Flash Fiction Challenge: Time Again To Write An Opening Sentence
That classic challenge is back:
Do not write a story.
Nope. Mm-mm, don’t do it.
Instead:
Write only an opening sentence.
Not two sentences. Not three. One. Good. Sentence.
Drop the opening sentence in the comments below, and then next week we will make use of some of those sentences for the next challenge. You’ve got one week — due by next Friday, the 17th, noon EST. Get cracking, word-herders.
April 10, 2015 @ 12:01 PM
She tracked him out of the corner of one eye, she couldn’t wait to see him bleed.
April 10, 2015 @ 12:05 PM
She took his head down from the shelf.
April 17, 2015 @ 12:47 PM
My third like.
April 10, 2015 @ 12:10 PM
I’ve got something in my bag which could be very precious to you.
April 10, 2015 @ 12:11 PM
“Hnnngh grrhh ahhngghh,” he gurgled.
April 10, 2015 @ 3:45 PM
I really like this one…it could go in so many different directions.
April 12, 2015 @ 12:06 PM
Yes! I initially thought about a poor man drowning but then realized it could very well be a rich man drowning. Or a sod at the dentist trying to have a conversation. Or an ogre trying its pudgy hand at spoken English literature. The possibilities are endless.
April 12, 2015 @ 2:55 PM
My first thought had him drowning in his own blood…
April 15, 2015 @ 4:44 AM
Waking up hung over after a monumental binge on pangalactic gargle-blasters!
April 11, 2015 @ 7:30 AM
This made me laugh. It’s got good personality.
April 12, 2015 @ 12:05 PM
Thank you! I kind of just came up with it at random, but then I realized it was really open ended and slightly unexpected.
April 11, 2015 @ 8:37 AM
A nine letter word for constipation is “Nnnnnnnnn!”
April 12, 2015 @ 12:04 PM
Now explain the gurgling. Actually, I’d almost rather not know.
April 12, 2015 @ 12:09 PM
It’s the body’s way of saying “Evacuate! Explosion imminent!”
April 10, 2015 @ 12:13 PM
Waking up next to a dead man will ruin your entire day.
April 10, 2015 @ 2:18 PM
Love it
April 10, 2015 @ 11:46 PM
ahhhh I love this dark humor. its really true. on the scale of day ruining this ranks pretty high.
April 17, 2015 @ 12:48 PM
Like (4).
April 10, 2015 @ 12:13 PM
They always said Mama was crazy, but they never knew how much.
April 10, 2015 @ 2:19 PM
i like it!
April 10, 2015 @ 12:14 PM
That pink easter bunny never had a chance.
April 10, 2015 @ 6:02 PM
I like this! It’s very interesting straight off the bat. I really want to know more about what the pink easter bunny was up to.
April 10, 2015 @ 12:14 PM
“God built the earth in seven days, but I plan to tear it down in five”
April 10, 2015 @ 1:33 PM
I like this. I already want to know more about this character.
April 10, 2015 @ 2:10 PM
I like this too. Would it have more impact if you dropped the “but”?
April 10, 2015 @ 2:28 PM
Agreed!
April 10, 2015 @ 2:42 PM
Double agreed!
April 10, 2015 @ 4:48 PM
But that would make it two sentences, thus violating the accords!
April 11, 2015 @ 5:08 PM
Nah, you can leave the comma in there and still have the one sentence.
April 15, 2015 @ 4:46 AM
Mmm, if you’re going to leave it as one sentence, I think it ought to be a semi-colon. 😉
April 15, 2015 @ 4:47 AM
Okay, fine. Five days late and a synapse short.
April 10, 2015 @ 4:47 PM
Love it!
April 10, 2015 @ 5:09 PM
How about now:
“God built the earth in seven days; I plan to tear it down in five”
Still one sentence, grammatically correct (I think – Chuck??), and it sounds better/is more concise.
