The Sarah Cycle
Day 28- Sarah is sad again. Melissa was taken to the hospital today. Sarah was told the girl would likely not return. Sarah decided to watch puppy videos online to console herself.
Day 1, First Impression- Today, Sarah got to meet Abby. Abby seems eager to connect with Sarah, but Sarah seems apprehensive to interact with this new girl.
Day 3- Abby has been leaving puzzles and riddles for Sarah to solve on the table in the center of the room. The girl seems to be tickled at how quickly Sarah solves each one. Sarah has made no attempt to interact with Abby other than to solve her riddles and puzzles.
Day 5, First Attributes- Abby seems to be losing interest in getting to know Sarah just as Sarah seems to be showing an interest in Abby. Abby has started solving many of the puzzles and riddles on her own without asking Sarah for input.
Day 7, First Indirect Contact- Abby fell today when she grew bored with puzzles and decided to time herself running the length of the room. Sarah reached out to console Abby, but then quickly pulled away. Sarah called out for help and offered Abby a teddy bear to hold until someone came to help.
Day 8- Sarah asked if Abby would be back tomorrow and smiled when she learned that Abby would return after a day of rest.
Day 9- Today, Sarah greeted Abby when she arrived and the two played together all day. When it was time for Abby to leave, she reached out to hug Sarah, but Sarah told her maybe they could hug another day. Abby tilted her head and then shrugged before waving goodbye.
Day 12, First Symptoms- The girls enjoyed another day of play, but Abby soon grew tired of bouncing around. When Sarah asked if she could read to Abby, she quickly requested three of her favorite books for Sarah to read.
Day 15- Each day the girls play less and less but seem to enjoy each other’s company more and more. Abby adores the way Sarah reads to her, expressing that she wished adults would read to her with such funny voices.
Day 18, Secondary Symptoms- Abby arrived late to play time today and Sarah yelled at her that she was very worried. Abby said that she wasn’t feeling well but didn’t want to miss their play time. Instead of their usual game of tag, Sarah suggested they start with a game of hot and cold, it did not require either of them to run in order to play it.
Day 19, First Contact- Today when Abby was getting ready to leave, Sarah asked for a hug. Abby hesitated at first and asked if Sarah was sure she wanted a hug. Sarah said, “Yes. I want to hug you because you are the best best-friend I’ve ever had.”
Day 22, Final Symptoms- Abby arrive late to play time again, but Sarah didn’t yell at her. She prepared a special reading nook for Abby to lay in and told her, upon arrival, that she would sing and dance for her before reading some of her favorite stories.
Day 25- Abby didn’t arrive to play time today and Sarah was very upset. She asked for Abby all day. Sarah refused to eat or play with any of her toys.
Day 26, Critical Condition- Abby came to play time today, but she could barely hold her head up or keep her eyes open. Sarah told her it was fine and that she would take care of her. Sarah set Abby up in the special reading nook she’d made for her a few days before.
Day 27- After a day of singing, dancing, and reading to Abby, Sarah gave her a big hug and told her she couldn’t wait to see her again the next day.
Day 28- Sarah is sad again. Abby was taken to the hospital today. Sarah was told the girl would likely not return. Sarah decided to watch sloth videos online to console herself.
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FCA- 677-words- The Sarah Cycle 2019 Copyright © Toinette J. Thomas
Please visit other entries in this hop (February 1-20) and enjoy some funny, scary, touching, and thought-provoking stories. You’ll be so glad you did. Look for names with DL next to it.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords
55 replies on “28 Days #WEPFF Challenge featuring The Sarah Cycle #amwriting #flashfiction”
That is really sad.
I know. I just can’t seem to write a happy story right now. Thanks for reading it.
I agree it was sad. Well done. A very interesting presentation. Enjoyed.
Thank you. I wasn’t sure it would come off right, but I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Poignant and heartrending.
Thank you.
An interesting take and depressing, in part as I am not sure what is really happening. But that is probably my depression kicking in. I will have to keep re-reading this. For 28 days? I suspect that sloth or lemur is the clue – or maybe not.
The sloth has a meaning, but probably not the one you are thinking. At the beginning Sarah watched puppy videos to console herself, but at the end she chose sloths. It is a depressing story. I could have written more background, but would have exceeded the word count and would have taken away from the emotional impact of the story a bit. Perhaps I’ll do a follow up.
Okay, no need for follow-up as clearer now. I was looking for hidden meanings – even robots.
Aw… Poor Abby and Sarah. So sad. Well thought out and written!
Thank you. I tried really hard to write a different story, but this is what came out.
Very well done. And with many (many!) eerie similarities to my own WIP for the challenge… 🙂
It appears we’ve been sharing a bit of a brain.
Whoa! Cool. I can’t wait to read it.
Hmm… I wonder what’s happening to Sarah’s friends. Also what’s the full form of DL?
Glad the story has you wondering.
DL is direct link. That means the participating blogger has posted their entry and provided a direct link. I hope you will visit some, if not all of them. These stories never fail to entertain.
Sure thing Toi. Thanks 🙂
There’s one against your entry Bernadette when i saw you had your story up.
Oops… Did not see that.
Toi, your story has a real emotional impact. It took me to the hospital waiting rooms I’ve visited over time. Depressing places so I’d expect your story to be somewhat depressing. I like the progression from puppy videos to sloth videos. Shows so much you need to tell less. A great way to use the prompt you so cleverly came up with! It made me think.
