Last week’s challenge: A Story in Three Sentences
First things first, some administrative.
I was going to pick my favorites of the three-sentence stories, but you did almost 300 of them, and I’m besieged by some emergency stuff this weekend.
So, HA HA HA HA I’m going to make you pick your favorite.
Here’s what you do.
When you find your favorite — just one! — reply (don’t just comment, but click that magic reply button) and write “+1” in the replying comment. That is how you vote.
I’ll pick the five top choices (i.e. those with the most “votes”) and give out The Prizes.
You’ve got until the end of the weekend — Sunday night at 11:59EST — to get in your votes.
Okay. That said, time to do this week’s challenge. So. I’ve used a random sentence generator to pluck interesting random titles from the ether. You will choose one of these ten titles and write a short story using that title — you can choose directly, use a random number generator, or grab up a d10 and roll that motherfucker.
Then: write 1000-word short story.
Post at your online space. Link back here.
Due by August 8th, noon, EST.
The ten titles:
- The Tempting Havoc
- The Equal Amateur
- Breathing Around Our Abandon
- Such Supervised Luck
- What The Highway Prefers
- The Miraculous Archive
- The Saint Stalls The Scum
- The Enemy Rule
- Heaven’s Flood
- Lusts A Delightful Mania
Mark Gardner says:
Man, I _LOVE_ the random title challenges!
August 1, 2014 — 12:51 PM
Mark Gardner says:
I rolled an eight on my d10, so I get to do “The Enemy Rule.” Here is the continuation of 16Sunsets at 980 words:
http://article94.wordpress.com/2014/08/01/sixteen-sunsets-the-enemy-rule/
August 1, 2014 — 5:17 PM
Beth Turnage says:
Good story. I liked it.
August 1, 2014 — 7:07 PM
Mark Gardner says:
Thanks, Beth.
August 1, 2014 — 10:08 PM
D.R.Sylvester says:
Good way of putting the title in there.
August 2, 2014 — 9:04 AM
Mark Gardner says:
Thanks, D.R.!
August 2, 2014 — 9:13 AM
conniecockrell says:
I love it. Very nicely done.
August 7, 2014 — 2:44 PM
Mark Gardner says:
Cheers!
August 7, 2014 — 11:10 PM
Tony Park says:
Sounds fun. Let’s see if I can wring something out.
August 1, 2014 — 1:02 PM
Pavowski says:
I made the mistake of reading them prior to rolling a random title… now I can’t decide. Blarg!
August 1, 2014 — 1:02 PM
Susan Cutter says:
Off topic but… I was delighted to see your novels, Under The Empyrean Sky and Blightborn, on my Kindle’s screen saver this morning. Is this promotion just something Amazon does, or did you have to set it up somehow? Hope it brings you many new readers.
August 1, 2014 — 1:42 PM
terribleminds says:
That is a promo Amazon does, indeed.
August 1, 2014 — 1:48 PM
Adan Ramie says:
I’m with Mark; I love random title challenges. Here’s my contribution:
http://wp.me/p45IPu-3X
August 1, 2014 — 2:44 PM
Mark Gardner says:
Definitely dark fiction. I liked it.
August 1, 2014 — 2:48 PM
Beth Turnage says:
Good, especially the ending.
August 1, 2014 — 7:13 PM
Adan Ramie says:
Thanks, Beth! I’m glad you liked it.
August 1, 2014 — 10:31 PM
D.R.Sylvester says:
You built the characters well. I wish you had more words to play with, so I could see some more conflict between mum and daughter. Kinda doubt it’s going to go smoothly “this time”…
August 2, 2014 — 9:14 AM
Adan Ramie says:
Thanks! I really wanted more space to fully realize this idea, too. I’m considering using this as the basis of a longer work. Who knows what will happen when I get around to writing it…
August 2, 2014 — 3:01 PM
conniecockrell says:
Whoa! Wonderful twist.
August 7, 2014 — 2:47 PM
Adan Ramie says:
Thanks!