April 12, 2015 @ 12:27 PM
Poignant and leaves me curious. Awesome.
April 10, 2015 @ 12:15 PM
On the morning of her thirteenth birthday, the whites of her eyes turned inky black.
April 10, 2015 @ 2:08 PM
Go forth and multiply (your word count). Liking this one.
April 11, 2015 @ 4:54 AM
Impressive, most impressive. Just like the last time we did this exercise
April 12, 2015 @ 1:51 PM
Ooh, curious …
April 10, 2015 @ 12:20 PM
There’s nothing in the world that feels quite the same between your teeth as human skin.
April 10, 2015 @ 1:35 PM
My first thought was, “Is this BDSM or cannibalism?”
April 11, 2015 @ 10:23 AM
Eeeew…creepy. And that’s a good thing.
April 10, 2015 @ 12:21 PM
Trey sat under a bush in the cold December drizzle, watching the street and rubbing the limp dog that lay twitching in his lap.
April 12, 2015 @ 12:29 PM
Despite my normal aversion to starting with the weather, this totally creeped me out and worked and now I’d like to know more.
April 17, 2015 @ 5:01 PM
I’ll give you more. I think I’ll try to take this somewhere, with the author’s blessing, of course.
April 19, 2015 @ 3:43 PM
sure, it’s the first line to the, what, twentieth draft of a novel? I lost count. Give it hell!
April 10, 2015 @ 12:22 PM
Dawn had gone to Callowhill Bridge to find graffiti, and not dragons.
April 10, 2015 @ 4:49 PM
That’s awesome! I love it! Maybe you should just consider dropping the “and”. 🙂
April 14, 2015 @ 2:47 PM
Thank you. And yes, you’re right, I was weighing whether or not to drop the ‘and.’ It’d flow better, I think 🙂
April 10, 2015 @ 12:23 PM
He never thought his love for the extraordinary will take his life.
April 20, 2015 @ 11:14 AM
I’m going to use this sentence. I editing it to have it all be in past tense – He never thought his love for the extraordinary would take his life.
April 10, 2015 @ 12:27 PM
Sarah Bannerman preferred being dead to being married, but it was a close run thing.
April 10, 2015 @ 11:47 PM
poor, poor, Sarah Bannerman!! please tell me she wins in the end.
April 11, 2015 @ 3:50 AM
I honestly don’t know
April 10, 2015 @ 12:28 PM
“Oh, shit.”
April 10, 2015 @ 2:21 PM
hahaha awesome
April 10, 2015 @ 3:07 PM
Classic
April 10, 2015 @ 12:29 PM
This dead guy, his name was Aftermath Brad and I’m not supposed to know that.
April 10, 2015 @ 4:50 PM
Okay, this one I want to know more about! I like the way the character speaks.
April 15, 2015 @ 4:03 PM
Please write more?! I need to meet Aftermath Brad. *Great* name!
April 19, 2015 @ 11:54 AM
Nabbing this one for the follow-up challenge. It’s glorious.
April 10, 2015 @ 12:32 PM
Angels paced in Heaven, unsure of their tidings.
April 10, 2015 @ 2:21 PM
I actually like this!
April 11, 2015 @ 9:49 AM
Beautiful!
April 16, 2015 @ 7:51 PM
After reading through these again, I’ve found this to be one of the most intriguing lines. I hope I get to write on this one ;] Instead of tidings I might use something else but that ‘s just me. I kind of like “Angels paced in Heaven unsure.”
April 10, 2015 @ 12:36 PM
It all started the day I found a live octopus in my shed.
April 10, 2015 @ 5:50 PM
Any chance of changing the ‘shed’ to ‘head’?
April 10, 2015 @ 8:41 PM
I swear, the first time I read this I thought it said “bed”.
April 18, 2015 @ 2:38 AM
Sounds even better!
April 17, 2015 @ 12:50 PM
…in my soup?
