Check out last week’s players in the “Sub-Genre Mash-Up.”
Monday’s the Fourth of July. In this country, that means grilled meats, flag-waving, fire-crackers, humidity, parades, patriotism, picnics, baseball, families, and so on, and so forth.
It’s a day of celebration.
But fiction, well. Fiction likes a taste of the dark stuff. Fiction seeks to subvert happiness with a foul tincture of darkness. That, then, is your task for this week. Take the Fourth of July and muddy it up.
The flash fiction must be set on the Fourth of July.
This is a good challenge for horror or crime fiction, I think. Less so for fantasy and sci-fi, but if you think you can make it work, do it. Just be sure you show how long the shadows are on this hot summer holiday.
Once again: 1000 words.
Post it on your blog, and link back here, then make sure to let us know in the comments where to look for the fiction. You’ve got a week. Closing up shop Friday, July 8th, at 12 noon EST.
Load up them bottle rockets.
Jump into the pool.
Tell the grillmaster how you like your burger.
And be sure to hide the bodies.
Darlene Underdahl says:
We’re a Vacation Location for some of our friends, so I can’t do the whole flash fiction, but you’ve given me an idea for a future story. It will be about that old rake, Benjamin Franklin. Since some folks are trying to rewrite the biographies of the Founding Fathers anyway…
July 1, 2011 — 9:28 AM
Brendan Gannon says:
Oo, think I’m in for this one. Dovetails nicely with the new book that’s been steeping in my brain-juice.
July 1, 2011 — 9:44 AM
Nina says:
Oooh, juxtaposition! I really like this! I am going to kick my ass into writing something for this.
July 1, 2011 — 10:10 AM
Lindsay Mawson says:
Here’s my submission for this week:
The Fourth Day
http://lindsaymawson.blogspot.com/2011/07/flash-fiction-challenge-15-fourth-of.html
July 1, 2011 — 10:11 AM
Phoenix says:
If there’s a grillmaster, it sounds like disposing of the body has been taken care of for me. No burger for me today, thanks.
July 1, 2011 — 11:27 AM
Kim says:
This is the first time I’ve a) publicly posted a piece of fiction I’ve written and b) written something for your challenges, but I’ve been a lurker for a while. I hope it’s okay for me to join in!
http://kimmcgreal.blogspot.com/2011/07/fic-fourth-of-july.html
July 1, 2011 — 3:18 PM
Angela Perry says:
Hee. That was fun.
http://blog.byangelaperry.com/2011/07/fireworks.html
July 1, 2011 — 3:23 PM
angie Brooksby says:
I wrote two but one went in the trash. It is called Safety First – 994 words
here’s the link:
http://brooksbymemoirs.blogspot.com/2011/07/safety-first-friday-flash-fiction.html
Thanks Chuck for the great prompt, hope you like it.
July 1, 2011 — 4:53 PM
Chadwick Scott says:
Here is my offering:
http://samuraidork.wordpress.com/2011/07/01/the-fourth-of-july/
July 1, 2011 — 6:20 PM
A.R. Williams says:
Decided to give it a shot: http://a-r-williams.livejournal.com/106952.html
July 1, 2011 — 8:44 PM
Lesann says:
My offering: http://lesannberry.blogspot.com/2011/07/crossing-water.html
July 2, 2011 — 2:01 PM
NameMichael says:
I’m up. It’s an epilogue to my novel, and perhaps the beginning of a sequel.
http://innocentsaccidentshints.blogspot.com/2011/07/terrible-minds-challenge-hello-goodbye.html
July 2, 2011 — 2:36 PM
oldestgenxer says:
Thanks, Chuck, for giving me an outlet to write, instead of encouraging me to become a serial killer. Even though the pay is the same, I don’t have the dedication and commitment required for that other thing. Besides, I get tired of digging.
The stories I’ve read so far have been really good–but dark. Geez, does anybody remember laughter?
Bob on the Fourth of July
July 2, 2011 — 10:21 PM
Stephanie Belser says:
All righty!
http://downrange-impact.blogspot.com/2011/07/grand-finale.html
July 2, 2011 — 11:02 PM
Amber J Gardner says:
I now want to write a story about someone getting rid of a body by blowing it up with fireworks.
….I may do this.
