The Poster on the Corner
Flash Fiction February Day 12: Wildcard, branching narrative
**I’m very sorry for the people who got the first version of this post with the story but none of the details! It is getting late here in Australia.
Flash Fiction February — Day 12
Theme: Wildcard - include a branching narrative with a parallel universe
Genre: Open
I’m taking part in Bradley Ramsey’s Flash Fiction February, where every like, comment, and restack earns points.
Today’s story took a lot more thinking today, and there were lots of variations before settling on the music theme. But I’m very happy with the end result!
Read the story, cheer on the writers, and dive into a month of tiny tales. Check out all of the other amazing Week 2 entries here, or read the rest of my submissions here.
If you enjoy this story, a like, comment, or restack would mean the world — they all count toward the challenge!
Leah got off the train. It had been a long week, and she just wanted to walk the couple of blocks home so she could collapse on the couch, order takeout and binge Netflix. As she left the station, she noticed an old lady up ahead.
She was walking slowly, pushing a walker. As Leah watched, her bag of groceries ripped, spilling its contents onto the ground.
Even though she was exhausted, Leah rushed over to help.
‘Thank you so much,’ the old lady exclaimed. ‘My house is just around the corner. I know you probably have somewhere to be, but I would really appreciate a hand to get home.’
‘Sure thing,’ she smiled at the old lady.
As Leah slowly walked with the old lady, she noticed a poster on the corner announcing the opening of a new concert venue nearby. They get to the old lady’s house. It is a small cottage nestled between the tall city buildings.
Leah helps put all the groceries in the kitchen and is about to leave when the old lady puts a hand on her arm.
‘Let me give you something for your trouble.’
Leah declines. ‘It was no trouble, you don’t need to pay me.’
‘Pfft, I can offer you something so much better than money.’
Leah blinks as the old lady pulls a gold medallion out of her purse.
‘We all have moments in life where we wonder if we made the right choice. I’m giving you the chance to change one of those and see how life would have panned out. If you like what you see, you can keep your life that way.’
Leah looked at the lady in disbelief, unsure whether she was joking or delusional.
The old lady snorts. ‘I’m a witch, okay? If someone is nice, I like to repay them. You can ask Jerry, he’ll tell you.’
She points to the couch where a black cat is curled up, watching the interaction.
‘Meow,’ replies Jerry.
The old lady glared at the cat. ‘He can talk, he’s just being a dick because I made him wear that collar with a bell. Anyway, if you take the coin and think of a turning point in your life. You will have a day to see how your life would be different. If you like what you see, keep the coin. If not, give it back, and you’ll be none the wiser. What do you wish you had done differently?’
Leah hesitated. She had always wanted to pursue music. But once school finished, she’d stopped playing guitar and gone to uni to study accounting. What if she had kept playing?
The old lady held out the coin. As Leah examined it, the medallion seemed to shimmer, and suddenly a musical note was displayed on each side.
What should Leah do?
1. Run
2. Take the coin
1. Run
Leah looked kindly, with slight concern, at the old lady. ‘Thank you for the offer, but I can’t accept anything. Not even the offer of a “wish.”’ She made quotation marks with her fingers.
‘But I’m serious. Don’t you want to know what would have happened if you did something different?’
‘Sure, but I don’t think you can change that. Bye, Jerry.’
She waved to Jerry as he meowed again. She chuckled. That time, the meow almost sounded like the word ‘nooo,’ but that would be ridiculous. Cats can’t talk.
Leah left the house and made her way home. ‘I wonder if I need to call someone to check on that lady, maybe she’s not all there upstairs.’
As she walked, her thoughts turned to music. She missed playing; life had got in the way. At home, she dug out her guitar and practised. It was rough, but it felt good. Soon, she was playing in every spare moment, even learning new songs.
A short while later, she was walking home from the train again, only this time she held her head high and hummed the tune stuck in her head. As she approached the corner where she met the old lady, she noticed the poster was now advertising an open mic night at the newly opened venue.
The next night, she was standing on the side of the stage, nervous but excited. She hadn’t played in front of anyone for years. She is called to the stage and is momentarily dazzled by the bright lights and staring faces. But she closed her eyes and started her first song.
And then it was like she’d never left the stage all those years ago. Performing felt natural. Once she finished, the audience cheered for more, and she gave a modest bow.
She was at the bar after playing, still buzzing from the music and conversations. A stranger congratulated her.
‘By the way,’ he added. ‘I’m in a band, and we’ve been looking for a new guitarist. Would you like to join us?’
A month later, Leah walked past the corner, guitar in one hand, dressed for the stage. She grinned at the poster promoting her band, at their first gig at the new venue.
She glimpsed the old lady’s house on her way and gave a silent thank you to the old lady for reminding her about her love of music.
Maybe she was a witch after all.
2. Take the coin
Leah hesitated. ‘I always wondered what would have happened if I’d pursued my music instead of going to uni.’
The old lady smiled. ‘Well, now you can find out. Take the coin, and you will live that life until midnight tomorrow. If you like it, keep the coin. If not, you can return it, and your life will go back to normal.’
Leah frowned uncertainly. ‘How will I find you?’
The lady just smiled and extended the coin towards her. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll find you.’
Leah paused for a moment, then reached out and grabbed the coin before she could change her mind.
There was a massive flash and a puff of smoke. As the smoke cleared, the little old lady, Jerry and the house were gone.
