Flash Fiction

This is a piece I wrote for my fiction workshop class. The assignment was to write a flash fiction story in 100 words or less using elements the class found in the "short short" stories of Tom Hazuka. The elements were: wartime setting, use of dialogue to advance the plot, and book-ending.

Summer

The water in the bathtub was black. The hair-dryer was droning and the radio was blaring. There was a knock at the door.
"What?" Madeline yelled as she turned off the dryer and radio.
"I want to take a picture for Dad."
"Not now."
"Your father has been in Iraq for seven months and you're saying I can't take a picture of his daughter to send him?"
Madeline opened the door. Her mother gasped.
"Not now." her mother finally said.
Madeline shut the door. She sat down and looked at the black water in the bathtub.