Flash Fiction: The Climb

Prompt: A story about someone climbing a tower

⁠Word Count: 100

Written for the Flash Fiction Contest hosted by @addisonhornerauthor

There’s only one rule when climbing towers: don’t fall.

The man’s fingers are raw and his muscles spasm. Still, he climbs. Hours later, he crests the top. He hauls his shaking body inside and looks down hundreds of feet to the hard, unforgiving bottom.

A smile is already spreading across his face, anticipating his reward.

But the tower is empty.

The man glares out the window at the line of towers stretching into the hazy distance. He’d been so sure this time.

His mouth twists, but he refuses to be defeated. Stubborn determination to the bitter end.

Again.

A. M. Spaulding