Last week’s challenge: “Down The TV Tropes Rabbit Hole.”
This week’s challenge is short and simple — though perhaps not easy.
I want you to come up with the final sentence of a story.
One sentence. The last line.
Shorter is better than longer. No more than, say, 50 words, please.
Drop the line right in the comment section below.
By next Friday I’ll pick five that I really like and hand out some Digital Swag.
Then we’ll take those five and use them in the next challenge.
Y’dig? Y’dug? Y’DO IT.
Anthony Laffan says:
It wasn’t a good day to be a hero.
July 5, 2013 — 4:49 PM
theviewfromtuesday says:
But in the end, the cancer came back, and I prepared myself for a dark, slow descent into nothing.
July 5, 2013 — 5:07 PM
Vicky Barnes says:
And that’s why I’ll never fall in love on a Tilt-a-Whirl
July 5, 2013 — 5:22 PM
Ben Dodge says:
The old man lying in the hold died three minutes later.
July 5, 2013 — 5:25 PM
Laith Shriam says:
They sat back and laughed at the crow choked sky.
July 5, 2013 — 5:32 PM
Alexis says:
Just as he had promised, I never heard from him again.
July 5, 2013 — 5:43 PM
jdsfiction says:
Nice. 🙂
July 8, 2013 — 5:08 PM
Dan says:
As the fire shimmered warmly in front of me, Alfred turned around, knowing it would be his last goodbye, and said, “The imagination’s a pretty wicked thing, ain’t it?” as he vanished into the thick northern wilderness.
July 5, 2013 — 6:24 PM
absentmemory says:
Nox turned and looked through me, through the vague fog of reality that was my body and the fabric of space beneath, and smiled; she saw you.
July 5, 2013 — 6:26 PM
Ryan Viergutz says:
I like that. I’m curious what story led up to that line.
July 6, 2013 — 7:22 AM
absentmemory says:
It’s a potential last line in a novel trilogy! Which would be closer to done if I actually made more progress editing the first two…
July 7, 2013 — 6:45 AM
Deacon says:
It turned 90 degrees from every direction at once, vanishing, then the waiting began..
July 5, 2013 — 7:03 PM
Brie says:
And, just like that, Edward Huddersfeld had found the one thing left in the world that was worth killing for.
July 5, 2013 — 7:33 PM
Mozette says:
She was resolved, ready and calm as she switched on the laser pistol destroyer, took aim and pulled the trigger…. killing him; even though she didn’t want to, it was a part of the job.
July 5, 2013 — 7:38 PM
j. tapeslinger wolf (@jayxwolf) says:
If you think pride’s the only thing that goeth before the fall, you got a lot to learn, kid,” she replied.
July 5, 2013 — 8:03 PM
theviewfromtuesday says:
I like this!
July 6, 2013 — 1:28 PM
Troy L says:
She opened her eyes and knew the horror had never existed solely in her mind.
July 5, 2013 — 8:10 PM
Niki says:
“I guess we better run faster,” he said.
July 5, 2013 — 8:44 PM
Cameron Mount says:
Nice!
July 6, 2013 — 8:13 AM
Jessica Hawke says:
I love this one!
July 7, 2013 — 11:38 AM
jennyritz says:
Good one!
July 8, 2013 — 5:31 PM
Rob Sadler says:
He couldn’t allow himself to be the only character left alive in his own story – and with this understanding in mind, he lit the match.
July 5, 2013 — 10:04 PM
Brian says:
Meta, nice.
July 10, 2013 — 2:59 PM
esselle says:
Hearing the siren, Ella crossed herself, made the sign of the cross over Stephen’s body, whispered goodbye to him, picked up the little pistol, put the barrel in her larger-than-life vivid red mouth and squeezed the trigger.
July 5, 2013 — 10:06 PM
Gethin Lynes says:
Inspector Fifnish wandered into the streets of The Craw, a grimy rag wrapped around the fingerless stump of his right hand, a bottle of Haram’s Lament in his left, and looked for a dry hole to crawl into.
July 5, 2013 — 10:29 PM
decayingorbits says:
He turned away just as the fireball lit the morning sky, and started to run.
July 5, 2013 — 10:47 PM
marlanesque says:
She closed the book and watched as it turned to dust.
July 5, 2013 — 10:56 PM
curiouskermit says:
nice! I want to read this story.
July 8, 2013 — 12:05 AM
oldestgenxer says:
It was then that I decided I would never drink tequila again.
July 6, 2013 — 12:00 AM
Dale says:
“Alright,” she says after the explosion, and slides her hand out of my pants, “alright, I believe you–the damn underwear is lucky.”
July 6, 2013 — 12:04 AM
scratchingcat says:
The ceiling fan still turned its lazy circles in the hazy sunlit room, but Margo would never be the same.
July 6, 2013 — 12:07 AM
M. Chapman says:
That was the last conversation I’ve ever had with my bagonias.
July 6, 2013 — 12:15 AM
jeffandwendy says:
Awesome.
July 6, 2013 — 7:25 AM
jeffandwendy says:
Was inspired by this to crank out a short story. Thanks! http://jeffandwendy.wordpress.com/2013/07/07/post-date-break-down-with-my-flowers-flash-fiction/
July 7, 2013 — 1:09 AM
Betsy says:
Don’t count your chickens, count your eggs.
