Fall Writing Frenzy Contest

Fall is FINALLY here! It’s my favorite time of year! There’s something about fall that makes you want to cozy up (to read or write) a good book. Fall for me feels hopeful, refreshing, and like I can take on anything.

This year I decided (very last minute) to enter the #FallWritingFrenzy contest hosted by Lydia Lukidis and Kaitlyn Leann Sanchez.

I grew up loving fall, with parents that usually went all out for Halloween: homemade costumes, parties, decorations, spooky stories, you name it! (After my brother and I moved out, my parents would even dress up as a witch and wizard and send out Halloween photo cards 🧙‍♂️ instead of Christmas cards)

I’ve been writing middle grade novels lately and my writing has started to turn dark. I let the darkness take over for this entry and…well, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Happy fall! 🎃

TAFFETA AND TULLE (176 words)

By Jessica Haster

I stand here, looking down...and I can hear it.

I hear it over the wind. Over the waves. 

The scream.

It’s just an urban legend.

Yet I’m drawn here, year after year.

To stand at the edge. To look down and wonder.

An accident? An escape? A betrayal?

The wind whips, and I try to anchor myself on the slippery cliff.

Despite the tragedy, I feel enchanted. 

I open my arms and embrace the moon. 

Did she feel it, too? The darkness? The allure?

Barely seventeen. Her whole future before her.

Like the violent sea below me.

What did she feel on the way down?

Fear? Peace? Rage?

Her dress that night was pink taffeta and tulle.

A perfect smile. A sash. A tiara.

I see a piece of tattered pink fabric on the cliffside.

Can it be? I lean closer and squint.

But it was so long ago.

I steady myself on a jagged boulder and lean out a bit farther.

And feel a push...

I know what she felt on the way down.

Click this link to see all the entries