Daily Flash Fiction Entries

Daddy's Mask

Written for the "Daily Flash Fiction Challenge" 
Prompt: Write a story in which someone hides.

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My name is Bradley and this is my journal. Grandma gave it to me for my twelfth birthday yesterday. She says I can write whatever I want in it because it will help me to get rid of the bad dreams.

You see, in my dreams, I’m always stuck in my old house, watching it burn to the ground while Daddy and Mommy keep yelling in the background. I remember trying to tell them to help me put out the fire, but they never hear me. I always wake up crying and it’s a bit embarrassing.

It’s all Dad’s fault. See, Daddy used to work for a big company that makes toys for children. I used to visit Dad’s workplace and I’ll see him smiling happily at the kids or making parents laugh. I used to think, Wow, my Dad’s so awesome, but I could never say it out loud because I knew that it was all just a show. Just one of Daddy’s many masks.

He would put on the funny one at work, hiding the serious one he always put up in our house. Like the time I accidentally broke one of the toys in the store, Daddy smiled and said it was okay, but once we got home, he taught me a lesson I’d never forget.

I can still hear mommy crying. “You liar, David! All this time you hide your real self behind that mask! I hate you!”

I can hear Daddy’s loud slap, the sound of the matches being struck and then nothing but heat and fire surrounding my bed. Daddy and Mommy never made it out of that fire and sometimes, when everyone is asleep, I just go into the closet and hide in there…waiting for their voices to stop screaming inside my head.


Word Count: 300