Last week’s challenge: Conclude The Tale!
This week’s challenge is deceptively simple.
I want you to write one amazing sentence. A sentence that is part of a larger story but is not itself a story — a sentence that makes you want to read forward and backward, but is itself a capture of the tale. Just a slice.
(And then, next week, folks will choose a sentence to build an entire story around.)
Write one sentence — no more than 100 words, please.
Drop it in the comments below.
And that’s all you need to do.
But make that sentence as amazing as you can make it.
Go.
David, Boo Spooky! (@Vodstok) says:
Their corrupting influence was deliberate, a surreptitious needle inserted into bloodlines of a prosperous nation and slowly administering a subtle but ultimately lethal supply of poison.
September 26, 2014 — 2:52 PM
C.C. Dowling says:
The dragon angel of repentance, carrying a flaming sword, breaks rank.
September 26, 2014 — 2:53 PM
Travis Hall says:
I let her cry until she finished.
September 26, 2014 — 2:53 PM
Whitney says:
Call me Ishmael.
September 26, 2014 — 2:55 PM
addy95 says:
that already exists, stop being a dick. (couldnt and wouldnt resist)
November 20, 2014 — 8:18 AM
Mel says:
A thousand questions stretched between them, and only one was answered when she held out her hand.
September 26, 2014 — 2:57 PM
Lauren Simonis says:
I wasn’t prepared for this, I would never be prepared for this, but I had to move forward.
September 26, 2014 — 2:58 PM
Kristin says:
If they aren’t Ok then fuck this world and everyone in it because its not worth fighting for, if my children are dead… then I. Do. Not. Care. what happens to this world, so you better pray Mr. Walker that your men keep them safe until I get there or I will turn this place into a wasteland even god won’t Recognize.
September 26, 2014 — 2:59 PM
Michael Shane Welsh says:
All eyes then turned toward him, and he stood to face them.
September 26, 2014 — 3:00 PM
Jared says:
The sound reaching from the city was the sound of the end of the world, and it was still playing.
September 26, 2014 — 3:01 PM
Gina X. Grant says:
The sex was so good even the neighbors had a cigarette.
September 26, 2014 — 3:01 PM
zoeblackwood says:
hahahaha love it
September 26, 2014 — 4:56 PM
EC Moore says:
Clever and engaging.
September 27, 2014 — 3:23 AM
kakubjaya says:
Well played ma’am. Well played.
September 27, 2014 — 1:37 PM
JJ Toner says:
Brilliant noir!
October 3, 2014 — 11:58 AM
ttaylor297 says:
I love this!!! I want take this!
October 4, 2014 — 9:07 AM
ttaylor297 says:
I was still laughing and forgot the “to”…
October 4, 2014 — 9:08 AM
ttaylor297 says:
I apologize for it being late, but I did mange to write something. I would’ve loved to have spent more time, but LIFE got in the way.
Great opening sentence!!!!
http://taylormaderandomwrites.blogspot.com/2014/10/chuck-wendigs-flash-fiction-challenge.html
October 11, 2014 — 9:41 AM
shainorton says:
I dream twice a night; the first one’s free.
September 26, 2014 — 3:04 PM
kathleea says:
It took her six months to return from the grave where I put her.
September 26, 2014 — 3:05 PM
JessaJ says:
I picked your sentence. I hope I did it justice! http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/JessaJ/1423669/
October 8, 2014 — 10:07 AM
Kevin says:
Jain awoke suddenly but with hope, because for the first time since The Falling, the nausea was gone and her joints did not ache.
September 26, 2014 — 3:07 PM
Chris Sm. (@poorstruggler) says:
He was like paint chips, and not the fun brain addling and shaky hands lead kind, he was straight white latex. Boring and safe.
September 26, 2014 — 3:10 PM
Alice E Keyes says:
I like this one. I’ll see if I can do it justice.
October 3, 2014 — 10:49 PM
Doug Daniel says:
I died.
September 26, 2014 — 3:11 PM
JPC5 says:
“Let him sleep in the dust sweet one, for vengeance must be your father now.”
September 26, 2014 — 3:15 PM
Allison Maruska says:
He stared at the painting as his tears landed on the table, disrupting the dust that had collected there.
September 26, 2014 — 3:16 PM
Mark Gardner says:
“Where have they all gone?” James asked the heavens before collapsing into the thick dust.
September 26, 2014 — 3:19 PM
gingerlovinmind says:
When she slept like that, with her hand curled under her chin and the harsh angles of adolescence softened by slumber, I could almost forgive her.
September 26, 2014 — 3:19 PM
Rick Cook Jr says:
I rather like this one.
