I’m pulled from my dreams by the horn of a train as it passes. The horn screams non-stop and I wince, waiting for the screeching of metal, the human screams of terror and the finality of squealing brakes.
I dive out of bed, throwing clothes on with no fashion consciousness, and head for the train tracks across the road, anticipating the carnage I’m about to see.
Sure enough, there’s a bunch of anguished metal, once a car; but wait, the crowd’s cheering. Why?
Approaching, I ask the question. A young woman responds, “it’s just a training exercise after all.”
I was challenged to write a drabble of the word ‘horn'.
Wikipedia defines a drabble as follows :
A drabble is a short work of fiction of precisely one hundred words in length. The purpose of the drabble is brevity, testing the author's ability to express interesting and meaningful ideas in a confined space.
If you like this Drabble, why not check out my latest book, due to be published on 30 May 2024.
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About the Creator
Colleen Millsteed
My first love is poetry — it’s like a desperate need to write, to free up space in my mind, to escape the constant noise in my head. Most of the time the poems write themselves — I’m just the conduit holding the metaphorical pen.
Keep reading
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By Matthew J. Fromm3 days ago in Fiction
The Silent Symphony of Raven’s Peak
The winding road to Raven’s Peak was less of a path and more of a warning. Covered in a thick, suffocating mist that seemed to breathe with a life of its own, the trail led to a village that maps had forgotten fifty years ago. I, Oliver Vance, a journalist obsessed with urban legends, was determined to find out why an entire community had simply stopped speaking.
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Comments (3)
Thought-provoking, I thought it would be some train wreck accident thing.. at least it was only an exercise :D
Training exercise for what? Sorry for my ignorance 😅
Excellent Drabble! So relieved to read the ending… you had me worried!😳 Congratulations on publishing your second book!✅🤩