Tara noticed the flower every morning on her walk to the bus stop. Sprouting through the cracks in the concrete sidewalk, it bloomed, arching toward the sky. She imagined herself far away from this hopeless neighborhood, somewhere beautiful.
“Hey!” Nia, a notorious bully, called to her. Tara ignored her, as usual, as her mother had taught her to do. Nia shoved her, causing her to stumble. Everyone laughed. It wasn’t their laughter that incensed Tara. It was the sight of those yellow petals, crushed under Nia’s sneakered foot. Tara closed her eyes, clenched her fist, and swung into the darkness.
Jennifer Terry 
Do you ‘know’ my daughter Tara? This sounds very much like her. 😉 Needless to say I really enjoyed your post!
Thanks! No, I just think it’s a beautiful name. 🙂
I quite agree, it is a beautiful name.
I like the phrase, “swung into darkness”, as it allows your reader several differing endings
Thank you!
A beautiful story — with a powerful ending. “It was the sight of those yellow petals, crushed under Nia’s sneakered foot. Tara closed her eyes, clenched her fist, and swung into the darkness.” Very moving.
Thank you so much!
‘It wasn’t their laughter that incensed Tara.’ … This sentence indirectly describes Tara’s powerful character! Great piece!
Thanks for saying that! It’s so hard to develop a character with only 100 words.
Tara is a great charcter, and I sympathize with her anger about the destruction of beauty.
Thanks, I appreciate that. It’s hard to create a character with such a limited word count.
How unnerving that was – like reviewing a scene from my childhood. Well done.
Thank you!
I think we all had a stand-up-to-the-bully moment
I really loved this.
Sometimes little things can build up the anger.
Thanks, So true!
Well done. I like the interplay between these two, and the ending is perfect.
Thanks!
“Tara closed her eyes, clenched her fist, and swung into the darkness.” I love that line!
🙂 That makes me happy. Thanks for reading!
Enjoyed this… sometimes injustices drive the need to swing a punch 😉 love the open-ended ending…
Thanks!
My pleasure, Jenn 🙂