Flash Fiction Addiction
Lucky for us, Ms. JR held a couple contests the weekends of May 30th, and June 6th. For May 30th’s contest, I think blog comments may have prompted a North Carolina themed contest, and the one on June 6th was a suggestion from Colin Smith a “reg’lar” on her blog. He reads a lot of books by a client of hers, author Gary Corby, whose latest book, DEATH EX MACHINA was released.
Of course I entered both. As usual, she gave five prompt words, and then we have to write a story in 100 words or less.
Here is my entry for May 30th, where I placed as a FINALIST (whoop!) out of about 75 entries. Prompt words: balloon, heart, wife, dare, plott (yes, with two t’s)
I watch the sun rise, a red balloon in the eastern sky. Haint stands at the river’s edge while Banner runs nearby sniffing traces of yesterday.
Never had much heart for anything other than these old Plott hounds, God love’em. Last year when that water moccasin bit Lloyd, then Haint, it tested that very fact.
Lloyd had hollered, “Wife! Move your ass, I’m bit!”
Forty years. Never once called me by my name.
I daresay my decision came then.
Is puttin’ a dog ahead of a human a sin?
Maybe.
I wipe spittle off Lloyd’s chin and watch the dogs.
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For June 6th contest which I WON (!) Double WHOOP! Prompt words were: chorus, ghost, actor, crane, stage
Back when I won’t more’n a speck, I heard what sounded like a chorus of voices under my bed mumblin’ some word.
I couldn’t rightly make it out at first, so’s I kept on listening, night after night.
Finally, I got it.
Useless.
I reckon they was ghosts.
That actor what shot Lincoln? Useless was last word he said afore he died, no foolin’.
Troublin’ what I see when I crane my neck like so. They been hammering since yesterday.
Come dawn, reckon I’ll be center stage.
It’s alright. I ain’t ever amounted to nothin’.
Funny.
Useless comes to mind.
These are The Shark’s words verbatim, below my entry in the finalist area, “This is a stunning demonstration of how to show rather than tell, and establishing character through diction.”
Reading that was SUBLIME, and then she added this with her determination of how she chose this piece as the winner, “It was very hard to pick a winner this week because all of these stories had things I loved. In the end though it had to be Donnaeve for a compelling demonstration of craft and story.“
ON. THE. FLOOR.
Then, I got up and did this:
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