Auntie Nim was a delightfully infuriating bundle of internal contradictions. Industriously lazy and deeply introverted, she invented the most entertainingly involved excuses for staying home with a good book, doing nothing of note. Her cloudy scowl was seldom a harbinger of rain, let alone thunder; just beneath the surface of her stormy external demeanor, Auntie Nim was a generous burst of laughter and sunshine. Stingy with criticism, but lavish with praise – the perfect traits in an aunt. Wasn’t it the sacred duty of aunts to spoil their nieces rotten and drive their sisters batty? If so, then Auntie Nim excelled at aunthood, frequently doing both at once without even trying.
Admittedly, putting a saddle on the Chihuahua and passing it off as a “miniature purse-pony” for Thea’s sweet sixteenth might have been over the top, but she smiled at the memory of pulling Thea’s feet back onto the ground while scraping her sister’s jaw off the floor.
Today’s flash fiction story was inspired by Writing Prompts – Creative Copy Challenge #479. The prompt included the following words: Frequent, Seldom, External, Internal, Generous, Stingy, Industrious, Lazy, Rain, Sunshine.
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Haha! But I love Auntie Jim. She is absolute fun! 🙂
What a way to start A to Z, Holly!
Thanks, Shalini! Her name, “Auntie Nim” is a play on “antonym” (as suggested by the prompt’s word list) – she’s a woman of contradictions!
Flash fiction is something I have never tried (I’m more of a non fiction person) but this was pretty…..strange. And creative. And how do you use all those words?
LOL – try it. It gets easier with practice, and your story can be as short (it can even be a poem!) or as long as it needs to be.
In college, I had an instructor who liked to challenge us with five random, fifty-dollar words – “Use them all in a single sentence that demonstrates you understand the meaning of the words. It cannot be a run-on sentence.” It could, however, be a very LONG sentence; it just had to be grammatically correct.
Such a clever play on words. 🙂 Cute Chihuahua but I’m sure he/she was less impressed. Dressing dogs in silly costumes for human entertainment is something I don’t care for, but it’s good for a laugh, regardless. Auntie Nim is a hoot, as well!
That poor pup looks a bit humiliated. But it’s cute. Not necessarily kind, but then – I’m not necessarily a fan of chihuahuas, either.
Don’t look at me – I didn’t DO that to it! 🙂
Auntie Nim sounds so real. I am reminded of someone like her in my own family. 🙂
🙂 There’s a bit of her in me, too. Although, if my sister in law is reading this…no worries. I won’t be giving my niece a purse pony.
Tempting as that thought may be…
LOL – Purse Pony !! haha Love the Flash Fiction Holly
Thanks, Tina! My stories usually run a bit longer, but once I had the idea for this one, it practically wrote itself. Funny thing: I write as if I were reading for the first time. The endings to my stories usually surprise ME as much as they do anyone else.
Aunty nim sounds real! Real like any of us!
🙂 nice post
Good characters (and naughty ones, too!) should always be believable. 🙂
Holly,
I believe this is my first time visiting and it’s nice meeting you. I hope to have plenty of opportunities this month to get to know you better and I very much appreciated you stopping in to join me with #AprilA2Z Art Sketching Through the Alphabet Letter “A” +#BoTB featuring angels for my subject. Have a good weekend!
Thank you, Cathy! I enjoyed your sketches and look forward to stopping by again! You’ve inspired me – we “not-an-artists” should doodle more often and share our work, anyway. I may do that, too, before the month is out!
I like Auntie Nim. Her company would be so much fun.
Love the way you have woven the prompts in the story! Great going, Holly!
Looking forward to read all your posts this April.
Cheers 🙂
Thank you, Shilpa! Even I don’t know what they’ll be, just yet! I look forward to sharing the fun of it, both here and in your blog!
Auntie Nim sounds like the kind of Aunt I’d like to be for my twin nieces!:))) Enjoyed getting to know her, Holly. Not sure the poor dog enjoyed being dressed so though! :)))
Good! I’m glad to hear that!
I think you’re right – that dog looks mortified.
Oh the pic of that dog is just adorable. What a humorous n warm post to kick-start the challenge.
Cheers
Thanks, Shalini!
The picture of the Chihuahua all saddled up had me roaring with laughter! I enjoyed reading this post…and getting to know Aunt Nim…I would love to have her around!
Thanks! The image of the chihuahua purse pony occurred to me, followed closely by, “You can find ANYTHING on the Internet – surely there’s a chihuahua dressed in a saddle, somewhere!” Damned if there wasn’t! LOL
Fiction? Aunty Nim souds real and a lot of fun too. Love the little Chihuahua. Poor little tyke. Great start Holly.
That’s the goal, in fiction, to create characters that are believable – not real, but believable. 🙂 Granted, there’s probably a little “Auntie Nim” in me, somewhere. 🙂 Thanks, Suzy!
I loved your flash fiction theme and Aunty Nim is really cool to read ..looking forward to read more !!
Thanks, Ruchi!
The theme is actually “Food, Fantasy, and Fiction.” Figured that would give me plenty to work with, throughout the month. Glad you enjoyed this one. Glad the bouncer finally got the message and let you leave a comment, too. 😉
Seriously, I can’t blame him for this one – there was nothing in spam at all. But your last comment did show up in moderation, finally!
ha ha. I love these kind of pranks and on APril Fool’s day too! Look forward to more stories from you.
Thanks! I used to dread April Fool’s Day. My husband is the master of pranks and subtlety. One year, though, I turned the tables on him. That was the year he quit pulling any pranks (though for the first year or two, that was the biggest prank of all, since I’d wait in fear till midnight!). I think he knew, once I got in the game, myself, things would escalate. 🙂
Hahaha Aunt Nim sure has some novel ideas. Loved that chihuahua picture ?
I’m glad you enjoyed the post! Thank you for visiting and commenting on my blog.
Wow! You have used the seemingly disconnected words really well in describing one person! Very well done.
Thank you!
Interesting one indeed…never known much about Aunty Jim though…
Who is Aunty Jim?