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…”
3 – A mysterious – perhaps even magical – photograph
6 – An escaped prisoner
I should not be distracting myself, but at least I’m writing 🙂
Well. here goes
http://joetblogs.wordpress.com/2014/03/09/terribleminds-flash-fiction-challenge-must-contain/
Very nice, Joe. Your story just says, of course that’s how a magical photograph and an escaped prisoner work together. I’d like to give you another 1500 words so I can find out more. I do miss the punctuation, though.
Thanks Kathryn. I would like to expand upon it, though 1500 might not be enough. I’ll work on the punctuation 🙂
9 & 3… Faithful hound and a pair of detectives…
Here it is. 1111 words, rated PG-13:
http://article94.wordpress.com/2014/03/07/must-contain-ffc/
Well alright then. Nice perspective and appreciation. Well done.
8 and 7, a monster and a hard drive full of secrets.
An idea begins to form immediately!
5 – Terminal Ilness
7 – hard drive filled with secrets
and here it is… 🙂
http://youcantgoback-andotherimpossibilities.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/sex-lies-and-video-tapes.html
Excellent turning. I enjoyed it.
Hey Thanks… it was late, I had a strange idea, it took me to a stranger place and it turned out a lot more different to how I thought it would. 😀
I’m going to give the list to my girlfriend later on, and get her to pick my two items.
Thank Cthulhu I didn’t get ‘a talking cat.’
A time machine and a hard drive. Random numbers liked me today.
[…] Contain FFC By Mark Gardner Flash Fiction time! Chuck sez “must contain.” I got “faithful hound” & “pair of detectives.” Warning, this […]
I think I can have fun with this.
6.An ancient tree.
9.A piece of lost technology.
8 & 2…an monster and an infernal bargain. I think I have just the thing….
*a monster
This one came to me rather quickly, I love it when that happens!
For those of you who read my previous piece for the random song challenge (The Edge with a demon summoning and what will probably turn out to be a bad deal), this is a direct continuation of that flash fiction.
http://www.tamiveldura.com/2014/03/prompt-edge-part-2.html
(the link to the first part is at the top of the post.)
7 – A time machine
5 – A forgotten manuscript
My brain didn’t even give me time to sit down before it started brewing. First thing I’ve written in a while, so thank you for the inspiration!
http://www.starckwords.com/2014/03/flash-fiction-the-rules/
As a fan of Star Trek, I can totally see the rules akin to the “Temporal Prime Directive.” I hope the levity was intended, I liked the story.
This was a fun read. Thanks.
Excellent story. Loved Exning’s indifference and – dare I say – geniality toward the mysterious genealogist.
Loved this! Nicely done!
Loved it!
http://catastrophejones.wordpress.com/2014/03/08/infinity-forever/
Technically, this won’t be published until tomorrow. Maybe I should’ve rolled again, to see if ‘time machine’ was going to come up. This link will work, in case you want to read it now.
Great story! I’ve put more of a comment on your blog but didn’t want to add any spoilers for anyone one who hasn’t read it yet!
Interesting..I used a number generator here > http://andrew.hedges.name/experiments/random/
and got
4: an antique gun
8: a plane or train ride
Should be fun!!
An antique gun and a distant outpost.
I’ll be back.
Here it is: Where the River Begins
I’m back with Where the River Begins.
Thanks for the inspiration, Chuck.
Where the River Begins
http://kathryngoldman.com/where-the-river-begins/
Oooh, revenge, gentle and brutal.
Hello. My choice is 2.A dead body without a face and 3.A pair of detectives. Here’s my flash fiction…
http://thecrimocopoiea.blogspot.in/2014/03/the-face-off-killer-somewhere-in-city.html
I pulled numbers from a hat and got:
8. A monster
6. An escaped prisoner
Back later with the results.
Sigh. Good news and bad news. Bad news is, I was not able to keep this to under 1500 words and it’s not finished. Good news is, I *really* like what I have so far, and I’m expanding it to what will probably wind up being a 5000-7000 word short story that I’ll wind up sending out on the submissions trail. So yay me! 🙂
[…] This bit of fantasy and silliness was brought to you in response to this week’s Flash Fiction Challenge: […]
A time machine and a deal with the devil – there was really only one story I could write here: http://thematticuskingdom.wordpress.com/2014/03/07/dream-fulfilled/ I hope you like it.
