The One Who Remains/100 Word Fiction

This little 100-worder was published last week on 100 Word Fiction (https://100wordfiction.com/the-one-who-remains/). I got paid five bucks for it!! It was originally one of five 100 word pieces all about different people witnessing strange, unsettling events at a neighborhood picnic. I liked the idea of everyone being oblivious, enjoying this very usual event, while a few feet away people are being sucked into holes, etc. FUN! The other pieces did not get accepted, but the did as a stand-alone.

After wandering the yards of his abandoned neighborhood, 12-year-old Gavin cannot find his family and cannot escape the fireworks’ finale. “Too loud,” he cries, rocks, holds his hands to his ears as he stands alone. The booms and sputters of colored spark light up the sky and yards around him, but Gavin responds only to the noise, running from it. Finding the closest house, he punches through glass. Shards explode, cut his skin, blood runs in streams. His face turns upward as he howls into the emptiness. The fireworks persist, insist on celebrating the end of this, all of it.