August 8, 2014 — 7:34 AM
swithering says:
Alright. I gave “Such Supervised Luck” a go: http://swithering.wordpress.com/2014/08/01/such-supervised-luck/
August 1, 2014 — 3:35 PM
D.R.Sylvester says:
My blood pressure was steadily rising through that entire thing. This happens every bloody time. *deep breaths*
August 2, 2014 — 9:25 AM
JP Juniper says:
I have a hard time working with titles that aren’t my own–titles are so important, so full of … titleyness. But I gave it a go, with “What the Highway Prefers”:
http://www.jpjuniper.com/stories/2014/8/1/what-the-highway-prefers
August 1, 2014 — 5:07 PM
swithering says:
I really like the tone of this. Very haunting.
August 1, 2014 — 5:15 PM
David Walther says:
Sweet Jesus, I got goosebumps by the end of it. That was great.
August 2, 2014 — 3:36 AM
D.R.Sylvester says:
Seconded. Or thirded? But definitely goose bump material
August 2, 2014 — 9:32 AM
JP Juniper says:
Thanks! I kind of creeped myself out with the rhymey bits at the end, I’m glad to hear I’m not alone with my creepiness. 🙂
August 4, 2014 — 1:09 PM
LittleBlackDog says:
Loved it! Loved the narration, the concept, the weirdly haunting lusty thing going on, especially at the end. Very cool.
August 6, 2014 — 10:07 PM
Lucy Waterfall says:
A great read – rich and exotic and a lot of fun! Love the ending.
August 7, 2014 — 4:49 PM
Beth Turnage says:
Here’s a little bit of space opera:
The Enemy Rule: http://bethturnage.com/?p=154
August 1, 2014 — 6:56 PM
conniecockrell says:
Good job, Beth. It’s a great start to a novel.
August 7, 2014 — 2:51 PM
Beth Turnage says:
Thank you, Connie.
August 7, 2014 — 5:08 PM
LittleBlackDog says:
Cool challenge – I got Heaven’s Flood. I think I like what I ended up with here:
http://lilliangordontaylor.wordpress.com/2014/08/01/heavens-flood/
August 1, 2014 — 9:17 PM
Smoph says:
It’s been a while since I’ve had some time to do one of these. Hello everyone!
I rolled number 3, Breathing Around Our Abandon, and this is what came out:
http://prose.smoph.org/2014/08/01/breathing-around-our-abandon/
August 1, 2014 — 11:09 PM
Mozette says:
I looked at the titles and found #6 appealing…
http://youcantgoback-andotherimpossibilities.blogspot.com.au/2014/08/the-miraculous-archive.html
Enjoy! 😀
August 1, 2014 — 11:17 PM
D.R.Sylvester says:
Sounds fun!
I rolled nine, so Heaven’s Flood.
I’ll be back tonight with one thousand words, probably some kind of sci-fi / fantasy double-headed thing.
August 1, 2014 — 11:46 PM
D.R.Sylvester says:
Done, and that was awesome fun. Thanking you kindly, Chuck.
http://drsylvesterfiction.com/2014/08/02/1000-word-short-story-challenge-fo-chuck/
August 2, 2014 — 8:25 AM
Mark Gardner says:
I enjoyed this. The story is self-contained, but allows you to continue it if you are so inclined.
August 2, 2014 — 9:19 AM
D.R.Sylvester says:
Thanks, mate. Glad you liked it 🙂 I had killed this character off in a novel I’m writing, but I missed her, so… hurray for zombie/ghost characters!
August 2, 2014 — 9:48 AM
LittleBlackDog says:
I really enjoyed reading this! I am curious as to the previous story now…dragons? Ships? Hats on fire? Awesome.
August 6, 2014 — 6:45 PM
D.R.Sylvester says:
Thanks! I would like to say “here it is! My novel! Tada!” Unfortunately it’s still a work in progress at the moment… But you can read a bit more about it on my blog’s (aptly named) about page, and it will be out by the end of the year.
Thanks again!
August 6, 2014 — 9:09 PM
angelacavanaugh says:
I did: What the Highway Prefers
http://angelacavanaugh.com/2014/08/02/flash-fiction-friday-what-the-highway-prefers/
August 2, 2014 — 4:21 AM
LittleBlackDog says:
Interesting concept!