I don’t know if a twist was intended, but I totally expected the story to go in a different direction. I love it when an author challenges me, so +5 internets to you.
Woohoo, +5 internets! A few more and I can level up. 😉
Thanks for the praise, I’m glad you enjoyed the story and that it went a different direction than you expected. I wasn’t trying for it to be a twist… I was just enjoying slowly building the character and the scene so that the audience wouldn’t know what was actually going on until he was standing at the cross roads.
+5 internets from me, too. You turned my expectations, as well.
Oh my! Another +5?! Hooray!! Thank you, thank you, thank you.
A talking cat and a forgotten manuscript…. hmmmmm
[…] http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2014/03/07/flash-fiction-challenge-must-contain/ […]
It’s my first ever Chuck flash Fiction , be gentle!
http://pavorisms.wordpress.com/2014/03/07/300-years-a-thief/
A great inaugural FFC. This flash definitely needs a continuation.
Agreed, I certainly wasn’t done – I just ran out of space!
Very cool…. there’s something else there… like Mark said, a continuation is needed… we have to know what happens next 😀
You definitely need to keep going. Game on.
Been a while since last I trolled terribleminds… here’s a go:
http://jeffnkeir.com/2014/03/07/317/
I’m sure you can figure out what my ‘must contains’ were. 🙂
You obviously need to troll more often. Although your story did leave me wondering about the world and it’s history, the writing was well done. This is another FFC that needs a continuation.
Thanks, Mark. I tend to recycle these things; good chance we’ll see ’em again.
I hope we do see these guys again.
My flash fiction story Faithful
http://angelacavanaugh.wordpress.com/2014/03/07/flash-fiction-friday-faithful/
It’s about #9 a faithful hound and #10 a comatose patient. It’s kinda sad. Most of it’s from the point of view of the dog.
Strange POV is often difficult to pull off. This reminds me of the short from the Disney/Pixar movie, “Up.” I have two dog companions and I found the internal processes you wrote to be completely believable and accurate. This is definitely a sad story, but I expect dog owners and dog lovers will give their companions an extra squeeze after reading this flash.
An antique gun and a plane or train ride. Awesome! The story is pretty much gonna write itself! 🙂
Rolled a 2 and a 10… Dead body without a face and a comatose patient….
The Night Obscure
Enjoy!
http://justinwalkerbooks.blogspot.com/2014/03/terribleminds-flash-fiction-contain.html
I got 1) Lover’s Betrayal and 4) A Stolen Treasure.
So here’s my piece, “The Diadem Heart”
http://writesomethingsmidge.blogspot.ie/
I liked this piece. The ending was definitely worth the read. Good job!
Thank you kindly!
Great visual on the greed. Nicely done.
Thanks, always nice to hear feedback!
Great read!
[…] is for a flash fiction challenge from Terrible Minds – the concept being ‘of these two lists, randomly pick one item from each, and craft a […]
[…] perusing through his cyber space, I found some interesting free stories he has posted, along with a flash fiction challenge. All I have to do is choose 1 item from each of the two lists […]
I chose 4) an antique gun and 10) a comatose patient. It’s an idea I had for a while. Not my best work, but I enjoyed actually putting it down and out of my mind.
http://mrjonniewright.wordpress.com/2014/03/08/the-land-of-nod/
I absolutely love this one. Absolutely. I’m begging you to rework it into a whole short story, if not longer.
Got a monster and an infernal bargain, ended up with a story I liked so much I’m going to keep going with it. Any help or advice (whether it be story suggestions or ‘yeah, maybe don’t keep going on this one’) would be greatly appreciated!
Bonus: I tied this one into a character from my first flash fiction friday I ever did here 🙂
The Cerberus Protocol
http://www.ramblingbeachcat.com/2014/03/flash-fiction-friday-cerberus-protocol.html
[…] topic.Yet another interesting moment combining some new stuff I learned from an improv book and a challenge from Chuck Wendig. This time around I had two random […]
I received an ancient tree and two detectives.
I just finished reading some improv stuff when I decided to write this up real quick. I figured this was more entertaining than any stuffy and stodgy stuff I could come up with.
Enjoy the “Glen Hunters,” I know I did!
http://www.mattheweatonwriter.com/flash-fiction-glen-hunters/
I got “A terminal Illness” and “A far flung outpost.” And from that I got:
Free-For-All:
“Her family held the blueprint. They were the beginning, and the end – every bit of magic that protected the city tied back into their lifeblood.”
