The Acrobat’s Wheel - Flash Fiction - by Julie Ann Thomason

 

The Acrobat’s Wheel

Flash Fiction

by Julie Ann Thomason

 

She sat in the middle and looked all around, her eyes following the path of the spoke, lifting her eyes she saw the hills, glistening green, carpeted with colour, looking carefully she sighed, the colours were tins, plastic, papers, waste peppering the slopes. She turned and looked along another spoke. She saw the beach glinting with shards and splinters as the sea lapped in, depositing similar detritus that she had seen on the hill.

 

Standing up she pranced along another spoke and sat on the edge. She could see the sea, the beach and the hill. She was above the grasslands, she looked down and saw some mice, rabbits and snakes weaving through the grass, crinkling with thirst under the burning sun.

Sighing she stood up and made her way around the edge asking herself what would the next spoke reveal? The high mountains, the glaciers melting exposing the barren rock, where would the avalanches go now?

 

A tear made its way down her cheek, unable to wipe it away for fear of losing her balance she moved on to find somewhere to sit.  Pulling her hand across her face, the salt stinging, she focused and saw the city, glass, concrete, a cluttering of people with their damage and debris.  A flicker of movement caught her eye. Following it she saw the bee enter the man- made hive, one of many perched on the roof of a high-rise building. A hint of hope.

Julie Ann Thomason -  Has been composing poetry for over 30 years. Her poems normally begin with a phrase or sentence in her head that she likes the feel of.  She explores feelings, reactions to people, places, things, and events.

Julie studied English Lit at university and taught EFL in Spain. Initially for a nine-months, she fell in love with the country, living there for twenty-three years.  Fluent in Spanish, Julie composes in and translate into both languages. Translating began by giving Spanish friends, the opportunity to read her work.  It proved to be fascinating and instructive; she saw new meanings, better words, nudged nuances, through the prism of a different language.  

Julie became heavily involved with Primary English as a foreign language, which lead to her first publications textbooks in primary EFL

She performs poetry at spoken word events. If a piece of work is well received, she posts it on her blog.  During lockdown she worked on her writing and had her first poems published in 2020.   In 2022 Julie published her first poetry collection “The Possibility of Pebbles” poems inspired by the Japanese Tea Ceremony.

Julie was Scottish chair for WGGB 2010 – 2016.