Last Week’s challenge: “Tell A Story In Three Sentences”
Today’s challenge shall be a curious one.
Take a fairy tale — any fairy tale at all you want, or a fable, or a Mother Goose story — and rewrite it in a modern context.
Now, “modern” is a little open to interpretation — if you took Little Red Riding Hood and set it in the 1920s, sure. Or The Ant And The Grasshopper and set it on a space station 100 years in the future, that’s fine, too.
Point is: avoid any sense of medieval-ness. Get out of the past. Into this (or the last) century and beyond.
As always: 1000 words.
Post on your blog, link back here.
Due by next Friday — FRIDAY THE 13TH MOO HOO HA HA. By noon EST.
Spin us a tale, won’t you?
Chris says:
Small but important detail. Did you mean to type 1,000 words, or did you mean 100?
July 6, 2012 — 9:10 AM
terribleminds says:
@Chris:
1,000. Standard flash length.
Good luck!
— c.
July 6, 2012 — 10:19 AM
Laura Libricz says:
Goldilocks and the Three Bears!
http://lauralibricz.blogspot.de/2011/12/another-short-story.html
July 6, 2012 — 9:49 AM
Nic Rowen says:
Red Riding Hood – strung out, tired, comming down off and bad trip, and on her last delivery of the day.
http://www.destructoid.com/blogs/Wrenchfarm/-nvgr-psychedelic-red-riding-hood-230816.phtml
July 6, 2012 — 10:17 AM
Ishai Barnoy says:
Hey Chuck,
I just saw your challenge, and it sounded like a good idea. Here’s a link to what I came up with: http://www.ishaibarnoy.com/2012/07/let-off-by-farm.html.
Lemme know what you think, everybody.
— Ishai
July 6, 2012 — 10:58 AM
Danzier says:
Another question! I’ve done several of these but never posted them online. However, I get the feeling that a story I wrote before and post now would be a cheat. Should the story be original to this post?
July 6, 2012 — 11:18 AM
Circles Under Streetlights says:
Got a couple for you!
The Pied Piper of Hamelin: http://circlesunderstreetlights.wordpress.com/2012/04/28/the-rat-catcher/
and Sleeping Beauty:
http://circlesunderstreetlights.wordpress.com/2012/05/25/sleeping/
Looking forward to reading everyone else’s efforts!
x
July 6, 2012 — 12:37 PM
Darlene Underdahl says:
I give you The Smart Snake:
http://darlene.underdahl.net/?p=167
July 6, 2012 — 12:54 PM
Mike says:
Ooo – my Fairy Tale Folk are all excited about this one!
July 6, 2012 — 1:06 PM
Alexa says:
Here’s my entry, which I had a lot of fun writing – though it may be reflecting some of my current frustrations…
The Prime Minister’s New Clothes
http://awannabewriters.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/terribleminds-flash-fiction-challenge.html
July 6, 2012 — 1:27 PM
Tiana Warner says:
Humpty Dumpty sat on a high-voltage electric fence
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All America’s doctors and all America’s plastic surgeons
Shocked him back to life with a defibrillator, then restructured Humpty’s face so it looked even better than it did before the accident.
July 6, 2012 — 3:58 PM
Shiri Sondheimer says:
I was going to do The Little Mermaid, but came across The Singing Bone . Huzzah! Hopefully, I’ll have a chance tonight. Will have to run it by the five day old progeny…
July 6, 2012 — 6:23 PM
Shady says:
My story, Humpty Dumpty Noir, is ready. Hope y’all like it.
http://49shadesofme.blogspot.com/2012/07/humpty-dumpty-noir.html
July 6, 2012 — 7:56 PM
Shiri Sondheimer says:
Yep. The SINGING BONE definitely worked for me. Text of the Grimm Fairy Tale can be found here, courtesy of the University of Pittsburgh: http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm028.html
And my version here: http://swsondheimer.wordpress.com/flash-fiction/the-singing-bone/
July 6, 2012 — 10:53 PM
AJ Bradley says:
OooOooo…totally gonna do Rumpelstiltskin!
July 6, 2012 — 11:32 PM
Jason Heitkamper says:
Alright, I decided that the Pied Piper of Haemlin needed a nice inner-city reboot circa 1985.
http://writinword.blogspot.com/2012/07/terrible-minds-flash-fiction-challenge.html
July 7, 2012 — 11:06 AM
Joshua D says:
I wanted to do a fairy tale I hadn’t heard before so I hit up the wikipedia entry for fairy tales to see what I could find. I came up with this Native American fairy tale:
http://www.mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/027.htm
Which in turn prompted me to write this tale:
http://joshuadevans.com/2012/07/07/a-broken-promise/
July 7, 2012 — 1:43 PM
Anna Lewis says:
Funny that I had *just* started reading “The Child Thief” by Brom the day before this challenge came up. (If you haven’t read that, you should…it’s an uber-dark retelling of Peter Pan, written and illustrated by one of the twisted souls who worked on Blizzard’s Diablo.)
For your potential enjoyment, “The Fisherman & His Wife”:
http://corsairharbour.blogspot.com/2012/07/this-weeks-flash-fiction-challenge-at.html
July 7, 2012 — 5:38 PM
AB Singer says:
I’m an alien; I’m Episcopalian, an English churchman near to York.