Link: http://antagonistsneeded.wordpress.com/2014/03/09/free-for-all-flash-fiction-1200-words-approx/
[…] weeks Terriblminds Flash Fiction Challenge, had to contain two elements, chosen from two separate columns; each containing ten […]
Thanks for this prompt. It got me writing again.
http://ghostsinthemachines.wordpress.com/2014/03/09/hopeful-machine/
So I’ve been a ghost since I linked up with a first post, several weeks ago. I thought I should change that. I’m back, and I have a mysterious photograph and two detectives and the beginnings of a very promising novel. Provided I can finish it, that is. 🙂
http://sheltonkeysdunning.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-tamsind-affair-terrible-minds.html
Goodness — I definitely want to see how this plays out! I love a good noir. 🙂
Long time listener, first-time caller… as they say on the radio (not sure what they say in blogland).
I generated my prompts and let them stew until a 3am nappy change (not mine, I might add) saw the whole thing come gushing out *I mean the story and not baby poop*
I got 3 & 3 for my prompts: a mysterious – and perhaps magical – photo, coupled with two detectives. Here it is:
http://awildernesswithin.com/2014/03/09/those-killer-kodak-moments/
Now I can get around to reading what everyone else has written!
Really liked this one — would even love it if you turned it into a lengthier piece. Really engaging, subtle voice. Definitely awesome.
Thanks, glad you liked it. I appreciate the comment even more having just read your piece.
Thanks, glad you liked it. I appreciate the comment more having just read your piece.
Still stuck on the 1K word limit, lol. But I don’t want to mess with it too much, I like it. Well, now that I’ve got the tenses all straightened out & the other tech bits. 😀
http://jayneaustinauthor.wordpress.com/2014/03/09/flash-fiction-challenge-must-contain/
Enjoyed reading this one. Can’t tell if I’m sad for Genevieve, or think she’s awesome — but it’s definitely a good read. 🙂 …and a good prank. I seriously have to get a Polaroid.
A mysterious — perhaps even magical — photograph & A pair of detectives = The Case of the Haunted Gravestone @ http://emaginette.wordpress.com
Thanks, it was fun 🙂
I got a mysterious photograph and a plane or train ride. I came up with “One Last Request”
http://wp.me/p2s3sT-Dn
…I wasn’t expecting that.
It really made me smile, though — I’m a huge sucker for that particular kind of twist.
Excellent.
Thanks!
http://bloggedartistry.wordpress.com/2014/03/09/toxi-i-cality/
Hi all – first time here! I just bought Chuck’s “Kick Ass Writer” and was immediately inspired to come look at the website and spent an afternoon on this prompt. Sound familiar?
I went with dead body without a face and a hard drive filled with secrets.
I welcome all constructive criticism and will read and comment on others. Thanks!
A dead body without a face + a hard drive filled with secretes = “Faceless conspiracy”. My research for this piece was the movie “hot fuzz” and half an episode of “criminal minds”, so don’t expect 100% police procedural accuracy.
http://johnfreeter.wordpress.com/2014/03/09/faceless-conspiracy/
Hi John – really enjoyed the action and detail of your story. The pace was nice too.
Thanks! I’m finding that writing flash fiction is a great way to teach yourself to streamline your writing, apart from being a lot of fun
I agree, flash fiction makes me a better writer.
The feel to your story was somewhat noir. Fun read.
[…] to Terribleminds and the Die of Fate, this story must contain “a talking cat” and “a plane or train […]
10. A talking cat
8. A plane or train ride
Now boarding Flight 666…
http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/2014/03/10/flash-fiction-flight-666/
Enjoyed the story. Sadly it reflects the way the world is going, gobbled up by corporate interests and their Mr Peasbodys.
[…] Chuck Wendig posted a flash fiction challenge on his blog… […]
I chose #4 & #7 – An antique gun & A hard drive full of secrets
Here it is…
http://www.techno-mage.co.uk/blog/blog/2014/03/11/terribleminds-flash-fiction-challenge-must-contain/
1. A lover’s betrayal.
10. A comatose patient.
The idea formed immediately, and now that I’m mired in it, I don’t know if I’ll be able to pull it off. We’ll see what happens by the 14th.
4 &6: an antique gun and an escaped prisoner. This should be interesting……..