“In The Dying Light” was written in April 2023 for a 100-word microfiction contest where I was assigned a genre (Historical Fiction), word (Shot), and action (Starting a Campfire) that were required to be used.

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     And so he sat there, fiddling with sticks in the cave’s gloaming, shot through with blood verging on gangrenous, wondering at it all: the many miles traveled in the saddle, then on foot when his mount failed; the danger wandered through, hope standing in for direction; the life once envisaged now bleeding out, an ichorous puddle growing. 

     Then, a voice floated in, carried on the wind, and a soft shadow stood against the glittering full-moon sky. An ember fell on kindling, her kind face appearing, glowing in the light. Sudden warmth embraced him. Maybe hope led him true after all.

Catch-all