Ascension- an excellent piece of flash fiction – by Maria Carvalho

My dear followers, Literary Revelations is pleased to present you with a piece of flash fiction, written by Maria Carvalho, our Writer in Residence.

Bio

Maria Carvalho’s multi-genre work has appeared in a variety of literary magazines, including Roi Fainéant Press, MetaStellar, Free Flash Fiction, Twin Pies Literary, 101 Words, Starspun Lit, and All Your Stories. Her short stories have been published in numerous anthologies, including several titles in the Owl Hollow Press Anthology Series. Maria’s poetry appears in the #1 Amazon bestselling books “Hidden in Childhood”, “Petals of Haiku”, and “Tranquility”, all published by Literary Revelations. Her popular children’s book Hamster in Space! was praised by Kirkus Indie Reviews for its “sharp understanding of kids’ wacky sense of humor.” Maria lives in Connecticut with her family. Find her on Bluesky and Twitter: @immcarvalho

---

Ascension by Maria Carvalho

On a luminous morning that whispered of spring, Jayla felt an aching joy as she gazed up at the enormous pine. Her parents had forbidden her from climbing the tree—it was much too dangerous, they’d said—but she’d grown at least a couple of inches over the winter and she knew she could handle it. For the first time in her life, she was going to break the rules.

“Don’t tell on me!” she joked to Zodiac, and the German Shepherd wagged his tail in reply.

Giving him a quick pat on the head and stuffing her mittens into her coat pockets, she strode over to the towering tree and pulled herself onto the lowest branch. The rough bark glowed softly in the sunlight as she began her ascent, her hands quickly growing sticky with sap. Chattering chickadees encouraged her on while Jayla nimbly climbed ever-higher, never looking down, focused only on what lay ahead.

When she reached the top, she let out a whoop. She knew she could do it! She wasn’t even that tired.

Taking her first look around, she felt a wave of exhilaration—and a cold stab of fear.

Far below, a patchwork quilt of farmland in shades of brown and green was spread out to the horizon. A sparkling ribbon of river meandered through it and disappeared behind the snow-topped mountains in the west. The sea of azure sky was endless, and seemed as unlimited as her future.

Anxiety ebbing away, she gulped in the brisk air and grinned, a soft breeze planting refreshing butterfly kisses on her cheeks. When Jayla spotted a group of red-tailed hawks circling in the distance, she imagined jumping from her perch and stretching out her arms to soar alongside them. Oh, to have that kind of freedom!

Her eyes stung with tears. It was all so beautiful. She knew this moment would stay in her heart forever, preserved like the wildflowers she’d pressed between the pages of Anne of Green Gables. This was what living was all about.

At length, she tore her gaze away from the sweeping views, noticing her family’s farmhouse nestled at the foot of the hill below—it looked so small! —and Zodiac pacing around the tree beneath her. “Hey, boy!” she called, and he let out a short bark in response.

The sun’s position told her that morning was over. Her parents would worry if she didn’t come back soon, so Jayla took a long last look around before reluctantly starting the climb back down, thinking about how impressed Logan would be when her bestie heard about what Jayla had done.

Without warning, the branch she was stepping down on gave way with a sharp crack, and then she was falling, cold terror engulfing her as she desperately grabbed for the tree, but she was going fast, much too fast, and the branches sliced her grasping hands and lashed her face in an onslaught of pain that took her breath away.

Jayla barely had time to think this can’t be happening when her freefall ended. Shocked and relieved, she tried to get her bearings, but her mind felt fuzzy, her body numb. It gave her a flashback to the time she had fainted while getting her ears pierced. She’d thought she was dreaming when she heard her name being called, tinny and far away, but then she’d opened her eyes and found her mother kneeling beside her on the cold tile floor, a panicked look on her face.

Jayla had that same disoriented feeling now. She must have been knocked out by the branch that had broken her fall. But she felt wide awake—so why couldn’t she see anything besides a strange sort of fog all around? And why didn’t she feel anything? Oh god—what if she was paralyzed?

Calm down, Jayla told herself. She was probably just woozy from hitting her head.

Then, through the mist, she saw something begin to take shape. The image was blurry and distorted at first, as if she were peering into the wrong end of binoculars, but it gradually sharpened into a scene that sent her mind reeling.

She saw herself lying perfectly still on a carpet of pine needles beneath the majestic pine tree, her pink sparkly coat in shreds, Zodiac frantically licking her bloodied face. Her eyes were open and unblinking.

Panic came in a rush. The horrible scene had to be a hallucination—it couldn’t be real. Nothing about it made any sense. Besides the fact that it wasn’t possible to see herself from a distance, she hadn’t fallen all the way to the ground; she had landed on a branch.

Hadn’t she?

Dread and regret mixed with her fear. What was going on? What had she done? Why hadn’t she listened to her parents?

Please let everything go back to normal. I swear I’ll never break the rules again. I just want to go home.

Then the terrible image dissolved and the fog parted, forming a passage that stretched away for as far as she could see. As she peered into it, her distress and sorrow melted away, a sense of calm taking their place.

Jayla understood the truth then: she was no longer the girl she’d seen lying on the ground. She had changed, yet was still herself, and there was no need to be afraid or sad—it simply meant that one part of her journey was ending, and it was time to take the next step on the path she was meant to travel.

She went towards the passage.

---

Reminder

In August, Literary Revelations is set to unveil a stunning album of fine-art photography by the acclaimed Japanese artist Naoki Kimura. Measuring a refined 8.3 inches wide by 11.7 inches tall, this collection promises to be a visual feast, printed on the finest paper that Amazon offers.

What sets Kimura’s work apart is his unparalleled mastery of monochrome photography, which exquisitely captures the mesmerizing dance of light and shadows—transforming each image into a profound experience. The artist’s extraordinary photographic technique has garnered him countless awards and provided him with the opportunity to showcase his fervent dedication to beauty in art at numerous prestigious international exhibitions.

The collection also includes Short prose, haiku, and tanka, written by Naoki Kimura.

---

Visit our Testimonial Page

Exciting Success: All Books published by Literary Revelations have become #1 Amazon Top Releases and/or #1 Bestsellers!