This was the first time I really dabbled in flash fiction (if you would even count it as such). This was the runner-up in the community portion of Short Editions Short Story/Flash Fiction competition in 2019. The community portion means number of likes it received from outside viewers, not necessarily a judge.
I am a balloon. I am born without anything inside-Ideas, opinions, choice. As years progress I am inflated with more. I soar the more I am filled with knowledge. Eventually I am off the ground. I am floating through the air. Sometimes I can get deflated by the hardships put on me. But those hardships can always be repaired with a little duct tape and persistence. As I grow older, the less I need a person below me to carry my string. Eventually I am launched into the world all alone. I float higher and higher meeting all different types of birds along the way. Some are kind and help launch me further into the sky. Some try and peck at me so I deflate again. Sometimes I give in and let them peck me. Those times teach me not to let silly birds rule me. As I am older I see another balloon in the sky. The wind pushes me toward this new balloon as trying to tell me what love is. I connect with this new balloon and we continue our journey together. Time flies and I am filled with my new partners own knowledge and love. We spot two smaller balloons in the distance playing in the clouds and having fun. The wind pushes them toward us and us four are connected. I spend my time trying to inflate the little balloons with my own knowledge of the world. I teach them to be creative and stand for themselves. I watch them deflate sometimes, but they always are reinflated with love and hard work. The little balloons float higher and higher , until eventually they don’t need my partner and I to fill them anymore. The two of us watch them float up above us, into a big blue sky. Suddenly, I come apron a great white abyss. I am floating farther away from my partner. I can sense his panic when they do not see me next them. The white sky is very bright, but looks peaceful. I let myself float up a little bit more. I have reached my point as balloon. I saw nearly all the sky, met nearly all the birds, and I am happy. Pop!