September 26, 2014 — 3:49 PM
Holly Geely says:
The foul odor permeated the office and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it.
September 26, 2014 — 3:21 PM
Elisa M says:
For Oscar Baron, life had been complicated long before his butler’s corpse fell out of the chimney.
September 26, 2014 — 3:22 PM
heartslonging14 says:
I really like this one…I could see it going in either a Hitchcockian or a Marx Brothers-ian direction.
September 26, 2014 — 9:28 PM
JJ Toner says:
Or Sherlock Holmes or Edgar Allan Poe or even PG Wodehouse, for heaven’s sake!
October 3, 2014 — 12:02 PM
Rose Red says:
Don’t forget Raymond Chandler.
October 3, 2014 — 10:29 PM
joeturner87 says:
Hi Elisa, your sentence inspired me, thank you.
https://joetblogs.wordpress.com/2014/10/06/terribleminds-flash-fiction-challenge-from-sentence-to-story/
October 6, 2014 — 5:52 PM
Josh Peters says:
Gil watched the pile of dead insects crawl over each other, one on top of the other, interlocking legs and wings, growing taller and larger until taking the shape of a large man in a short top hat.
September 26, 2014 — 3:24 PM
Jenn Collins (@JennyKnox13) says:
“Let’s do it,” she breathed, and even though she had clearly mistaken me for someone else, I nodded, took a deep breath, and jumped.
September 26, 2014 — 3:24 PM
JJ Toner says:
The sub clause makes this, of course. I love it.
October 3, 2014 — 12:03 PM
urdith says:
“Being a ghost means one thing: life isn’t wasted on the living, but it was wasted on you.”
September 26, 2014 — 3:25 PM
leahheard says:
I was in the place mortals dread, and gods too: Hel the abyss, the pitchy gullet of the void, where things lost, forsaken, and wicked crept and hissed in the boundless dark.
September 26, 2014 — 3:26 PM
Jim Heskett says:
For sale: Tebow jersey, never worn.
September 26, 2014 — 3:26 PM
serendipitousmc says:
This made me laugh.
September 29, 2014 — 8:32 AM
Jimmie (@jimmiebjr) says:
He watched Nicholas drive the MRAP directly into the dragon’s chest, which was about as effective as bouncing a cotton ball off the Washington Monument.
September 26, 2014 — 3:28 PM
Travis DeRosa (@theschwasound) says:
There was no food in the vomit: just bile, and blood, and whatever else was violently dragged along his esophophagus on the way out.
September 26, 2014 — 3:28 PM
Cassandra says:
On a rainy Tuesday afternoon, Jill, the local spinster of island, angrily labored away, doing the dusting and sweeping in her neglected seaside tourist shop, Trinkets, Snacks, and Artifacts, where she hadn’t seen a single damn customer all day long—leaving her to sulk alone among the marked-up, cobweb-laced, fall-apart merchandise, the worn-out and ugly antiques that had seen better days, and the retro, novelty treats that really only appealed to the slow-moving, geriatric tourists who actually enjoyed eating them because all the good candies had yet to be invented when they were children.
September 26, 2014 — 3:28 PM
Jo-Anne Aylard says:
God started to make tea for Hitler, wondering whether he preferred milk or lemon.
September 26, 2014 — 3:31 PM
planetgrace says:
You got my attention, Jo-Anne!
September 26, 2014 — 5:32 PM
Jo-Anne Aylard says:
Thanks, Grace!
September 27, 2014 — 12:04 AM
Holly says:
Ships engines responded with a silky eloquence as we broke orbit. Receding in the distance, the alien space ship tossed plasma bolts at us with no more potency than blue paint thrown against a dark wall.
September 26, 2014 — 3:33 PM
Michael J. Martineck says:
He could kill the dog and be done with it, but that was the easy way and he were so inclined towards the easy he wouldn’t have been standing there in the dark poking a pitchfork into the mutt’s slobber and snarl to begin with.
September 26, 2014 — 3:34 PM
corrosiverabbit says:
As I stared up at the dingy ceiling, I reflected on the fact that every time I got shot, the experience was a little bit different.
September 26, 2014 — 3:38 PM
Hannah says:
I’m going to take a shot (heh) at writing a story with this one! Great sentence!
October 7, 2014 — 12:34 PM
Hannah says:
I chose this sentence and this is what I came up with– http://crossroadsandcrossbones.wordpress.com/2014/10/07/variable/
October 7, 2014 — 5:13 PM
Lynod says:
For a moment, we’re two good people in a bad place.
September 26, 2014 — 3:38 PM
colinjkeats says:
I would have liked it better if it were two good people in one bad place, but the intent of the sentence is captivating.