Leah looked around. She was backstage, holding a guitar in one hand. She glanced in the dressing room mirror. She was dressed in jeans and a sequined top. She gasped as she eyed the tattoo of music notes covering her upper arm. She never would have been game enough to do that in her old life!
‘5 minutes, Leah,’ a head popped into the dressing room. He was wearing a headset and had a nosering.
‘Umm… okay,’ she answered, trying to get her head around what was happening.
The next thing she knew, she was on stage with a band playing music to hundreds of adoring fans. She was singing lyrics she didn’t know, but she played with confidence and watched the audience sing along. The show was a success. Fans rushed to meet her out the back of the venue, and she signed autographs and took photos. It was well after midnight when she crashed into bed. Instead of her small, sensible apartment, she was now living in a loft in what used to be a factory, surrounded by artsy types who never slept.
She Googled herself to see what had happened in this life. She found interviews, old busking videos, and a crowdfunding campaign for her debut album. She had even ended up on a talent show! She didn’t win, but it gave her enough exposure to allow her to pursue music full-time.
Feeling pretty happy with how her life had apparently turned out, she checked social media. Most people had nice things to say about her, but there were a few haters, especially about her second album, which they felt wasn’t as strong as her first.
Her alarm woke her early in the morning. She was still a bit worn out from the night before, but her calendar told her it was time for a workout. She met her mum for lunch.
‘I’m glad you are back home for a few weeks. I miss you on the road,’ she mentioned. Leah was sad to hear she didn’t get to have the weekly family catch-ups she had in her old life, but promised to try to FaceTime more next time she was on tour.
After a quick nap, she jumped into a meeting with her manager. She mostly nodded along as he spoke about tour dates and recording sessions. She was learning that life as a musician is more than just performing!
She walked from her loft apartment to the gig, pausing at the corner where she met the old lady to admire a poster advertising her latest show. Leah grinned. As she was walking off, she saw a black cat that looked like Jerry. She was sure he winked at her as she went past.
And then once again, she was on stage, and it felt like she was never meant to be anywhere else. Performing felt natural, and all the hard work and uncertainty about the life she hardly knew washed away as she embraced life as a performer.
Towards the end of the show, she spots the old lady standing in the crowd. She nodded at Leah and waited at the back of the room until the gig was over.
Leah said goodbye to her fans with a final wave and walked over to the old lady.
‘So what do you think?’ the old lady asked. ‘Is it everything you ever wanted? Do you want to keep the coin, or give it back?’
What does Leah do?
3. Keep the coin
4. Return the coin
3. Keep the coin
‘I love this life,’ Leah said. ‘Yes, it’s hard work, and I’ll miss my family, but I feel like my soul is soaring every time I’m on stage. This is where I’m meant to be.’
‘As you wish,’ said the old lady, putting her hands back in her pockets. ‘The coin is yours.’ And with that, she walked away.
Leah slotted into this new life as if she had always been there. Soon, she forgot that she had ever done anything else. Occasionally, she’d see a familiar face from her old life, but they didn’t know her. And why would they? In this world, she never became an accountant. But there is hardly time to dwell on it, as she is so busy writing music and performing.
She kept her promise to stay in touch with her family more often and had a weekly FaceTime with everyone, no matter where she was.
Whenever she was in town, she walked past that intersection, but she had never seen the old lady again. Occasionally, she saw posters for other bands on the corner, but most of the time, they were posters sharing her latest success as their ‘homegrown hero.’ She thought she saw Jerry once and called out hello, but there was no reply. Maybe he was just a normal cat after all. She grinned at the thought.
She collapsed into bed after a big concert and sighed with contentment. Life as a musician is busy, and sometimes hard. But for Leah, it is perfect.
4. Return the coin
‘I can’t keep this life. I love it, but it’s not really mine. I haven’t earned it.’
The witch nods. ‘Very well. Give back the coin, and it will be as if nothing has happened.’
Leah paused, remembering the feeling of being on stage, how natural it felt. But her mind was made up. She placed the coin back in the witch’s hand.
The next thing she knew, she was back on the corner. She paused for a moment, unsure of what she was doing. Then she heard a car horn and realised she was on her way home from work. It must have been a busy week if she was zoning out like that. Good thing she was nearly home. She noticed an old lady up ahead.
The old lady was walking slowly, pushing a walker. As Leah watched, her bag of groceries ripped, spilling its contents onto the ground.
Even though she was exhausted, Leah rushed over to help.
‘Thank you so much,’ the old lady exclaimed. ‘My house is just down the way. I know you probably have somewhere to be, but I would really appreciate a hand to get home.’
‘I’m sorry, I can’t help you home. But here is a spare shopping bag. I’ll help you load them up and see you to the corner.’
Leah helped her fill the bag with her shopping, made sure it was secured, and waved her off as she crossed the road.
There was a poster on the wall near the intersection advertising a concert at the new venue that had just opened. Leah didn’t notice the poster as she trudged towards home.
She saw a black cat on the corner.
‘Howdy,’ said Jerry.
Leah blinked.
‘Meow,’ Jerry added.
She shook her head. It’d been a long week. She definitely needed a break when she got home.
Jerry watched her go before returning to the old lady’s house, casting a last glance at the poster on the wall.
I would love to hear your thoughts on my story.
Which path would you choose? Witch or crazy lady, musician or accountant?
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Read Day 13 → I Wish…