
It was late and the human sounds that hummed during the day had retired, inviting the frogs and cicadas to fill the silence with their nighttime melodies. He had given up on sleep and decided to walk down to the lake. He slipped on his boat shoes but left his crumpled t-shirt on the unmade bed. He needed to breathe the honeysuckle scent filling the night air. He needed to feel air on his skin. He needed to feel her on his skin. He tried to push those thoughts aside and think about his work β the reason he was in the southern state of Georgia. His attempts failed. He was tired and had no control over his wandering mind…

Click here to finish reading my flash fiction honeysuckle story, written for and published by Gobblers/Masticadores. They have been publishing my work for several months now. An honor and a treat! After reading “Honeysuckle Heat” be sure to come back and read the end of the story ~ click here to read “Honeysuckle Heat” (continued).
Thanks for visiting and reading. Enjoy! Be well.πMichele
Photos by James Wheeler and Pixabay (Pexels)
Β© 2021 Michele Lee Sefton.
Wonderful story Michele. I would follow the honeysuckle and moon!
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Thank you so much, Brad. π Thanks for clicking thru and reading. The pull of the moon is a strong one and how could you not follow an enchanting fragrance? π Beats walking to Florida. π
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π€£
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Beautifully written, Michele & congratulations on your work being published ππππ
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Thanks, Phil. π I appreciate you reading and sharing your thoughts about my flash fiction piece that I enjoyed writing. π I am honored that they choose to share my writing-thank you for visiting their site.
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Beautiful! Your words are so descriptive π
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So glad you like it! Thank you! π
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Very sweet, thank you, vgeorg. π
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I love this Michele: you have such a talent for setting a scene and building up atmosphere! Congratulations on your well-deserved publication π₯°β€οΈπ₯°
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Thank you, Ingrid. π I do love myself a little imaginative escape, especially when I can add in a full moon, beautiful scents, lapping waves, and romance. A shirtless writer isnβt so bad either. π Thanks too, for the publication mention. I appreciate you so much! π€π
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Very romantic story. My admiration Michele! ππ
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Very sweet, thank you, vgeorg. π
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The title alone of this piece sings in my mind. The scent of honeysuckle at night is cooling and calls to me from its too-far-away abodes around me. To experience the brief life of this piece, emotional thoughts and all to the sudden intention of the ending, is a treat.
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I am with you. My heart was full at the title too, which actually came after I wrote it, but you understand. haha Thank you, Jaya. Delightful thoughts about this story and the scent of honeysuckle.πThis brief piece may need the next scene. I need to know what happens next! π
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This was absolutely beautiful read!! Got completely immersed in the imagery and feeling. I wondered of the character as a writer and how beautifully you have written of him. I loved how you described him being at the edge of the pier and failing in the mind. The gentle swaying of the moon on water and the woman in white dress he was seeing later. I so wished he wasn’t just imagining! π
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How wonderful, Pragalbha! I enjoyed what stood out to you. Thank you. π So glad you enjoyed my flash fiction piece. I think the story needs to be continued. I also want to find out if she real or a figment of his imagination. β¨π
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Ah will wait to see what happens next, if you continue it π
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Loved your flash-fiction Michele, and congratulations on the publication credits girlfriend. I love the scent of honeysuckle floating through the air. What an infatuation with the moon! π “He began to walk toward the vision with slow and steady steps that did not match his racing heart.” πΆπΌββοΈ And then what happened? I want more! πππ
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Your comment delivers smiles. Thank you, Kym! π You sent some positive vibes the other day when I was working on this – I appreciate that! Love your comment about the moon. The character was avoiding the moon, but there is no avoiding now. We will see what happens next… π³ππ
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Oh girl…write on! βπΌ Your words are so powerful and empowering. I truly appreciate your kind and loving comments. Yep, can’t wait to see what’s in the next episode of Honeysuckle Heat….steamy!!! π π±π€
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Will do! π₯° Thank you!
HH2… steamy and dreamy. ππ
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Ahhhhh YES!!! πππ·
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I enjoyed this! Beautiful and dreamy.
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Thank you, Buddy. I am so glad that you did! I am looking forward to your next post. I enjoy your writing. π
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Wonderful, Michele. I love it, and am ready for the next installment!! π
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Thanks, Jeff. π Oh yeah, me too! π
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β€οΈπ€π
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You never cease to amaze!
Sent from my iPhone
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πππΌ
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Wonderful story Michele so happy for you about your publicationsβ£οΈβ£οΈ Congratulations.π
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Thank you Cindy. π Your kind words and support always brighten the day! π
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It’s my pleasure and that’s really nice to hear Micheleπ
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Dear Michele, this is a beautifully written story with vivid images and animated descriptions that captured my attention from the very beginning to endβ¦ and I think maybe the story has ended yet?! π thereβs a sense of mystery and anticipationβ¦
And I also loved the flash fiction idea. Hope you publish the next episode sooon!π₯³π₯°βοΈ
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“Mystery and anticipation” – love that Annabel. Thank you for sharing your delightful thoughts! No, I don’t think that is the end of the story. It may just be the beginning. π I don’t think I can wait too long either. π
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Wow, then weβre looking forward to it!!β€οΈπ₯³ I didnβt know you write fictions as well. It was delightful read!π₯πΈ
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Thank you! I am looking forward to writing it. π Many of my poems are laced with fantasy/fiction, but yes, I haven’t share fictional stories. Until this one. More to come. π
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π₯³π₯° canβt wait! I will be a hit! πΈπ₯°
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Such imagery! I could literally hear the frogs and cicadas and smell the honeysuckle. Thank you!