Thanks for participating, Toi. Mine is up now.
Denise
Thanks, Denise. This one didn’t come to me easily. I was not fully confident in it, but I’m glad I posted it as is, and didn’t change too much. All the comments have given me guidance and inspiration to possibly add more to it.
A very sad story. I wonder who they are and where the story takes place. It has a science-fiction-y feel, like something happening in a lab. Distressing.
Great observation, Olga. It is in a lab. I was hoping to capture that without stating it. Sorry, it’s so sad, but that’s the emotion I too felt when writing it.
I got the sadness of losing a friend, perhaps forever.
Yes, it is a forever loss.
Such a sad story. It sounds like a hospice for termainlly ill children? I can only imagine the trauma of losing one friend after another so tragically. The ending had as much impact as the beginning.
Thank’s for that Debbie. I’m glad you noticed the impact of the beginning and the end. It’s a sad cycle, thus the title.
This is a really sad story and I wonder at the situation. Is Sarah Patient Zero of an epidemic? Are doctors trying to vaccinate others against the epidemic and it takes 28 days for them to figure it out?
This is a really tough story, but I think you’ve done a great job with it.
Wow, Tyrean, you got it! I know it’s a messed-up concept, but it’s what came to me. I imagine this world is losing their children to this disease daily. Sarah is the only one who’s healthy because she was the first to get sick and make a recovery. I want to write more, where I show all the remaining children living in quarantine, where they can’t interact with other kids or adults. Exposure to Sarah is the ultimate test to see if the child will survive.
A great take on the prompt! The blossoming of trust and attachment, and then the likelihood of loss. A tragic story. Made me think of children’s cancer. Very well crafted.
Thank you. This is one of the hardest stories I’ve written and I wasn’t sure people would get it. I’m glad it’s being received well.
So sad when children are ill when young. It touches the heartstrings as a parent. The observations tell a story and give a hint at the tenuous interaction of children who just want companionship. Well done!
Thank you. I actually drew from stories I’d heard from my husband and another woman who both were hospitalized as children and had to stay in one of those oxygen bubbles for a while. They both said that as a kid being sick didn’t hurt that much, but being alone made them scared and lonely. If they hadn’t been scared and alone, they wouldn’t have felt the pain.
Hi,
Children dying is so hard to accept and to understand. Your story made me think about death. It is a fact of life but it is hard to stomach. I came away sad, but that is also a fact of life we have to work through. Only through sadness, hurt, or pain do we experience joy and know the difference when we enter a joyful phase of life.
Shalom aleichem,
Pat G
Thank you for your beautiful words. I’m not the kind of person who thinks about death all the time, but when writing this story, I felt I needed to address some of my own fears. I’ve watched other family and friends deal with the sickness and or loss of children. And while I want all children to have a chance at life, I selfishly pray that the children I care about most, get to grow up and experience all that life has to offer. I guess that’s how I came up with Sarah.
A tragic but well-written take on the prompt. Well done, Toi.
Thank you.
This was a sad and moving story. You did a great job of evoking powerful feelings with a small number of words. Well done!
Thanks for that. I toyed with adding more to it, but decided to go with the first edited draft.
This is quite a unique story. I find myself relating to the character as I tend to form only superficial bonds with people due to not wanting to get hurt as I have in the past.
Yes, for Sarah, I wanted to show that even children can be apprehensive when they’ve been hurt, but still have a greater ability to heal (emotionally) and try to trust again, than most adults.
Oh, this is good. VERY good! I had to read it twice, and then think about it and then I got it! Love it!
Aww, thank you! I’m glad you loved it. I was so worried it would turn people off, but I love that everyone seems to get it. It’s a sad story, but it’s not about being sad. It’s about being human, and fragile, emotional, imperfect, and more. It’s about the cycle of life and death. So glad you liked it.
How sad. And how well written the emotions are, to pull us into their world. Now I’m sad again. 🙁
Sorry I made you sad, but I appreciate that you felt the emotion in the story. It wasn’t easy to write and I’m very pleased with the reaction from readers. I’ll try to write something happier next time.
Heart breaking entry. Very well written though. Makes me want to hug a child.
Yes, it does. I called all my nieces and nephews, just to check in on them, when I was editing this piece.
A moving tale, sad and tragic.
Thank you.
Hi Toi – I felt for all concerned … it must be so difficult with youngsters such as these with their special needs … brilliantly well told. Very thought provoking – all the best Hilary
Thank you, Hilary. It’s tough to write about illness in general, but when it applies to children it so much harder. Glad you liked it.
Very sad!
It has an unnatural, almost a clinical feel, as if this is an experiment of sorts…
I can imagine doctors in white lab coats monitoring the daily exchange between the girls and writing down their observations. But I could be way off the mark.
A bit scary too!
You got it. It is a lab and the children are being observed. One is sick and the other isn’t. They are being observed to see how long one survives or if the sick one gets better. Based on the ending, the sick one only got worse.
BINGO!
Wow—that was a really powerful story. We didn’t get it all—your comments here make some things clear that I was only dimly reaching for. I think this would bear expansion into a full-sized short story, but maybe it’s best not to go there :).
Thank you. For this post, I felt it was best to leave the story as is, but I do plan to expand it more, giving a name to journaler and describe the setting better.