August 2, 2014 — 5:57 PM
angelacavanaugh says:
Thanks 🙂
August 2, 2014 — 6:20 PM
Smoph says:
I’ll second that Angela. Interesting idea; like the open-endedness of it too.
August 3, 2014 — 8:54 PM
D.R.Sylvester says:
Thirded. Liked the honesty of the characters, the lack of compromise, and most of all the ending.
August 4, 2014 — 9:39 AM
Patti says:
Great writing, thanks for the share….I felt like I was there 🙂
August 3, 2014 — 8:27 AM
Mari says:
What the Highway Prefers – and it’s a dark, creepy Highway, that one.
http://wp.me/p4oEkv-27
August 2, 2014 — 8:40 PM
john freeter says:
The Saint Stalls The Scum: A mysterious stranger defends a poor inn-keeper from thugs. Not the most original story (almost every single “mysterious stranger” plot starts this way), but I never get tired of it. Plus, I experimented writing from a blind man’s POV, which was pretty cool.
https://johnfreeter.wordpress.com/2014/08/03/the-saint-stalls-the-scum/
August 4, 2014 — 1:34 AM
D.R.Sylvester says:
Funny, you mention at the beginning how cliché the story is, and you’re right, but damn me if I didn’t have goose bumps by the end anyway. Great delivery.
August 4, 2014 — 9:27 AM
Sere says:
The Tempting Havoc, which I combined with a list of things from the YouAreCarrying twitter account. A spyglass, a quantity of water, a basket, an atomic vector plotter, a cardboard box, a gun, a cake frosted with red letters.
https://www.fictionpress.com/s/3210369/1/The-Tempting-Havoc
August 4, 2014 — 1:43 AM
D.R.Sylvester says:
The paperback falling… brilliant.
August 4, 2014 — 9:21 AM
joeturner87 says:
Random gave me 6 – The Miraculous Archive. It’s been a while, but here goes.
August 4, 2014 — 6:05 AM
Pavowski says:
Took a while for inspiration to strike for this one, and then like my two-year-old falling out of bed at three in the morning, it just happened.
Here’s “The Equal Amateur,” 956 words inspired by my kids. Hope you enjoy! http://pavorisms.wordpress.com/2014/08/04/the-equal-amateur/
August 4, 2014 — 1:29 PM
underastarlitsky says:
I rolled an 8, so I got The Enemy Rule, at 997 words. Hope you enjoy. http://underastarlitsky.wordpress.com
August 4, 2014 — 10:04 PM
conniecockrell says:
You did that well. I wasn’t expecting vampire hunters.
August 7, 2014 — 2:55 PM
Jon Jefferson says:
What the Highway Prefers
http://www.10thdaypublishing.com/highway-prefers/
August 4, 2014 — 11:54 PM
Matthew X. Gomez says:
I rolled and got “Lusts a Delightful Mania.” I don’t think I did the title justice, somehow, but this is what I ended up with. Over the limit by about 200 words as well.
http://mxgomez.wordpress.com/2014/08/05/lusts-a-delightful-mania-flash-fiction/
August 5, 2014 — 11:29 AM
LittleBlackDog says:
That was totally fun, thanks! Had me guessing about the nature of his “job” until the end.
August 6, 2014 — 5:06 PM
Matthew X. Gomez says:
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
August 7, 2014 — 6:20 AM
T.S.Chanz says:
First time putting this out to the ether. https://tschanz1.wordpress.com/2014/08/05/the-enemy-rule-2/
August 5, 2014 — 5:49 PM
conniecockrell says:
You had me on the edge of my seat. Wasn’t sure how that was going to turn out. Well done.
August 7, 2014 — 2:58 PM
drewkrull says:
I rolled #1, The Tempting Havoc, so here it is:
http://drewkrull.wordpress.com/2014/08/06/the-tempting-havoc/
August 5, 2014 — 11:25 PM
Helen Espinosa says:
I used a random number generator and got #2. Here is my take on it:
https://helenespinosa.wordpress.com/2014/08/06/the-equal-amateur/
August 6, 2014 — 1:18 PM
LittleBlackDog says:
Cool! I liked how you characterized the relationship between Aaden and Abby.
