The Last Days of Summer

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This is just an experimental piece of flash fiction I wrote--enjoy! Do rip it to shreds. :P
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As the sun set into the horizon and the waves flapped gently against the side of the dock, Erin and Alli sat barefoot, the tips of their toes gently brushing against the waves, to exchange a fond goodbye. They had just left a going away party that Erin had thrown, and as such were still in their dresses—Alli in a pastel colored one that shimmered when she walked, and Erin in a shirt-dress made of white silk.
The two girls sat for a moment in silence, admiring the view. They were at Erin’s home by Lake Superior. Alli had always been jealous of how nice it was. “I’m going to miss you,” she said softly, “this place, Wisconsin—I don’t want to move.”
Erin sighed, not saying anything. She didn’t want her friend to move, but was beginning to grow tired of her whining. This hadn’t been the first time she’d done it. “Alli,” Erin comforted, “This doesn’t have to be the last time we ever see each other. You have my Facebook and my cell, and maybe I can come to California to visit you one day.”
“One day,” said Alli with a sigh. From the way she stared blankly at the water, Erin could tell that she was still upset.
“Hey,” said Erin, placing her hand on Alli’s shoulder and rubbing in gently. “Perk up a bit, okay? Don’t be so down. You liked the party, didn’t you?”
“It was wonderful,” she replied, “But during it, I just kept thinking about how I’m going to miss everyone, if I’ll adjust at my new school, and Zach…Zach…”
“You guys can facebook and call each other,” Erin said, reassuring her, “And maybe he can visit you too. It won’t be bad.”
“Will he be able to keep it up?” Alli asked. “Long distance relationships can be hard to maintain. He’s going to be spending a lot less time with me, and the internet makes secrets easy to keep.”
Alli broke into a soft chorus of tears and lay her head down on Erin’s shoulder.
“But you’ll always have your friends.”
Last edited by Elinor on Fri Jun 11, 2010 3:36 am, edited 1 time in total.

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E.B. White, you have no idea how happy I am that you posted something! *snugs*

So, overall, I think that this is a pleasant piece. I mean, it’s not bad but it isn’t as good as it could be…yet. *duhn duhn duuuhn*

What you really need here is more vivid description I think. Some examples:

Alli in a pastel colored one that shimmered when she walked, Okay, I understood that ‘one’ was talking about the dress but you tell us that Erin is wearing a ‘shirt-dress.’ So why not tell us what type of dress she is wearing as well instead of just ‘one.’

As the sun set into the horizon and the waves flapped gently against the side of the dock. When you start talking about a sunset, you always hear about the vivid beautiful oranges and purples. But you don’t really get much here. Describe. It will give the story some extra life.


Otherwise, you have a good command on dialogue and the feeling of the situation. I’ve been there a lot. I’ve moved around and changed schools so much as a kid, it’s…kind of frightening. But it’s relatable. And that’s the best part of this story. It hit the feeling I’ve felt a lot, especially when I was younger, of realizing you’re always going to be friends with someone, but you’ll never be the same best friends.

It was awesome to get to read this, E.B. White! Thank you for posting it!
Never forget who you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.




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Hey Eli. ^^ Comments in red.

