Last week’s challenge: Describing one thing ten ways.
This week’s pretty straight forward.
I’ve got two lists at the bottom. Pick (or randomly choose with dice or a random number generator) one from each list, then make sure your flash fiction contains each of those things.
That’s it. Easy-peasy, Ramona-and-Beezy.
You’ve got an upgraded 1500 words. Due in one week (March 14th). Post it at your online space of choice. Drop a link to your completed story in the comments below. Any genre.
Now, the lists…
Must Contain #1
- A lover’s betrayal.
- A dead body without a face.
- A mysterious — perhaps even magical — photograph.
- An antique gun.
- A terminal illness.
- An ancient tree.
- A time machine.
- A monster.
- A faithful hound.
- A talking cat.
Must Contain #2
- A distant outpost.
- An infernal bargain.
- A pair of detectives.
- A stolen treasure.
- A forgotten manuscript.
- An escaped prisoner.
- A hard drive filled with secrets.
- A plane or train ride.
- A piece of lost technology.
- A comatose patient.
141 responses to “Flash Fiction Challenge: Must Contain…”
[…] one of Wendig’s challenges, so I thought this would be a good time to get back into the game. This week’s challenge is to choose one thing each from two given lists, writing a story that incorporates both things. I […]
I haven’t done a challenge in a while, but I couldn’t resist the talking cat for some reason. I paired it with an escaped prisoner. Here is Cat vs Con!
http://thepaddedcastle.wordpress.com/2014/03/11/flash-fiction-cat-vs-con/
You managed to not use much dialog, but keep the flow going at a good pace. And I love the cat. I’ve been in love with talking cats since The Last Unicorn.
You kept changing the spelling on Stanley was that intentional?
Oh no! The misspellings were not intentional. Thank you so much for pointing them out! Fixing them now.
I had a desert outpost and an ancient tree, which worked out perfectly for this little piece of fantasy, “Faded”. http://secondstaronther.wordpress.com/2014/03/11/faded/
I got an antique gun and a loyal dog. And, only now I do I realize I accidentally rolled the same list twice. *bonk* In any case, I decided to make this a general fiction. No crazy elements of magic, technology, or horror. It was really fun.
The Fate of Cora http://wp.me/p4ifXa-9A
So this is my first attempt at a short story (actually over the 1500 word count, sorry). I picked ‘monster’ and ‘hard drive filled with secrets’.
So here goes….Matisse http://nadinebates01.wordpress.com/2014/03/12/matisse/
Any comments (only positive, obviously) welcome 🙂
My story contains:
One: A monster
Two: An infernal bargain.
And it’s called “HARD TIMES FOR BOGEYMAN”
http://nadiaorenes.es/flash_fiction_challenge_hard_times_for_bogeyman.html
8 & 4 , the 10 sided random number gen loved me.
[…] http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2014/03/07/flash-fiction-challenge-must-contain/ […]
Coming in at 1480 words! I rolled a 9 and a 2: a faithful hound and an infernal bargain, respectively. I played a little bit with the idea of a faithful hound. Enjoy!
http://thereallydivinemissm.com/2014/03/13/the-infernal-bargain/
#6 and #9 with a sci-fi bent turned into “Lift Off”. Thanks for the read & any thoughts.
http://kathleenmagner.wordpress.com/other-inspirations/lift-off/
[…] week’s Chuck Wendig challenge. It’s actually shorter than the word limit accounted for. For my challenge, I needed to […]
An infernal bargain and a faceless corpse gives me “Old Debts.”
http://mxgomez.wordpress.com/2014/03/13/old-debts/
Nice chill! Very well written.
Hey thanks! Glad you liked it.
A lover’s betrayal and a comatose patient resulted in “He Can Hear You”.
http://suburbannoir.com/2014/03/he-can-hear-you/
That was really well-written. Great job!
Thanks!
I took a talking cat and a train ride. Took two days to write and four to whittle down to 1,500 words.
http://wombatspouch.blogspot.com/2014/03/my-first-attempt-at-chuck-wendig-flash.html
Being the owner of a cat who has the tendency to poke claws into my scalp at 3 am in the morning, I sympathize with Jeff. Cats are evil evil creatures. Nice story, funny and disconcerting at the same time.
Thank you. I have a couple of cats and always wonder what’s going through their mind.
I drew an antique gun and a hard drive filled with secrets… giving you “Data Protection Racket” (online in 2 ish hours)
http://jemimapett.com/blog/2014/03/14/friday-flash-fiction-data-protection-racket/
and I think it’s my first anniversary of Chuck’s Challenges – Thanks, Chuck! <3
A terminal illness and a comatose patient. I may have been inspired (or at least influenced) by Sunday’s series-ending episode of ‘True Detective.’ Hoping for more like that show down the road!
http://wp.me/p44qkj-Y
[…] (Inspired by Chuck Wendig’s “Must Contain…” Flash Fiction Challenge) […]
A monster and a hard drive full of secrets. “Mother Me Then Leave”
http://adamhughes.in/mother-me-then-leave/
[…] back to a more “traditional” Flash Fiction Challenge this week, picking two random items, one each from two lists. My random numbers were six and […]
An ancient tree and a ride in a plane or train. The idea came to me immediately and although a bit derivative, I enjoyed writing it and fleshing out the scene.
http://pauljwillett.com/2014/03/13/flash-fiction-resting-place/
Nice story. I really liked the scene-setting,the descriptions of the island and the jungle.
Thank you Trine, I’m glad that you enjoyed it!
[…] Last week’s challenge: “Must Contain…“ […]
My story featuring An Ancient Tree and A Pair of Detectives is here:
http://carljshirley.blogspot.com/2014/03/flash-fiction-friday.html
I also threw in A Hard Drive Filled With Secrets because it proved to be very useful as a plot device
I liked your story, it’s got some good snappy dialogue and was well paced.
Here’s mine, two private eyes find a faceless body on the floor of their office. Investigative shenanigans ensue.
http://contrastsolution.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-again-return-of-flash-fiction.html
Great story, love the dialogue and the characters. I would love to know what happens next.
I tried to get all clever and used the “Random Number Generator” on Google. I got. . .
1) A lover’s betrayal
and
1) A distant outpost.
Ha. Here it is. Enjoy. Oh, and thanks again, Chuck. This was a lot of fun.
http://roktyping.blogspot.kr
Running a bit behind here, due to travel (see you at the TFOB tomorrow, Chuck!).
http://www.ninjalibrarian.com/2014/03/flash-fiction-friday-and-his-dog.html
I had lovers betrayal and escaped prisoner
http://wp.me/p4pRoT-g
My piece is late and too long. Apologies!
http://www.trinetoftschmidt.com/2014/03/chuck-challenge-must-contain/
Better (very) late than never, here’s my story. The Last Train to Nowhere. Comments welcome! http://wp.me/pBqgu-9q
[…] vez, del Flash Fiction Challenge de Chuck Wendig, el reto propuesto es crear una historia corta que contenga dos elementos elegidos […]
[…] Flash fiction of sorts in response to a writing prompt from Chuck Wendig at Terrible Minds – combining two randomly selected cues. For this piece, these were: a mysterious photograph and a comatose patient. The title of this […]
[…] time, from Chuck Wendig Flash Fiction Challenge, our mission is to create a short story containing two random elements of two really eclectic […]