Eat well.
http://ultravioletandinfrared.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/modern-fairy-tale.html
July 8, 2012 — 6:48 AM
Jared Domenico says:
A near future/scifi retelling of the Lion and the Mouse. My first idea was a ‘Beauty and the Beast’ thing with a psychologist and a full-conversion combat cyborg, but this seemed a bit more exciting.
http://strangetorpedo.blogspot.com/2012/07/drone-and-mechanic.html
July 8, 2012 — 8:58 PM
David Grigg says:
As usual, these prompts sometimes take a bit of an odd turn when they go into my brain. Don’t think it’s really a fairy tale any more. But at least this one meets the word limit at just over 600 words.
You’ll know which fairy tale it’s based on when you read it. It’s called “The Thorns”, though if I think about it long enough I might come up with a better title.
Here it is: http://narratorium.com/2012/07/09/the-thorns/
July 9, 2012 — 12:30 AM
Jo Eberhardt says:
After considering and discarding modern versions of everything from The Three Billy Goats Gruff to The Steadfast Tin Soildier, I finally decided on something a bit different.
Enjoy!
Charlene
July 9, 2012 — 3:03 AM
Jeff Xilon says:
Ok, I’m back. Missed the last couple of these but I put something together for this weeks. My answer to the challenge is based on a Korean Folk/Fairy Tale called “The Fortuneteller and the Demons” my rewrite is called:
“When John Lee met Smiley”
http://www.jeffxilon.com/flash-fiction-upgraded-fairy-tale/
July 9, 2012 — 6:08 AM
BJ Kerry says:
My Story.
http://kerry-mutterings.blogspot.ie/2012/07/chuck-wendig-challenge-rewrite-fairy.html
July 9, 2012 — 7:33 AM
Josh Loomis says:
Much like mixing Greek myth with sci-fi and Norse myth with Westerns, I tried my hand at pairing a fairy tale with superheroism. Thus, ‘The Red Hood’.
http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/2012/07/09/flash-fiction-the-red-hood/
July 9, 2012 — 8:07 AM
Jackie says:
“Snow White,” condensed, reflected. http://thespidereen.wordpress.com/2012/07/09/flash-fiction-the-vanity/
July 9, 2012 — 11:02 AM
Anninyn says:
Supernova. It’s not that good.
http://ifuckinglovebooks.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=122&action=edit&message=6&postpost=v2
July 9, 2012 — 5:45 PM
oldestgenxer says:
Chuck, this is one my most favoritest ideas for a challenge I’ve seen! Thanks.
I’ve been reading about the Cold War lately, and I love bacon. This seems so obvious, I hope no one else wrote this…
Hungry Like the Wolf
I can’t wait to read the other stories.
July 10, 2012 — 12:53 AM
J.M. Dow says:
I wound up doing a modern retelling of the story Bluebeard, which you can read about here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluebeard
And of course here is the link to my story:
http://whirlingnerdish.blogspot.com/2012/07/flash-fiction-challenge-fairy-tale.html
Enjoy everybody!
July 10, 2012 — 1:04 AM
Jim Franklin says:
I’m a little later than usual with this one, but there were so many fairy tales and fables to choose from. I stuck with a classic though: The Three Little Pigs.
So, I’m delighted and nearly lactating with pleasure to bring you… ‘Bringing the House Down’
http://www.thezombiechimp.com/2012/07/10/flash-fiction-bringing-house-down/
July 10, 2012 — 9:49 AM
Joy Bernardo says:
Here is my take on The Three Little Pigs
http://onthewritingfront.blogspot.com/2012/07/flash-fiction-challenge-fairy-tale.html
July 10, 2012 — 12:06 PM
Amy Qiu says:
I started out with “The Little Mermaid” in mind, but the plot twisted away from me and I am now left with a strange re-imagination of that classic story. I can’t even remember how the fairy tale actually ended, so don’t expect to find much parallels with the original in this one: http://shiftingmoments.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/the-little-mermaid-re-imagined/
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
July 10, 2012 — 9:24 PM
Beth L. says:
A Russian fairy tale picks up and moves to New Orleans, turn of the century. There’s a writer, a cat, and a green fairy. Enjoy!
http://knotachance.tumblr.com/
July 10, 2012 — 9:49 PM
Scott Weber says:
Post Apocalypse Fairly Tale, with extra violence.
Run, run as fast as you can
July 11, 2012 — 12:57 PM
Scott Weber says:
Lets try this again…
Post Apocalypse Fairy Tale, with extra violence.
Run, run as fast as you can
http://scottweberwriter.wordpress.com/
July 11, 2012 — 12:59 PM
Geoff Moore says:
I couldn’t resist posting this old story for this one. Written six years ago now
http://www.dublinwriters.net/wordpress/?p=1687
Hope you like
July 11, 2012 — 2:20 PM
TA Saunders says:
The Aesop’s Fable of the Bear and the Two Travelers meets a Zombie Apocalypse.
http://fictionfoundry.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/chuck-wendigs-flash-fiction-challenge-mister-bear-and-his-due/
July 11, 2012 — 6:34 PM
Jenna says:
Love this challenge. This is certainly one of those that can be revisited time and again for inspiration and a little bit of a writing work out.
Mine: http://jennaelf.blogspot.com/2012/07/flash-fiction-challenge-fairy-tale.html
July 11, 2012 — 6:38 PM
Candice says:
My modern-ish attempt at The Ugly Duckling: http://www.candicerobinson.ca/2012/07/11/blind-to-her-beauty/
July 11, 2012 — 10:28 PM