Elinor Brynn wrote:This is just an experimental piece of flash fiction I wrote--enjoy!
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As the sun set into the horizon and the waves flapped gently against the side of the dock To be honest, I'm not sure if I want to read on after that bit. It was awkward and it was sort of bland., Erin and Alli sat barefoot, the tips of their toes gently brushing against the waves, to exchange a fond goodbye. This last part kills the sentence for me. Chopping it off would do the piece good, IMO. It's too tell-y. Also, this sentence in general has way too much going on. They had just left a going away party that Erin had thrown, and as such were still in their dresses—Alli in a pastel colored one that shimmered when she walked, and Erin in a shirt-dress made of white silk.
The two girls sat Try to find another way around it. I'm personally against the word "sat". I know. Weird. >>" I think it's just me though. for a moment in silence, admiring the view. They were at Erin’s home by Lake Superior. Alli had always been jealous of how nice it was. “I’m going to miss you,” she said softly, Putting the dialog tag here destroys the flow and feel of what she's saying, which has some impact. “this place, Wisconsin—I don’t want to move.”
Erin sighed, not saying anything. She didn’t want her friend to move, but was beginning to grow tired of her whining. I thought you said they were saying a fond goodbye. This doesn't sound so fond. However, I do like the touch of realism here - Erin is sick of the whining instead of commiserating with her friend. This hadn’t been the first time she’d done it. That's implied by the last sentence so you can cut this out. This is flash fiction, so you have to conserve words. Everything superfluous must be cut...I think. “Alli,” Erin comforted, “This doesn’t have to be the last time we ever see each other. You said she said nothing back there. If she's going to say something in response, you might as well cut the "not saying anything" part. You have my Facebook and my cell, and maybe I can come to California to visit you one day.”
“One day,” said Alli with a sigh So much sighing. I think you can cut out the sigh here. I know it makes sense for her to sigh but I just don't like it here.. From the way she stared blankly at the water, Erin could tell that Alli (Your antecedents were confusing there so I fixed it.) was still upset.
“Hey,” said Erin, placing her hand on Alli’s shoulder and rubbing it gently. “Perk up a bit This sounds kinda stiff. Why not just say cheer up? It's more natural., okay? Don’t be so down. You liked the party, didn’t you?”
“It was wonderful, If they're as old as I suspect they are, they wouldn't say that. They're more likely to say "great".” she replied, “But [Deleted during it,] I just kept thinking about how I’m going to miss everyone, if I’ll adjust at my new school, and Zach…Zach…”
“You guys can facebook and call each other,” Erin said, reassuring her, “And maybe he can visit you too. It won’t be that bad.” Putting "that" in there sort of fixes the flow.
“Will he be able to keep it up?” Alli asked. “Long distance relationships can be hard to maintain. He’s going to be spending a lot less time with me, and the internet makes secrets easy to keep.”
Alli broke into a soft chorus of tears and lay her head on Erin’s shoulder.
“But you’ll always have your friends.” Might want to tag Erin there.


Final thoughts:

Contrary to Lily's review, I sort of believe this could be a lot more emotional than it is. I mean yea, you've got the basic feelings down but making them actually hit the reader is a bit different. I'm not saying you should make it into a festival of tears - I just think you should elaborate on the emotions or something. This is supershort and I think you have more words to spare.

There are quite a few contradictions in there. First, Erin's annoyance seems to disappear too easily. If she was truly annoyed then wouldn't there be more clues? Like the way she's half-heartedly responding and reassuring her friend and stuff. If she's not truly annoyed then maybe you can make it clear that she's only slightly irked by the whining.

I also think you can characterize the girls a bit better. For now they seem only slightly different, but I suppose you can chalk that up to their being best friends. Also, don't you think their other close friends would be there? Maybe this is just in our school, but girls tend to bunch up into cliques of more than two. Usually there are around three to five girls in any clique, and then there would be mini-groupings within the clique - two groups, usually. But in general the entire clique is tight-knit. However, those mini-groups are the closest of closest. They're closer to each other than they are to the rest of the group. Anyway, my point is this - wouldn't their other friends be there too? It makes sense that they'd want to say goodbye just the two of them, but I doubt their friends would not try to be there for Alli on what I assume is her last night in Wisconsin.

For this next bit I agree with Lily. More description is needed. So far it's only visual imagery and it's pretty bland imagery at that. Spice it up with the smell of the ocean, the rough sand between their toes, etc. More sensory description. As people we tend to rely heavily on our sight but as writers we need to give our audience something else to work with.

Also, give me a reason to sympathize with the characters. As of now I really feel apathetic and you don't want that since this relies heavily on its emotional impact. Show me something that will hit really close to home. Maybe something lots of girls went through? Have them recall some memories? I don't know. Just do something to make me as a reader feel closer to them.

