Written by John Davis Frain

Flash Mystery of the Week – 23 Feb 2017

Going Home

Reading time: 1 1/2 minutes

He stood in the shadow of daybreak. Sand gave way to surf. Ocean inched closer with the tide as minutes ticked by. Gentle waves lapped over his bare feet. A sense of home tingled23gold through his skin.

At the edge of the horizon, the sun crept above the waterline. He turned, one final look at the skyscrapers, before tiptoeing into the civilization before him. So quiet, all sound trapped under the waves. One step. Then another. And he was waist deep. Surrounded by his true world.

He cupped his hands, released his webbed feet from their hold in the sand, and splashed forward. A butterfly from its cocoon. Smooth, powerful strokes thrust him onward. A surge of energy commanded his mighty muscles. The water took him in. Caressed him like a mother. At last, a terrific distance now from shore, he slipped his head ‘neath the surface and swam downward into the sea where he touched the hand of God.

ocean-swimIt marked the last opportunity to catch a glimpse of Michael Phelps. Residents of an archipelago miles east of Brazil claim they spot him occasionally. Always smiling. Ever at peace.

The End.

 

Usual instructions: Enjoy the story, and determine what today’s tale has to do with today’s date: 23. We’ll be back with the solution in a day or two. If you can’t wait for another one next week, you can catch up on a previous mystery of the week.

 

 

8 thoughts on “Flash Mystery of the Week – 23 Feb 2017”

  2. Being a nerd, my mind goes to Aquaman. But I am like Elyse, I am too into the writing to winkle out the mystery. (I’m also an EXTREMELY passive mystery consumer; I *love* to be told and hate it when I can figure out the twists.)

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    1. Oh, Diane, I am sooooooooooo like you. Movies or books, same way. I enjoy the story and let the mystery unfold for me. When people ask me when I figured it all out, I usually say, “when they told me.” I am rarely one to guess the whodunit half way through.

      These are difficult for me to balance the mystery so far, but hopefully I’ll get better as time goes along. Thanks for stopping in.

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  3. Very nice, sir, very nice. And, unless Wikipedia has me wrong, Michael Phelps holds the record of 23 Olympic gold medals–is that where your devious mind was turning? 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Winner, winner, chicken dinner! Although, unfortunately, there’s no chicken dinner or anything else for the winner. Except bragging rights! You always get those. We also had a winner via email, so at least I can feel like it wasn’t too frustrating or impossible.

      Finding the right balance between obvious and easy is a difficult spot to land on, but I hold out hope that this blog practice will help me in novel writing when trying to give clues that are available but not obvious. Time will tell.

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  4. I’ve been busy the past few weeks ending one job and beginning another, so this suggestion may have already been offered and I missed it – but – you ARE going to do a mystery a day for the April A to Z Challenge, aren’t you??????

    =)

    Congrats Colin! You beat me to it.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. New job! Great fun, Dena. Busy, too, I’m sure of that. But that’s exciting stuff when you’re starting new things with new people.

      Ah, the A to Z Challenge. Thanks for suggesting. I guess that deserves a thanks, suggesting I work my tail off getting creative for 30 days! I have Colin to thank (sometimes I prefer the word “blame”) for getting me into A to Z last year. And it was great fun. So, yes, I think I shall partake again. I’ve even got an idea already that I’m quite excited about. You might say I’m dying to bring it to you!

      Thanks for stopping over, Dena, I’m about to start getting out more as I’m catching up in my work.

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