As he took her in his muscular arms, she remembered that silly game she played as a child.

She lay motionless on the floor as her friends tried to lift her.  “Light as a feather, stiff as a board”, they chanted.  These words sounded over and over in her head until, finally, she felt her body rising from the ground.

“Light as a feather, stiff as a board.”

She knew it was just mind over matter.  Somehow the chanting made her eight-year-old body seem weightless.

Now, ensconced in her lover’s protective grasp, she truly felt as light as a feather.  As he lay her down on the bed, though, she found it was he who was as stiff as a board. (121)

-Jack

Behind the Scenes:

This was one of the easiest Flash Fiction Friday stories I’ve ever written.  The idea came to me the instant I saw the prompt photo and the required phrase (“light as a feather”), and I knew more or less how I would structure the story right off the bat.  There was very little elaboration or character development, allowing for a smoothly-flowing narrative.

If you are unfamiliar with the party game referred to in the story, it’s known as “Light as a feather, stiff as a board”, though Wikipedia lists “party levitation” as an alternate name.  As I’ve never attended a girls’ slumber party, the entirety of my knowledge of this activity comes from an episode of South Park.  Upon reading the required phrase I decided to do a little research – as any good writer does – and found a few details that fit as well.

Deleted Scenes:

There wasn’t anything that had to be cut in order to fit the 123-word limit.  Again, the story is more or less as I planned it to be from the beginning.  In fact, I was very surprised that I was as close to the limit as I ended up being; I honestly expected to bring this story in at around eighty or ninety words.

The relative sparseness of this story is demonstrated by the presence of the almost-totally superfluous italicized “Light as a feather, stiff as a board” near the end of the story.  Most of my Flash Fiction Friday efforts are so densely-worded that such a line would be the first thing cut  when I’m trying to edit down the story.

Soundtrack:

“In My Girlish Days” by Memphis Minnie seems appropriate for a woman reflecting on her childhood, while still providing a substantial bluesy sound that would play well against a scene of sensuality.

If you’d like to take part in the fun, or see who else participated this week, check out Erotic Flash Fiction Friday.