April 10, 2015 @ 12:37 PM
To a stationary observer, the USS Susquehanna would resemble nothing so much as an overgrown, mile-long snowball, hurtling silently past at one tenth of the speed of light.
April 12, 2015 @ 12:30 PM
I like this.
April 10, 2015 @ 12:50 PM
Free to good home: one pre-owned left hand – still attached – which is disengaged from motor cortex control and has a mind of its own.
April 10, 2015 @ 11:49 PM
haha would be interested to see both: who responds to this ad and what person put it out.
April 12, 2015 @ 4:07 PM
Thanks! That’s some challenging character development. Who would want an extra hand, and what would they do with it? Maybe a mate for Thing from The Addams Family?
April 12, 2015 @ 12:18 PM
That would be a really cool story actually. It would just be in the format of emails going back and forth between the provider of goods and the interested party. Haggling, among other things, could ensue.
April 12, 2015 @ 4:07 PM
Great suggestion. It would just about fill out a short story.
April 10, 2015 @ 12:54 PM
I can’t open my legs.
April 11, 2015 @ 12:32 AM
The possibilities are endless.
April 12, 2015 @ 12:31 PM
Oh, god. Exactly. The possibilities ARE endless… and enticing…
April 10, 2015 @ 12:57 PM
I didn’t wash my hands before using the bathroom, even though I had been chopping jalapeno peppers; a quick rinse will do, I thought.
April 11, 2015 @ 7:32 AM
I actually laughed out loud
April 11, 2015 @ 10:26 AM
A guy I worked with in a pizza shop totally did this. True story.
April 10, 2015 @ 1:01 PM
They were still laughing and cruised only a few blocks when they heard a blast and the great sloping windshield of the Olds shattered and caved in on them.
April 10, 2015 @ 1:05 PM
Rose sighed as she broke through the surface the lake, the water glistening off her hirsute chest.
April 10, 2015 @ 4:52 PM
Her? Hirsute?! What the!
April 10, 2015 @ 11:52 PM
I’m really hoping this is a superhero story. this really does happen and these women need more role models!!
April 10, 2015 @ 1:08 PM
I brush pieces of earth from Michael’s hair, his body buried shallow enough that an animal of some kind, a wolf or coyote or cougar, clawed into the half frozen dirt to eat his stomach contents.
April 10, 2015 @ 2:16 PM
I am definitely interested in learning more about Michael’s demise. Is there a way to tighten it up? Maybe reducing the number of animals that are suspect?
April 10, 2015 @ 1:10 PM
I know you didn’t mean to break the parallel barrier, but now that it’s done we really need to figure out what to do with all these extra versions of everybody.
April 10, 2015 @ 2:22 PM
it seems like the story would be amazing
April 12, 2015 @ 1:53 PM
I can’t wait to find out what we’re to do with all these one-liners next week. I’ve got my eye on a couple others. 😉
April 10, 2015 @ 5:54 PM
Behold! A copier that doesn’t jam!
April 17, 2015 @ 7:12 PM
Ah, but what if it does? 😉
April 26, 2015 @ 3:49 PM
There will be the usual swear words plus a technical fix that shall commence with the removal of the all important metal feeder rods!
April 10, 2015 @ 1:12 PM
I leaned forward, coughing, spitting out blood and glass.
April 10, 2015 @ 1:15 PM
Shane’s feet stunk bad.
April 10, 2015 @ 1:17 PM
All Joe’s dreams would come true, if he sacrificed his penis.
April 10, 2015 @ 1:18 PM
Fox could never turn down a dare- no matter how stupid, how idotic it could be
April 10, 2015 @ 2:27 PM
How about:
Fox could never turn down a dare, no matter how idiotic.
April 10, 2015 @ 1:24 PM
Muriel awoke covered in mucilage.
April 10, 2015 @ 1:27 PM
I never believed my husband could die young, but Jenny makes it all sound so easy.
April 10, 2015 @ 6:02 PM
Run Forest run!
