Daily Flash Fiction S2 #3: Flahooler
Aaron walked glumly, eyes fixed on the ground, mouth set in a manner that mirrored the hemisphere of rising sun on the road behind him.
No flahooler he; life was serious and he knew it. There was a peat harvest to get in, and if he didn’t get it he would have nothing to sell and his children would starve. the previous days work had given him meager pickings, and much would need to be harvested for him to make up for it.
The day was clear, but as he moved with his mouth set he saw clouds gather overhead, and the rain started to fall. He reached the spot and started cutting with his tool, but the rain made his feet slip and slide, and soon he fell and slid down the embankment to the edge of the river. He sat there, defeated, sagging, and then he heard a noise. He thought it was running water for a second, but he soon identified it as laughter. He looked up a saw a small girl, no more than four years, standing in a white dress and laughing.
He was angry for about half a second, until the laughter wore away at him like the river against its banks. It was infectious, honest, and he started to laugh himself.
The rain seemed less heavy somehow, he didn’t feel as wet. He stood and looked up and even as he looked he saw a bright patch on the horizon as the rain passed. He looked back down.
The girl was gone. He realized then that she hadn’t looked wet, not at all.