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Thank you M & M. π Awesome! Love learning that. πΈ
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You drew me right into the heart of Georgia with this story. They say that the best imagery is imagery that appeals to each of your senses. This story beautifully described sights, smells, sounds, and touches – it was as if I was walking hand-in-hand with the character in that story on that night. They also say that nature haunts us: when I look at the stars or out at large fields of flowers – it reminds me of all of my childhood memories and the days that I spent laughing in the sun with my friends. For the character in the story – what he saw was his past love and a seeming regret he couldn’t shake.
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You are a delight! Thank you for your detailed thoughts about this flash fiction piece. π It seems that Honeysuckle Heat inspired a story within you. I do hope you take your beautifully descriptive memories and develop them into your own story. Maybe you already have. I need to explore your blog further. π I appreciate your thoughts about the character’s mindset. He is definitely experiencing a longing he can’t shake and possibly a thread of regret running through him for not looking into her eyes and for their last night ending the way it did. He seems like the sensitive type. π
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I am a writer too, of sorts. I mostly indulge in poetry. However, right now, I’m working on a comic book about a team of disabled superheroes which is a lot of fun. Where you craft beautifully-detailed writing and emotions through your stories, I mostly try to do the same through images and graphic design art.
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Of course you are! Your posts are engaging. A comic book… how cool! Do you hope to/plan to publish it? Thank you and thank goodness for outlets that allow us to be creative and release emotions.β¨ I am not sure how much of my blog you have read, but my daughter is an artist too – she is the illustrator of my Being a Woman poetry collections. Such talent! I am looking forward to seeing your artistic work and reading more of your blog. π
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I do hope to eventually be able to publish it since it takes a lot of work to create. I took a short graphic design course in order to refine my skills for it. I didn’t know that your daughter was an artist! It’s very cool that she illustrated your poetry collection. I do share my graphic design on my blog a lot, for instance, the featured image of the Wheelchair Dancing post of the girl in the wheelchair with the wings coming out of her was my own design π
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You will get there, one page at a time. It is a process. Enjoy the journey. π¨ Yes, my daughter, Sammi Lee, is an amazing working artist – she just graduated with a degree in art and technology. Thank you for sharing your graphic design info with me. π Cheers to the artists!
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Your words are so atmospheric. Really beautiful. The obvious short length reminds me of a writing technique I used to use to teach kids word choice. It was called βA Snapshotβ and was limited in words to be usedβI canβt remember now but may have been 100. It was a βpainfulβ exercise for them, but oh so helpful in their writing process. Vicki
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Thank you, Vicki. π How wonderful. “A snapshot” does sound painful! Only 100 words. That would be punishment for me. π No doubt a helpful exercise though.
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Thanks Michele for capturing the atmosphere of the night and the willing into existence of love’s presence.
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loved it !!
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Much obliged, Krissy. π ππΌ
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Wonderful write! Truly!
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Thanks so much, Laura. I appreciate your positive vibes. π
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I’m honestly obsessed with this!! Fantastic and those pictures are so beautiful!
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I will take that as a compliment. π Thank you Al! Happy weekending to you! π I wish I could take credit for taking those gorgeous Pexel photos. π
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Wow my dear Michele, this is an awesome fiction to read and these feelings have truly touched my heart, riped romance of mad loveβ€
She had not returned his calls, texts, or emails in three months. He rubbed his tired eyes, but he could not rub away the vision in front of him
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So pleased to read you enjoyed my flash fiction piece. Thank you, Suma. Of course I cannot leave him with a racing heart, in limbo, headed toward his love or perhaps a dream?? We shall see… π
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Always my pleasure my dear lovely ππ₯°
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Lovely…
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Thank you, NBsakura. π I will be sharing the second scene soon. π
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A real cliff-hanger. Well done Michele!!
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Pingback: Honeysuckle Heat (continued) – My Inspired Life
Well written and holds one attention. I root for Love and cheer the passionate on! Yet the mystery is how shall this story unfold…hmmm
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Thank you very much. Cheers to love and passion! And some lake time. π This is the second HH story – not sure if there will be a third… π€ Maybe.
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Surely some lake time has to be included…haha
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Yes! Lake time for the lucky characters! π ππ
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Correction to my first response – this is the first HH story. I posted the second HH story yesterday. When I replied to your comment, thru notifications, I thought you were commenting on the second story. My apologies. So… the story did unfold. You will have to read HH2 to find out how it unfolded. π
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Surely, I will be reading it soon
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