My Best Friend
"Go on!" she urged. "You know you want to."
I did and I didn't in equal measures, but she always knew how to convince me. She'd been getting me into trouble since I was eight years old. She'd also told me smoking was cool and that Jamie would dump me if I didn't sleep with him. She certainly was wrong that time; he dumped me anyway.
Recently she'd got me into the heavy stuff and I loved and hated her for it. We'd go in search of it on a Wednesday night when we told my mum we were going to art class. "What a joke!" she'd said. But my mum believed us.
Today we went too far and Mum found out. I was lying on my bedroom floor in a pool of my own urine and vomit. My body turning against me.
Later as I lay in bed, sandwiched between clean sheets, my friend came to me. "Next time I'm not listening to you," I whispered.
"Oh yes you will."
"I won't! I've had enough."
"You can't live without me."
"I can!"
"No, you can't. You've tried it before and you didn't last long."
"That was different. I was younger, stupid and lonely."
"And now? Who else do you have but me?"
"I could make more friends."
"I'm not actually sure that you could. It's been just you and me for so long."
"Darling!" she heard her mother shout up the stairs. "Who are you talking to?"
Laura Besley
"Go on!" she urged. "You know you want to."
I did and I didn't in equal measures, but she always knew how to convince me. She'd been getting me into trouble since I was eight years old. She'd also told me smoking was cool and that Jamie would dump me if I didn't sleep with him. She certainly was wrong that time; he dumped me anyway.
Recently she'd got me into the heavy stuff and I loved and hated her for it. We'd go in search of it on a Wednesday night when we told my mum we were going to art class. "What a joke!" she'd said. But my mum believed us.
Today we went too far and Mum found out. I was lying on my bedroom floor in a pool of my own urine and vomit. My body turning against me.
Later as I lay in bed, sandwiched between clean sheets, my friend came to me. "Next time I'm not listening to you," I whispered.
"Oh yes you will."
"I won't! I've had enough."
"You can't live without me."
"I can!"
"No, you can't. You've tried it before and you didn't last long."
"That was different. I was younger, stupid and lonely."
"And now? Who else do you have but me?"
"I could make more friends."
"I'm not actually sure that you could. It's been just you and me for so long."
"Darling!" she heard her mother shout up the stairs. "Who are you talking to?"
Laura Besley
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Happy New Year! I hope everyone's had a wonderful holiday season and I wish you all the best for 2013. I'm back with my weekly flash fiction. This week's story was inspired by a piece of writing that one of my writing buddies submitted to me a few weeks ago. It's strange how that was the inspiration, but the pieces couldn't be more different.
A couple of weeks ago I set up a facebook author page and I've already had loads of 'likes'. If you haven't yet, I'd be very grateful if you could 'like' the page! Click here for Laura Besley Writer.
I've also stepped, rather gingerly, into the 21st century and have set up a twitter account! If you'd like to follow me, I can be found bumbling my way through this technology @laurabesley
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Flash Fiction is short enough to read whilst you're waiting for the kettle to boil. It's fairly quick to write too, but with it being so short, every word has to count.
On 4th May 2012 I decided to embark on a project: to write a piece of Flash Fiction every day. I'm hoping this will keep the creative juices flowing and ultimately help me hone my craft. Every Friday I'll be posting 'the best of the week' onto my blog for you to read. If you have anything to say (good or 'constructive'!), I'm open to comments.
Thanks, as always, for reading.
