It powers in with a rush and a roar, surrounding the building in seconds. Becca staggers to her feet, careens from room to room, arms wrapped around her head. The entire apartment throbs. War. It can only be war. China? North Korea? Plenty of choices these days.
Finally the thwapping fades.
Panic says it’s war; logic says just another damned tourist helicopter. Her single crystal wineglass, the one she hid from Richard’s sister to ruin the bar set, is the casualty this time. Vibrated itself right off the counter. Becca swigs from the bottle until her heart finally slows.
Every week at the Ranch, Charli hosts the Rough Writers and Friends flash fiction challenge. This week’s prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), use sound to create a story. Fun flashes from other writers are at the link. Join us! It’s fun!
99 Monkeys 
Hope it’s the danged tourists. Dark, though I like how she ruined the bar set. Hee.
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Thanks!
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Great flash Deborah. You certainly succeeded with the sound and you got in another few layers as well. Loved the dark humour.
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Layered is what I was going for, so thank you!
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Great flash, Deborah. Must be karma with that wine glass, eh? I’m pleased it’s just the tourists’ helicopter this time. Your story reminded me of my response to a movie I saw as a child, The Inn of the Sixth Happiness. In one scene, children were escaping across the field when war planes flew over. They had to hide. For years after I was worried about war when I heard planes overhead. The fear is real again. As you say, the threat is everywhere.
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Helicopters close in like that always make me think the end of the world is nigh, even though I have no real reason to react that way. I cannot imagine what it would be like to have really gone through something like that.
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I agree. I hope we don’t get to any time soon.
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Thwapping is a great word. And I love the added detail of the swiped crystal glass and why. It says much in this story, as does the panic and the noise. Not much noise pollution on the Keweenaw, although it feels odd to not hear trains in the distance. We’ve always lived near trains. But twice a day, I hear the Isle Royale Beaver fly out of the harbor and return! And occasionally a freighter comes through blasting its fog horn to the lift bridge.
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Thank you! It’s funny what you get used to. I couldn’t sleep for months after we moved out of the airport flight path;it was too quiet! I’ve got it all where we live now in Tacoma: trains, carriers flying in to Lewis-McChord; and I absolutely love the sound of ships’ foghorns down at the port.
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That’s true — often the absence of sounds is more noticeable, like walking in the forest and it goes silent. It’s quiet near a wolf’s den. The foghorn is new and still fun. One day we were out at the beach (yes, rocks!) and it was sunny except for a distant swath of fog on the lake horizon. Evidently it was the shipping lane because we heard the distant figures about every five minutes! But we couldn’t see any freighters. I so badly want to go out to Isle Royale, but it’s six hours each way. I think I’m going to start saving for it and go next summer. I can stay in the island a few days hear what there is or isn’t to hear!
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