July 4, 2011 — 5:43 AM
Inkblot says:
An alternate version of events leading up to the fateful signing:
http://epicureaninkblot.wordpress.com/2011/07/04/the-price-of-freedom/
July 4, 2011 — 6:40 AM
Louise Sorensen says:
Here is my Friday Flash Fic ‘I Pledge Allegiance’ http://wp.me/p1BAlV-B
July 4, 2011 — 5:40 PM
Louise Sorensen says:
I have read a lot of the pieces, and will read more.
I would like to point out to those who do not see a comment from me on their piece somewhere, that some of their sites will not post a comment very easily, and some of them won’t post it without requiring that you sign up for that blog.
I sign in where I can with wordpress or livejournal ID.
If that’s not good enough, I’ll persist for awhile, if still no success, then I give up.
July 5, 2011 — 12:18 PM
BA Boucher says:
Here we go.
And for once not posted at 11.30 on a Friday
http://defconwhiskey.tumblr.com/post/7272312842/duck
July 5, 2011 — 3:27 PM
oldestgenxer says:
I agree with Louise–sometimes I just can’t comment. Although maybe it’s for the best. I joined live journal, for Christ’s sake, and I feel like I’ve joined yet another cult. BA, I liked your story (Of course, I don’t even know how to comment on it to tell you.) Synchronicity is not just a song by The Police.
July 5, 2011 — 9:54 PM
BA Boucher says:
I’ve been on tumblr for about a month and literally just realized that you can’t comment. Looking into switching to wordpress or a different theme.
Had a blogger account for years before I decided to start respecting myself.
Thanks for the love gen Xer
July 6, 2011 — 9:50 AM
Brandi Dtrand says:
Ok…first time commenter, first time posting ANYTHING I’ve written. Thanks Chuck, for the inspiration.
http://writingbee.wordpress.com/2011/07/06/flash-fiction-challenge-4th-of-july/
July 7, 2011 — 1:01 AM
Albert Berg says:
Monsters and M80s
http://unsanityfiles.wordpress.com/2011/07/05/monsters-and-m80s/
July 7, 2011 — 6:26 PM
Ben K. says:
Late on this, but it was still a whole lot of fun:
http://warnerkirby.blogs.com/clintonaut/2011/07/fire-works.html
Thanks as always, Chuck.
July 7, 2011 — 8:51 PM
Robyn says:
May be my shortest ever! 992 words!
http://robynettely.blogspot.com/2011/07/flash-fiction-challenge-less-overlord.html
July 7, 2011 — 11:15 PM
Unpublished Guy says:
My half-assed attempt
http://www.unpublishedguy.com/WritingandPublishingFiction/485/flash-fiction-challenge-it-had-been-a-fine-fourth-of-july
July 8, 2011 — 2:10 AM
Roger Kilbourne says:
Here we go, fun stuff:
http://rogerkilbourne.wordpress.com
July 8, 2011 — 2:22 AM
Joseph Devon says:
That was fun! Very interesting combining two elements that normally don’t go together for me.
Here’s my go:
http://josephdevon.com/2011/07/08/short-story-cook-out
July 8, 2011 — 8:47 AM
Louise Sorensen says:
July 8, 2011> I just tried to access BA Boucher’s story and got an error message from tumblir. Their engineers are terribly sorry and are looking into the problem.
This is not the first time this week I have been unable to access tumblir.
I’ve enjoyed reading all your stories and will be back to finish the ones posted later. : )
July 8, 2011 — 1:26 PM
Roger Kilbourne says:
Well, that is a bummer…after staying up late to finish in time for the deadline, postponing precious pre-vacation-drive sleep time, it appears that my comment did not post? Weird…
I noticed it didn’t appear on the first try, so I posted again, and got a message about already posting that comment. So I figured OK, Chuck is now approving all comments first, cool. But no! Comment fail! GAH! Oh well, at least I am happy with my story 🙂
July 13, 2011 — 2:31 PM
terribleminds says:
@Roger:
For some reason, it ended up in spam! Apologies, not sure why.
— c.
July 13, 2011 — 2:37 PM
Roger Kilbourne says:
Oh, OK…now I see what you REALLY think of my stuff, Chuck! LOL j/k.
July 17, 2011 — 3:51 PM