Chuck Wendig: Terribleminds

Flash Fiction Challenge: The Unexplainable Photo Challenge

Some brief administrative fol de rol:

Last week’s worldbuilding challenge, wherein I exhort folks to write new myths and gospels for the invented gods and goddesses of Blackbloom is live — I will casually note that, entries so far are quite low. We need more, if possible (elsewise I’ll interpret it as a sign that it’s time for the worldbuilding experiment to end). Have you tried your hand, yet?

The prior week’s fiction challenge — “An Affliction Of Alliteration” has plenty of entries, and is in fact why I’m being so slow to pick a winner. Reading fifty-one 1,000 word stories is like reading a short novel. In other words: holy crap. Expect an answer later today, which will be posted at that page.

Now.

This week’s is a doozy.

A link that recently whirled and pirouetted its way around the Internet is this one:

50 Unexplainable Black & White Photos.

They are equal parts hilarious, absurd, abstract, disturbing, and downright creepy.

Your job is to choose one.

And write a story about that photo. In this way, you are “explaining” the “unexplainable.”

Any genre. Up to 1,000 words.

You should identify the photo you’re choosing both by description and by the photo’s numerical identification found at that Buzzfeed link above. Post the story at your blog. Link here. Point the way.

You’ve got one week.

Friday, December 23rd. Day before the day before Christmas. Ain’t that sweet?

Jump in, get weird, start writing. See you on the other side.

terribleminds

47 responses to “Flash Fiction Challenge: The Unexplainable Photo Challenge”

  1. “I’ll interpret it as a sign that it’s time for the worldbuilding experiment to end.”

    Don’t even say such things. Wash your mouth out with erm… whiskey? whiskey should work, right?

    I imagine the entries to this weeks challenge are certainly going to be interesting’, image number 2 is leading me to some very grim thoughts.

    Reply

  2. Chuck! Put the gun down, and step away from the Blackbloom. Do it now! I’m writing, OK? See? Look at my fingers fly! Just put. The gun. Down.

    Great choice of picture for this post. Crystallizes the unexplainable nature of the photos very well.

    Reply

  5. I have been wanting to jump into the Blackbloom thing but I have just been mired in too many other projects. I promise to try and throw in some thoughts next round.

    As for the pictures…. I think I understand David Lynch a little more now.

    Reply

  7. “Put the gun down, and step away from the Blackbloom.”

    I couldn’t have stated it better. Thanks, Ryan.

    Pretty please with sugar and aminiotic fluid on it, Chuck, don’t terminate Blackbloom. I need something to get me anxious.

    Reply

  8. Forgive the blog-challenged here, stupid question incoming:

    Tried to post a comment and it didn’t show, thought it maybe didn’t go through so i tried once more (so sorry if i double did something somewhere) Am I not doing something right or is there a delay between submit comment and it showing up or something?

    Reply

  10. I will be very laconic due to lack of time.

    A kid with chicken phobia and nightmares is trying to hide from a homicidal zombie-rooster. In a parallel universe this is how the end of the world starts – the rooster ate a crop out of a mad alchemist’s farm and became ill and evil – even more evil as roosters go – then he pecked the kid (who obviously is not very good at hide-and-seek) to almost/death and then.. Well, we all know how the zombie apocalypse goes.
    The picture was delivered to our universe by one of the last people from the other universe who could time and space travel (because in That universe they could do that on daily basis) as a warning.
    So, Be Warned!

    Reply

  12. Woot! Rescue from an oubliette, always perks up the day lol

    Posting my Blackbloom entry while I think on this one and hoping not to feed the spambot anymore today *fingers crossed*

    Reply

  13. Can anyone here not think of the movie Labyrinth when they see/hear the word oubliette? Maybe its just me.

    I really hope Blackbloom doesn’t get shot down, its got so much going for it, and I think the idea of world building as a group is fantastic.

    Anyways, Dance magic Dance!

    Reply

  26. I find it odd they included the ones with the kids smoking. Most of those are likely attributable to Tom Thumb. He apparently enjoyed dressing in kids clothing and acting like an adult around people who didn’t know.

    Reply

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