she tried pretending not to care, but spending her long, empty days sulking on the outside made such things very difficult.

Then, after a lifetime of loneliness, a small, shining parcel appeared in the distance and, as she looked, started to move towards her instead of veering off towards the bright, gaseous figures that always drew all of the admirers.

Finally, it arrived. A shining, silver gift that meant that she was still loved by her family, and so she showed them that, despite everything, she still had a heart, and she loved them with all of it.

Winning entries can be found at their website here… http://www.faberacademy.co.uk/news/2015/07/quickfic-170715-the-winner/