Campaign Challenge 1

Musical Stories will be up later tonight, but here's a little extra post for you, my entry for the first Campaigner Challenge of 2012.  You probably know the rules by now, but just in case:

It's a flash fiction story beginning with the words 'Shadows crept across the wall.'
It ends with the words 'Everything faded'.
It includes the word 'orange'.
It's the genre I'm currently writing.
It's 200 words exactly.

I think I've fulfilled everything, so here it is. (If you get that far, it's entry 188 on the list).

Shadow Puppets
Shadows crept across the wall; a dog, then a rabbit, then something that Emma thought was an elephant. Robbie obviously liked it. His sweet giggle pierced her heart.

“More, Daddy, more.”

How she would miss her darling boy.

From her vantage point by the door, all she could see was Robbie's back, his head covered by the oversized orange baseball cap. It didn't matter though, every part of her son's face was etched in her brain. She wished to God she had the strength to fight this.

Jack's head appeared from behind the sheet that he was using as a screen. Even from across the dimly lit room, she could see his raised eyebrow, that meant 'are you still here?'. She felt for the doorhandle behind her. He'd won. The evidence he'd gathered about Robbie's illegal adoption saw to that. She could walk away, or end up in prison. Whichever, she'd never see her beautiful son again. Instead, the man who wasn't really his father would be left to raise him.

As Emma left the house she strained to hear just one more peal of laughter, but she could hear nothing. The music, Robbie, even Jack. All gone. Everything faded.

•