Flash Fiction Fr-aturday – Thrift Store Portal

It’s been a while since I posted flash fiction, huh? I actually had this idea yesterday after an interesting thrift store experience, but I was too tired to write it until today. I just love putting portals in strange places. Hope you enjoye!

Thrift Store Portal

Julie inhaled deeply and rolled her shoulders, shifting the plastic bag from one hand to the other as she moved to the next rack. The gentle swish as she shoved hanger after hanger to the side, loud pop pumping in the background, was almost hypnotic. The bag was half-full, and she honestly wasn’t sure what was in it anymore.

She hadn’t expected the thrift store to be so big, so loud or, frankly, so poorly lit. Picking up a hanger, she swished the floral skirt around to try to catch the light properly and figure out what colors it really was. Wrinkling her nose, she hung it pack, and shoved a few more hangers aside. Something caught her eye in the half-darkness behind the rack. Julie tilted her head. What was that? A dress or something, hanging on the wall. She couldn’t make out the shape, but by the way it caught the light and shimmered, she thought maybe it was velvet.

Rolling the rack a little bit to the side, Julia moved closer and reached out to feel the fabric.

There was a swoosh and a pop, and for a moment everything went black. In the next moment, Julie was pretty sure that she had somehow fainted and was dreaming. She stood in the middle of a vast forest, her ballerina flats sinking slowly into the mossy ground. The trees stretched up high, pointing toward a vaguely violet sky. The buzz of bugs and chirp of birds was everywhere.

“Well?” A voice, sudden and trilling, cut through the birdsong and made Julie jump. She spun around to find a lithe being perched halfway on a stump, a sundress at least one size too big, hanging off of pointed shoulders that Julie was almost sure were made of bark. She gawked.

“You got anything fuchsia?” the Dryad asked. “Mom really wants something fuchsia.”

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