2025 February Flash Fiction Challenge: Day 15

Write a piece of flash fiction each day of February with the February Flash Fiction Challenge, led by Managing Editor Moriah Richard. Each day, receive a prompt, example story, and write your own. Today’s prompt is to write about a sign.

It's week three! How are we feeling? Right about now is when you might start feeling some creativity fatigue. Don't forget to reach to things that you love—tropes, settings, genres, etc.! 

Today's prompt is to write about a sign.

(Note: If your story gets flagged for review, be patient—we will be releasing comments every few hours throughout the weekdays of this challenge. Our system randomly flags comments for review, so just sit tight and wait for us to set it free! If you run into any other issues with posting your story, please just send me an e-mail at mrichard@aimmedia.com with the subject line: Flash Fiction Challenge Commenting Issue.)

Here’s my attempt at a story about a sign:

Time Ticks On

The beautiful clock they got as an engagement gift stopped working the day they married. He always promised that he’d get it fixed—“Next anniversary”—but it ended up being one of the things he left behind when he moved out. Moved on. She threw it out the day they signed the papers. On her way home from the court hearing, she stopped at an antique store she’d always wanted to go in and never made time for. The Jaeger-LeCoultre spoke to her like an old friend. She set it on her mantle, more hopeful than she’d been in years.

Since obtaining her MFA in fiction, Moriah Richard has worked with over 100 authors to help them achieve their publication dreams. As the managing editor of Writer’s Digest magazine, she spearheads the world-building column Building Better Worlds, a 2023 Eddie & Ozzie Award winner. She also runs the Flash Fiction February Challenge on the WD blog, encouraging writers to pen one microstory a day over the course of the month and share their work with other participants. As a reader, Moriah is most interested in horror, fantasy, and romance, although she will read just about anything with a great hook. 

Learn more about Moriah on her personal website.