July 6, 2013 — 2:03 AM
Marti says:
The End. Just kidding 🙂
She remained upright until the ship was out of sight, then collapsed onto the last piece of dry land as the ocean rose around her.
July 6, 2013 — 2:23 AM
Aileen says:
She remembered her baby’s smell, his eyes and skin and the wonder of him and found herself singing a gentle lullaby, wielding her blade in time to its rhythm as she dismembered the demon who had called for his sacrifice and with each blow she planned the downfall of hell.
July 6, 2013 — 3:47 AM
Christopher Grundy says:
“Always remember, you can put up with anyone and anything so long as it serves your purpose” she said with a wry smile.
July 6, 2013 — 5:21 AM
Paul Draker says:
“Wait. A ‘delayed-effect neurotoxin’? What does that m–“
July 6, 2013 — 6:04 AM
Steen says:
This reminds me of my favorite flavor text from the Warhammer 40k rulebook: “I’d check the instruments if I were you, no one in their right mind would put a mine field he–“
July 6, 2013 — 7:40 AM
garyp0705 says:
He flipped open the chamber, there was one bullet left.
July 6, 2013 — 7:20 AM
Steen says:
Three of us were left; Ragtag, Soderbranch, and Engel, and as we lifted off into the stars dusted across the hollow night sky, I wondered which one I was.
July 6, 2013 — 7:20 AM
JMThomas says:
I really quite like this.
July 9, 2013 — 10:10 PM
Ryan Viergutz says:
Cristobal climbed the ladder of arteries to the first universe that looked like it held more wonders and mysteries than the last.
July 6, 2013 — 7:21 AM
Gage Wells says:
Alone–alone but for dust and disappointment and the deep smell of cedar and the constant whirring of the windchimes outside.
July 6, 2013 — 7:49 AM
SamCuddleston says:
She was fading fast now, but she still managed to muster enough strength to whisper two final words: “No regrets.”
July 6, 2013 — 8:55 AM
Erik Smith says:
He stumbled into the living room and kicked off his shoes, but they quickly returned to the attack, and their blood-soaked laces were the last thing he ever saw.
July 6, 2013 — 9:32 AM
Mozette says:
Hahahaa… I like this… very Ged Maybury crossed Stephen King 😛
July 6, 2013 — 9:20 PM
Erik Smith says:
Thanks!
July 7, 2013 — 2:03 AM
curiouskermit says:
I literally LOL’d at this one. Reminds me of Douglas Adams. funny!
July 8, 2013 — 12:34 AM
Nathan McCoy says:
He looked back over his shoulder, flashing me that adorable, maddening grin of his just before he stepped across the scintillating boundary — and in that moment, I knew, even as he vanished from my own world forever, that we’d be together again someday.
July 6, 2013 — 9:42 AM
bobbucchianeri says:
And so she fell into my arms, finally, her teeth nipping at my ear, as her claw sunk deeply into my chest, my heart bursting with joy.
July 6, 2013 — 9:52 AM
Gina M. says:
They buried it under a plain pine tree, indistinguishable, and remembered it only when she would sometimes shiver after sex, both knowing then that it blackened down there, bidding them back.
July 6, 2013 — 10:25 AM
BA Boucher says:
I succumb.
July 6, 2013 — 10:27 AM
scoutpilgrim says:
I never really got the answers I had been searching for but I still had my bottle of hot sauce, so the day turned out better than expected.
July 6, 2013 — 10:39 AM
auroranibley says:
That was the last time I ever got on a boat.
July 6, 2013 — 10:54 AM
feralbulb says:
They live in the dark hole their lives have become, the two of them, ceaselessly looking for a fight and arguing as most of their sentences still begin with “if only…”, which might have something to do with having a holiday, but you can’t be sure.
July 6, 2013 — 11:32 AM
Ken Crump says:
With a bus ticket and everything he owned wadded into a pocket of his jeans, he knew no place was safe from the LOPA hunters; it didn’t matter where he ran, he just had to run.
July 6, 2013 — 12:00 PM
Libby says:
I wiped the ring on my jeans to remove the algae. The inscription was ‘Yours. D x x’ and shaking my head I slipped the ring into my coin pocket and turned for home.
July 6, 2013 — 12:00 PM
joeturner87 says:
After all that, he was perturbed to learn; it had only just begun.
July 6, 2013 — 12:29 PM
Squishy says:
That plan didn’t fly, superhero, and now we’re short a bazooka.
July 6, 2013 — 1:19 PM
Jenny says:
“Worst. Dessert. Ever.”
July 6, 2013 — 1:23 PM
bradellison says:
I fished the dead man’s cigarettes out of his pocket, lit one up and took a long drag on it, and then tossed it into the corner where the gasoline had pooled. The place took to the fire like a birthday candle, and the orange heat of it warmed me as I walked away. I never looked back.
July 6, 2013 — 1:31 PM
Kenyon Ellefson (@kenyonellefson) says:
Then again, the best stories aren’t always when the girl gets the boy or the hero saves the day– oftentimes the stories we remember, the stories that define us, are full of pain and sadness…and death.
July 6, 2013 — 1:47 PM
bwdoran says:
“Sure, we might all live happily ever after, but I’ll spend the rest of my life wondering what’s going to happen the day after I die.”
July 6, 2013 — 2:00 PM