What it’s all about: Five Sentence Fiction is about packing a powerful punch in a tiny fist. Each week Lillie McFerrin posts a one word inspiration, then anyone wishing to participate can write a five sentence story based on the prompt word. The word does not have to appear in the five sentences, and is just for direction. This week: FRESH

A fresh lease of life, that is what my show needed to get it out of the rut it had fallen into.

My cheap tricks were failing miserably with the crowds, and the already meager earnings from it had hit rock bottom.

If only I could get my hands on a decent sum, I’d revive the show with some much needed new costumes, flashy props and a prettier, sexier assistant (or maybe two if I could manage it) to hold the attention of the crowds at crucial moments of my performance.

That was why I was standing where I had vowed never to return, in the palatial house, in front of my wealthy aristocratic parents, my hands extended for a few scraps of their charity.

The scorn on their faces was my undoing, and when my red hot rage had subsided I realized that I’d need more than magic to explain away all the blood on my hands and also everywhere else in the room.

©Shail Mohan 2015