Can you believe it’s 2020? That seems like a made-up number, like the year almost all the movies referred to as the future, and now it’s here. Welcome to a new year and a new decade! To tie us back into our old lives, I’m participating in the blog hop again. As a reminder, several of us writers from around the world share free flash fiction (under 1000 words) on our blogs. I hope you enjoy my contribution, and don’t forget to click on the links at the bottom to read the other stories -

Sisters

Sometimes being the middle sister isn’t all it’s rumored to be. They say I’m the forgotten one. The calm one. The peacemaker.

Only in my family it seems like I’m never forgotten. Everyone comes to me for advice, expecting me to keep the peace, even if I just want to scream.

Like now.

My older sister and my younger sister had been arguing since dawn. The older was used to getting her own way, since she’d been our babysitter since she was old enough to work the stove. The younger was used to getter her own way, since she’d been spoiled by our parents as their baby.

Instead of screaming, I used the pains in my body like the kind of scrying magic they’d become. Older sister first. I turned my attention to her, chafing my left hand around the shooting pain in my right wrist. “Lissa, what I hear you saying is that you like this guy. This Rodrigo. He’s always courteous, always listens to what you have to say?”

She glared at our younger sister, tossing her long, dark hair over one shoulder. She hadn’t said exactly that, of course, but she’d hinted toward it, and the pain told me I was right. “Yes.”

Now the younger. The low throbbing in my back. “Charlie, you like Rodrigo too? He buys you pretty trinkets? Makes you feel special?”

She glared right back at Lissa, running her hands through her short, dark hair. Same with her: hints, but I was right again. “Yes.”

Why the hell had they started dating the same man? What were they thinking? What was he thinking?

“And Rodrigo?” A sharp, stabbing pain in my left eye. “Who does he favor?”

Both of them looked shocked, then contrite, and the pain in my eyes grew into a burn as they chorused together, “…you.”

“Me?”

No. They weren’t serious.

Like most people with some variety of arthritis, I hurt worst in the morning and at night, and, like some, it had spread from my knees to my toes, ankles, hips, shoulders, elbows, wrists, fingers… really, it was easier to explain what didn’t hurt.

My particular variety meant I struggled right after I got up from sitting or lying down. It sometimes took as long as ten minutes for the pain to subside so I could walk almost without a limp. It limited me, but was also hidden.

No one stared when I went out. No one pointed, or giggled, or harassed me. No one gave up their seat, either, or were careful not to jostle me. Even when the not-quite visions came along with the pain. I had used them a few times in public to say just enough to get me some space, but mostly now I only used them with my family. The ones who wouldn’t look at me like I was crazy.

Well, maybe a little, but I was their crazy, so that made it okay.

“Me?” I asked again.

“He says you’re not as quiet as you look,” Lissa said. “He said he’s heard you scream.”

No one has heard me scream.

“He says you’re smart, and funny, and thoughtful,” Charlie growled. “Not spoiled. He said he met you online years ago and has been in love with you ever since.”

No one has ever been in love with me.

I couldn’t imagine it. “But—”

Lissa sighed. “He’ll be kind to you,” she said. “I asked him out, and he was too kind to say no. It’s always been you.”

Charlie paced, then turned with a shrug. “He’ll treat you like you’re special,” she said. “I asked him, too, before I knew he was dating Lissa. He’s always been more interested in you than in me, but he treated me so good… I didn’t want to let him go.”

I stared at them both, back and forth like a silent tennis match without the players. Or the ball. Okay, bad analogy. “You… think I should date him?”

“You should give him a chance.” Lissa nodded decisively. “We could help you get ready.”

“I texted him,” Charlie said smugly. “He’s on his way.”

“But—”

“Are you hurting?” Lissa demanded. “Do you need your meds?”

Charlie bit her lip. “He can bring you back early if this doesn’t work out.”

If we’d been friends online for years, there was only one person it could be. The man I knew as RinTin, and if it was him… He’d heard me scream through text. He knew me better than anyone. Maybe…

My sisters cared so much about me. I realized that for the first time in a very long time, I wasn’t hurting so much. Maybe this would be okay.

Charlie waved her phone. “He’s here. Go!”

Rogue Ring by Katharina Gerlach

Grim Failures by Bill Bush

Secrets by Gina Fabio

The Daughter of Disappearing Creek by Karen Lynn

The Gynnos Seeker Project by Juneta Key 

Mugging Morpheus by Vanessa Wells

Shores of Lamentation, by Melanie Drake

Syrojax Lends a Claw by Nic Steven

Culture Sharing by Angela Wooldridge