Finally, be more careful with your words. I think that if you picked the right ones this could feel a lot more somber than it currently is. The way your sentences are constructed sometimes lessened the impact of its meaning too, so just be more careful with your word choice.

Anyway, those were my two cents. PM me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Kara
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Whew. This story happened to me in reality. It's just that me and my best friend, Ryan who migrated last year to New Zealand and his girlfriend, Krisanta. Nostalgia.
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Hey Elly (Yes. That is the way I shall spell your nickname xD),

So as you said, this was flash fiction and you probably don't plan on expanding it. Well, in my humble opinion, you should throw that idea out. This is very good and as other reviewers said, could have been much better. However, I don't think you should make this particular half a page story better, but expand upon it and make it longer-show us how hard it is for Alli and Zach to keep up their relationship. It's funny because one of my best friends is named Erin and she lives very far away from me. We would have no way of communicating if not for email, facebook and texting, lol.

I would definitely read more of this if you write more of it. Right now, we feel nothing for Alli and Erin. Yeah, so their friends and one of them is moving. It's not like we've haven't heard that before. Make us sympathize with the characters, make us feel for them. Even if you do not write more, it is still a cute little piece but not the master piece it could be. :D

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Elinor Brynn wrote:As the sun set into the horizon and the waves flapped gently against the side of the dock, I don't like this. It's setting a pretty big scene, but the way you did it was kind of plain and didn't really make me picture anything. Erin and Alli sat barefoot, the tips of their toes gently brushing against the waves, to exchange a fond goodbye. Use shorter sentences, too much is happening here. They had just left a going away party that I don't like 'that', it really weakens your sentence. Erin had thrown, and as such were still in their dresses—Alli in a pastel colored one that Again, don't like 'that'. I also wanted more of a description of her appearance. What they look like is more important than their clothes. shimmered when she walked, and Erin in a shirt-dress made of white silk.
The two girls sat for a moment Delete 'for a moment' in silence, admiring the view. They were at Erin’s home by Lake Superior. Alli had always been jealous of how nice it was. “I’m going to miss you,” she said softly, “this place, Wisconsin—I don’t want to move.”
Erin sighed, not saying anything. Delete 'not saying anything', there is no reason to if he doesn't have dialog' She didn’t want her friend to move, but was beginning to grow tired of her whining. This hadn’t been the first time she’d done it. Delete this sentence “Alli,” Erin comforted, “This doesn’t have to be the last time we ever see each other. You have my Facebook I personally wouldn't mention facebook and my cell, and maybe I can come to California to visit you one day.”
“One day,” said Alli with a sigh Awkward, where is the sigh?. From the way she stared blankly at the water, Erin could tell that she was still upset.
“Hey,” said Erin, placing her hand on Alli’s shoulder and rubbing in said Erin, gently rubbing her shoulder gently. “Perk up a bit, okay? Don’t be so down. Delete 'don't be so down' You liked the party, didn’t you?”
“It was wonderful,” she replied, “But during it, Swap 'during it' for an ellipsis I just kept thinking about how I’m going to miss everyone, if I’ll adjust at my new school, and Zach…Zach…”
“You guys can facebook and call each other,” Erin said, reassuring her, “And maybe he can visit you too. It won’t be bad.”
“Will he be able to keep it up?” Alli asked. “Long distance relationships can be hard to maintain. He’s going to be spending a lot less time with me, and the internet makes secrets easy to keep.”
Alli broke into a soft chorus of tears and lay her head down on Erin’s shoulder.
“But you’ll always have your friends.”


Hmm, overall, I didn't like it. It was more of the first part of a short story than flash fiction. I didn't really get any insight into any of the characters' emotions and I didn't feel anything towards them. Also, you described the scene weakly, then throughout the story it was like they could have been anywhere. I have a feeling that you are a much better writer than what this piece shows, please do let me know if you write anything else.

Evil




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Hello there
Well, I liked it. There wasn't much happening though but I liked how simple it was. You definitely showed good writing skills; good grammar, good descriptive tools, good command of the language. This is what made the story worthwhile.
Good job :)
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