Ten years ago, I sat in a doctor’s office and watched my bouncing child press her fingers— orange from the cheese puffs she’d just eaten— and face against the cool glass of the fish tank, sucking in her cheeks and making popping noises with her lips at the fish.
Time flew by, though the tank remains.
I pat her knee. “Whatever happens, it’s your decision. You’re my child, but that one isn’t.”
She folds her hands in her lap. Her fingertips still orange from the dye she colored her hair with last week.
“Did you call Darren?”
“He won’t answer.”
Typical. Boys push so hard to be men. They coerce girls out of their virginities, exploit the beauty of bodies, but when responsibility comes knocking, they retract into themselves like hermit crabs. “I’ll call his mother.”
I don’t press for more. I know her mind is cluttered with a million scenarios of how quickly her life could change. Mine is too. How quickly both our lives will change when the doctor returns with the results.
word count: 175
—Nortina
Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers is a weekly challenge where you write a story in 100-150 words (give or take 25 words) using the provided photo prompt as inspiration.
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Lovely Curses 
great use of the prompt.. love the orange theme running through and the knowingness of the change about to come
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A really well written story, Nortina. I love the orange stained fingers. Great story. 🙂
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I like the way you transitioned her from a child to an expectant mother.
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That’s a tough situation for the girl. Interesting how she was the little child and now she maybe having one. I hope she keeps it.
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Yes, teen pregnancy is so hard. She’s barely grown herself, and now she has to make grown up decisions. Hopefully the right ones. Thanks for reading!
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I like how the story changed from child to teenager (still with the orange stained fingers) and tied in with the fish tank in the doctor’s office all in such a small amount of words. Really enjoyed your story, Nortina.
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So well written Nortina….the issues of children never leave us even when they change the life we may be leading….
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Excellent story and well written. I could so easily see this happening, I felt like I was there watching it. Your story is so sadly true in far too many cases.
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