250-word story

Some friends were describing the writing assignment of 250-word short story. I tried one, and thought I’d share it here:

Barbara

Wiping the beads of perspiration from her wrists and eyebrows, Barbara stared down at her feet, humming to herself. The past few moments had been interesting, very interesting. She was up at least six or seven inches, and she could remember oh so very clearly being an inch, and if she really thought her hardest, she could remember her feet both firmly planted on the ground. She giggled at the memory, and the high-pitched vibration she emitted seemed to lift her higher still.

It’s not like she had regrets, certainly she had worked harder than most to keep both on the ground, the floor, the carpet, the adobe tile. Her so-called mother had always instructed her about this, but that praying mantis of a woman hadn’t a clue. Not a clue, she repeated to herself, grinning at the thought.

Barbara hummed more, increasing her volume to mask the humming in her head, the low trilling noise that seemed to be coming from everywhere, inside, outside, and nowhere. She could barely see her floor, the grout turning to ants, the people turning to ants, the ants turning to ants. The wind tickled her toes, the humming now thrumming, now throbbing. High above the atmosphere (and Barbara absolutely knew the importance of atmosphere), a final whoosh as she crossed the threshold, into the hold, the doors swished shut, the ship – the mother ship – engaged the engine and away, away, she was off, away, with mother, off to home, her home, away.

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