April 10, 2015 @ 1:27 PM
The old straight-legged coyote approached,blew his breath onto my face as my body lay pressed into the sand dune as I watched from the ancestral night’s broken sky.
April 10, 2015 @ 1:27 PM
The entrance to the cave was impossible to see, but he could feel it.
April 12, 2015 @ 8:14 PM
Nice!
April 10, 2015 @ 1:38 PM
We burned him in a mighty fire using freshly mixed dish detergent and gasoline, the poor man’s napalm.
April 10, 2015 @ 1:56 PM
The spaceship’s engine spluttered for a moment, then died.
April 10, 2015 @ 2:26 PM
This can work well. I think you meant sputtered and not spluttered though?
April 10, 2015 @ 4:53 PM
Maybe it’s liquid fuel? 😉
April 10, 2015 @ 2:03 PM
Everybody knows there is no crying in baseball, so I took my first-ever home run ball, set it gently in my mother’s still hands and dropped into the porch swing next to her balling my eyes out.
April 10, 2015 @ 2:10 PM
My day went from zero to what the fuck with one glance towards the back of the subway station.
April 10, 2015 @ 2:14 PM
Ooooh! Ooooh! Can I edit? I hit reply too quickly…
My day went from zero to what the fuck with one glance over my shoulder.
April 10, 2015 @ 3:56 PM
I like it!
April 10, 2015 @ 4:54 PM
I’m ready to read!
April 10, 2015 @ 2:24 PM
Liking this one as well. I agree with Webb, shorter works better here for impact. Love the zero to what the fuck.
April 10, 2015 @ 2:14 PM
He just jumped out the window, like it was nothing! Did he expect me to do the same?
April 10, 2015 @ 2:21 PM
It was raining on Mars.
April 10, 2015 @ 2:30 PM
Autumn leaves and dead twigs crunched under his feet and a coyote’s yap echoed in the fog.
April 10, 2015 @ 2:35 PM
Ichabod had whiskey eyes no matter the light upon him.
April 21, 2015 @ 12:55 PM
Chose this for my story! So fun!
April 10, 2015 @ 2:35 PM
“Just have lots and lots of confidence,” Felix whispered as I turned the dial on my father’s safe.
April 10, 2015 @ 2:38 PM
The city fell in the space of a single breath.
April 10, 2015 @ 4:55 PM
Ooh!
April 15, 2015 @ 4:51 AM
Yes. I keep coming back to this one. I want to read it!
April 10, 2015 @ 2:40 PM
The sun never set on the Majestic Empire of Ki, and, as curses went, “may you never see night” was marvelously effective.
April 10, 2015 @ 4:56 PM
I LIKE this!
April 21, 2015 @ 12:21 AM
Thank you! 🙂
April 10, 2015 @ 2:48 PM
I slipped on my brain again this morning.
April 10, 2015 @ 2:51 PM
I followed the nice man to his basement.
April 17, 2015 @ 12:14 PM
Mind if I tag in on this one? There’s a story that’s been itching the back of my brain for years now, and this is the perfect opening line for it.
April 17, 2015 @ 2:57 PM
Sure! Can’t wait to read it. 🙂
April 22, 2015 @ 3:33 PM
Here you go! It’s NSFW. http://wp.me/p1Tyuy-bd
April 10, 2015 @ 2:54 PM
I hate when my wife’s snoring wakes me, especially since she’s been dead for two years.
April 12, 2015 @ 8:15 PM
Still giggling.
April 17, 2015 @ 12:56 PM
I like this one (lost count).
April 10, 2015 @ 3:08 PM
When the screaming and the crying and the breaking bones stopped, there was a kind of unexpected irritation about being dead.
April 10, 2015 @ 3:10 PM
The star-speckled ocean above my canoe that morning glittered, and I read it as the world bidding me farewell. https://lpstribling.wordpress.com/2015/04/10/ripple-effect/