A Flash of Fiction #1

This is a Flash Fiction short story I wrote for my fiction writing class. Since it's flash fiction, it's supposed to be really short. Our word cap was 450 words. And, this was the first time I tried my hand at writing something so short, so I hope it works. 

Enjoy!

Smile!

            Photography seems to be all that I'm good at. I've had a camera strap around my neck since I was nine and going out into the woods with my dad. Animals and landscapes always were his thing. My favorite subjects are people, especially children. They're so unique and innocent it's hard not to love them.

But this girl, Ms. Halle Hackey, is a completely different story. The four-year-old won’t stand still. She just wants to roll around in the grass. I even tried bribing her with a sucker. She ate the sucker, threw the stick down, and kept rolling.

I glance to my left. Mrs. Hackey is glaring at me.

“I’m not paying you to take pictures of my grass,” she says. “Or to rot Halle’s teeth. Get me a good picture, and I’ll get you your money.” Apparently, her usual photographer was suddenly sick and she needed someone to cover for him. I don't know if I'll be able to make her happy. She’s one of those strict businesswomen that need everything just right. Especially pictures of their children.

I turn back to Halle. “Hey, Halle, remember that balloon animal I promised you if you were good?” I ask, and her ears perk up. She stands.

“Ok, Halle. Could you smile for a second?”

She flashes a pretty smile, then switches to one of those smirks kids are great at. I snap a few photos. It's better than grass.

“Where’s my balloon?”

"I need a pretty smile first, please, Halle." I demonstrate with a grin of my own.

She flops back down and copies her mother’s glare.

“Look, Halle,” I say. “A distraction!”

Halle spins around on her bottom, looking for it. “Where is it? I can’t see it!”

The shutter on my camera clicks repeatedly. I’m trying not to laugh. Even Mrs. Hackey cracked a smile. I honestly didn’t think that would work. I'll have to try it again sometime.

Halle's getting impatient. “Where is it?”

A convenient butterfly flits by. I point to it. “Right there.”

Halle calms down and smirks at me. “That’s not a distraction. That’s a butterfly.”

“Oh,” I say.

Her interest now caught by the butterfly, Halle sticks out her finger. The insect settles on it. It must have been attracted to the sugar left over from her sucker.