Wanderer

Another month down in 2024 and once again, I’m scrambling at the end of the month to submit the flash fiction to my patrons. While I grabbed the response from the poll, in short order my current project and life in general have been stealing the time I want to dedicate to both my writings, whether they be for Patreon, Wattpad, or these digital pages. I will once more try to knuckle down and focus on improving my time management, required to ensure that I have more time to craft the stories I want to bring to the world. That said, this month I had a leg up over the last few months, because I had an itch to delve back into the life of Darren Gilbert.

While his first story was for my patrons, check out Act of Heroism, I have explored his personal history with Journeys, check out the Wattpad story here. However, for my patrons, I’ve highlighted a few of his stories. And that trend will continue with this month’s Action/Adventure tale. Despite having a lock on the characters, I wanted some help with the narrative, so I tossed my trusty story cubes. When they ceased rolling, I studied the images staring up at me and plucked three of them, which seemed to have a common thread, at least to my mind.

So find your most comfortable chair and get ready to follow Darren on his latest adventure.

With his supplies dwindling, Darren leaves his home only to find a strange man wandering past his home…

Wanderer

Peering into the forest from his open door, Darren discovered a strange man strolling through the woods. He thumped his fist on the inside of his home before slipping through the opening. Once outside, Darren eased the door closed, but as it shut, a soft click thundered through the woods, yanking the odd fellow to a stop.

While the doorway vanished, the wanderer whirled about, his fingers whitening about the pole perched upon his shoulder. When the man’s gaze fell upon Darren, his eyes widened as a dangling parcel jostled on the pole.

“Hello, sir,” the wanderer said, his voice full of false cheer. He raced forward a few paces as he waved a hand over his head. “It’s been ages since I’ve come across anyone in this forest.”

“Not surprising.” Darren’s eyes danced as he withdrew something from his pocket. With a flick of his wrist, a tiny plastic stack of pancakes flew away from his hand, though it didn’t go far since it was attached to the ring poking out of his grasp. “People avoid this section of the woods.”

Darren patted the trunk of his house as his eyes narrowed on the stranger. “In fact, the isolation is one reason I enjoy my time here.”

The stranger ambled toward Darren, the perched pole bouncing with each step. “Do you have any food you can spare?”

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To continue reading head over to my Patreon page and become a patron, $2 a month will give you access to this and other flash fiction stories.