Sarah Faxon ‘s Friday Flash Fiction prompts give me fodder for some creepy little tales. However, her latest prompts gave me pause. Considering the news showing masked white nationalists marching like 1930s Brown Shirts in our Nation’s Capitol on the most sacred of American holidays filled my news feeds, fictional horror paled.
So, I instead present an allegory, robed within a Drabble.
The prompts were:
A wrestling ring is the center stage.
It’s the Fourth of July.
As usual, I combined them.
INDEPENDENCE DAY
She stands at the middle of the ring, head held high, defiant in gaze. Her flowing dress is ragged, patched, stained with the grime of labor, the blood of sacrifice. Feet and hands are bare and calloused. Yet her fingers still remember tenderness.
Into the arena bounds the latest abuser. She’s faced worse. This bleach-blond clown turns her stomach, but not her determination. He wears his hubris like pancake makeup, stinking of lies and hate.
This is her 250th bout. And though undefeated, she’s weary and worried the crowd no longer cares. Still, Lady Liberty carries the day—for now.
Bravo!!
Hauntingly beautiful. I still root for her ❤️.