Fiction writing prompt: Write 1-2 pages that start in one moment and then, after no more than one paragraph, leaps into flashback.  Then, before the end, manage to come back to the present.  This is an exercise in thinking about how you move in and out of such moments more so than coming up with a moment in the past that links to the present of whatever story you might be envisioning.

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The wind was blowing against Dylan, making the hairs on his arms stand. “Guys, I don’t think this is a great idea. We shouldn’t be here.” Dylan said. No one was listening to him. As they walked, Dylan heard a crinkle. Looking down, he saw a newsletter dating back to April 1982. The headline read; “Serial Killer Found Next to the Dead!” Dylan read on, slightly curious.

Rick’s wife looked visibly worried. She was holding the daily newspaper in her hand. “What’s wrong Molly? Everything okay in the news today?” Rick stood and walked towards her.

Molly motions the paper towards him. “He killed again.”

Rick reads the headline. “Serial Killer Enters the Circus!” Rick’s mouth formed into a grin. “What kind of headline is this? It’s very misleading.”

“This isn’t funny Rick!” Molly took the newspaper from Rick’s hands. “Someone is killing the children in this town!” Her eyes water, her voice distressed. “I can’t believe you can smile at this shit. Especially after Will.”

Rick slammed his hand on the table. “Don’t… Mention Will again.” Rick turns and walks away, grabbing his keys.

“Where are you going Rick?”

“Out.”

Rick finds himself at the circus, a familiar scene. All day he walks, looking at the kids running around and the parents, trying desperate to settle them down. “Pests.” Rick mumbles.

Morning turns into day, day turns into night. Rick finds himself still at the circus, siting on a bench. A group of boys in the distance run towards the fun house, a building closed off from the rest of the circus. Rick’s face heats up, hands in fists. He stands and walks towards the fun house.

Rick kicks the door open. They jump and look towards Rick. “How do you boys get to be happy?”

Confusion paints the boys’ faces. “What are you talking about old man?”

Rick reaches into his back pocket and takes out a pocketknife. “How do you get to be happy while he suffers?!”

Night turns into day, and Molly’s eyebrows furrow. “He’s been gone since last night.” She paces around the house until she hears a thump. Opening the front door, there lays the daily newspaper. “Hopefully there’s a good news story today.”

Her eyes widened, filling with tears as she read the headline. “Serial Killer Found Next to the Dead!” Molly runs out the door yelling Rick’s name.

“Dad?”

Dylan drops the newsletter. His father was a kind man. Very family oriented. The story he gave about his first wife was that she died of cancer at a young age. But that… That was his father in this newspaper.