August 6, 2014 — 6:39 PM
Helen Espinosa says:
Thank you! I’m happy you enjoyed it. 🙂
August 7, 2014 — 10:34 AM
Martin Wells says:
Here is my effort:
http://martinwells1.wordpress.com/2014/08/07/flash-fiction-random-title-challenge/
August 7, 2014 — 1:42 PM
conniecockrell says:
It’s been a while since I participated. I chose The Enemy Rule. http://wp.me/p2AyuM-mF
August 7, 2014 — 2:38 PM
Beth Turnage says:
Connie, could you check the link? The link brings me to an error page.
August 7, 2014 — 5:36 PM
Lucy Waterfall says:
Relished the challenge even if I ran out of time this week. So much more I could have done with this but I’m letting it go. Here’s “Heaven’s Flood”: http://lucywaterfall.wordpress.com/2014/08/07/heavens-flood-flash-fiction-challenge/
August 7, 2014 — 4:34 PM
LittleBlackDog says:
Fun – loved the voice of the sheriff in your piece.
August 7, 2014 — 6:06 PM
Lucy Waterfall says:
Thanks. More time & I would have liked to do more with him…seem quite drawn to writing grumpy men at the moment.
August 8, 2014 — 4:21 PM
Jemima Pett says:
Greetings! I’m back from Camp Nano and looking forward to plenty of flash. Here’s my take on the Saint Stalls the Scum – live in just over an hour (7pm New York time, midnight UK)
http://jemimapett.com/blog/2014/08/08/flash-fiction-friday-the-saint-stalls-the-scum/
August 7, 2014 — 5:48 PM
john freeter says:
I liked the story, but the main character seemed a bit passive. Great foreshadowing though.
August 8, 2014 — 1:44 AM
Lucy Waterfall says:
This reminded me how enjoyable short stories can be when they let you experience a quick dose of satisfaction…
August 8, 2014 — 4:28 PM
dangerdean says:
Finally finished one before the deadline. I hope throwing a colon into the title doesn’t break any rules.
https://dangerdean.wordpress.com/2014/08/08/lusts-a-delightful-mania/
August 8, 2014 — 4:45 AM
andreaspeed says:
I got Breathing Around Our Abandon, and the end result is … really depressing. Sorry. http://andreaspeed.com/2014/flash-fic-challenge-breathing-around-our-abandon/
August 8, 2014 — 5:12 AM
M.R. Dorough says:
I liked it. That last line was as excellent as it was chilling.
August 8, 2014 — 4:01 PM
andreaspeed says:
Thank you. Thinking of how to end it was difficult. And could have been even more depressing.
August 8, 2014 — 10:11 PM
ellsimp says:
I know I’m a bit late, but I’m pretty satisfied with this one.
What the Highway Prefers: http://ellsimp.wordpress.com/2014/08/08/short-fiction-what-the-highway-prefers/
August 8, 2014 — 8:06 AM
dangerdean says:
That’s really good, and makes me want more of it.
August 8, 2014 — 10:28 PM
M.R. Dorough says:
I rolled “The Saint Stalls the Scum”
http://mrdorough.wordpress.com/2014/08/08/the-saint-stalls-the-scum/
August 8, 2014 — 11:27 AM
momdude says:
Wrote & posted this last night, but forgot to post the link here. (Tough getting good help…)
https://pauljwillett.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=3750&action=edit
August 8, 2014 — 12:08 PM
M.R. Dorough says:
“You are not allowed to edit this item.”
Minimalist. Understated. Thought provoking.
(Check the link!)
August 8, 2014 — 4:13 PM
momdude says:
Thanks for the heads up! As I said, it’s tough…
August 8, 2014 — 4:20 PM
momdude says:
Annnnnd… I’m an idiot today. Try this one.
http://pauljwillett.com/2014/08/07/flash-fiction-the-equal-amateur/
August 8, 2014 — 4:18 PM