2024 February Flash Fiction Challenge: Day 18

We’ve practiced a few times getting inspiration from a title. For today’s prompt, let’s write a story that starts with the words “I wish.”

Remember: These prompts are just starting points; you have the freedom to go wherever your flash of inspiration takes you.

(Note: If you run into any issues with posting your story, please just send me an e-mail at mrichard@aimmedia.com with the subject line: Flash Fiction Challenge Commenting Issue.)

Here’s my attempt at a story that starts with the words “I wish”:

A Wish for Exhausted Parents

I wish that your 2 a.m. feels less like an abandoned playground and more like a cocoon wrapped around you and your little one, sheltering you from the loneliness of a house settling under the moon, a kitchen table overflowing with unopened mail and Montessori toys, and unsolicited sleep training advice. I wish that even as the bags under your eyes begin to feel permanent, a small giggle will be enough to bolster you even when you hear your bed calling you from the back room. I wish that you avoid a stomach ulcer from the endless parade of coffee that has become your lifeline. I wish that even when the house is a mess and the baby is screaming themselves purple, you’re brave enough to pause. Breathe. And know that you’re doing a damn fine job.