September 27, 2014 — 3:13 AM
Alice Matthews says:
She squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath until her lungs burned and sound of hooves on the riverbank was loud enough.
September 26, 2014 — 3:42 PM
Darke Conteur says:
Nothing brought out the crazies like a full moon and the smell of blood.
September 26, 2014 — 3:42 PM
EC Moore says:
Perfect sentence.
September 27, 2014 — 3:25 AM
Darke Conteur says:
Thank you! 🙂
September 27, 2014 — 10:30 AM
Laurie Jameson says:
I love this. It sounds like the beginning of an Anita Blake novel.
October 4, 2014 — 2:03 PM
serendipitousmc says:
The pleasant life he’d effortlessly enjoyed ended abruptly the very day he misread a Web page and subscribed to a Borg via email.
September 26, 2014 — 3:44 PM
zoeblackwood says:
I’d read more of that!
September 26, 2014 — 4:58 PM
colinjkeats says:
Heinlein here we come. Good stuff.
September 27, 2014 — 3:14 AM
serendipitousmc says:
Thank you both! I was inspired by the little “Subscribe” box on this very page.
September 29, 2014 — 8:33 AM
JJ Toner says:
Do you mean a Star-Trek Borg or something else?
October 3, 2014 — 12:10 PM
Rick Cook Jr says:
I convinced myself the shadows in the dark corner of her room weren’t shifting and dancing, but I am often wrong.
September 26, 2014 — 3:45 PM
Kevin says:
This one is cool. Dragged me right in.
September 26, 2014 — 4:31 PM
Laurie Jameson says:
Very nice.
October 4, 2014 — 2:03 PM
ryanjamesblack says:
Merlin leaned against the bathroom sink, stroking his smoky beard self-consciously, studying the instructions on the “JUST FOR MEN” box with the surly frown he usually reserved for translating incantations scribed in a dead tongues.
September 26, 2014 — 3:47 PM
JJ Toner says:
Beautiful image, full of explosive potential.
October 3, 2014 — 12:11 PM
Nobilis Reed (@Nobilis) says:
“Some people get to wake up as a gigantic dung beetle,” Andy thought, “But me, I get this instead.”
September 26, 2014 — 3:47 PM
Phillip says:
The ring of light around the edge of the dumpster had been ablaze all day; it stood as the border between her and the inferno awaiting outside.
September 26, 2014 — 3:52 PM
Steve says:
Still faces of disbelief and the silence that follows good intentions.
September 26, 2014 — 3:54 PM
john freeter says:
“You know the rules, Mark; the last one to cum on the cookie’s gotta eat it.”
September 26, 2014 — 3:58 PM
Miya says:
The slow deliberate croaking began anew, my insides turned to ice as it grew louder, closer.
September 26, 2014 — 3:58 PM
brennalayne says:
By the time I arrived, the trampoline had collapsed and the alpacas had demolished the pie-judging table, churning the entries into a sensory nightmare that made me deeply regret that tall pumpkin spice latte.
September 26, 2014 — 3:58 PM
Jenn Collins (@JennyKnox13) says:
Story of my life, man. Just kidding…I want to see where you go with this one. I love the absurd.
September 26, 2014 — 4:06 PM
Teddy Fuhringer says:
“I don’t remember how I died or who it was that killed me, but I’m absolutely certain I deserved it.”
September 26, 2014 — 4:08 PM
Laurie Jameson says:
I like this.
September 26, 2014 — 4:22 PM
Teddy Fuhringer says:
Thank you Laurie for your encouraging words! 🙂
September 27, 2014 — 3:12 PM
kakubjaya says:
I hate you, just a little, for writing this before I thought of it. This is a story I would actually read.
September 27, 2014 — 1:41 PM
Teddy Fuhringer says:
I’m glad to hear that you would actually read it. Perhaps someday I’ll use it as the first line of a book, when I finish the ones I’m still working on. Maybe I can sign a copy for you 😉
September 27, 2014 — 3:13 PM
Steven Cowles says:
Her clockwork wings shattered on impact.
September 26, 2014 — 4:09 PM
Eva Therese says:
I like this a lot.
September 26, 2014 — 4:22 PM
Rick Cook Jr says:
Simple but evocative of imagery before and after the sentence. It begs so many questions in so few words.
September 26, 2014 — 4:41 PM
colinjkeats says:
Yep I love the image and the questions this creates in such a concise way. Bravo!
September 27, 2014 — 3:17 AM
Mark Gardner says:
I grabbed up your line: http://article94.wordpress.com/2014/10/03/kanoni/
October 3, 2014 — 2:57 PM
Bob Foolery says:
Peter stood outside under an awning, waiting for a plain black cup of coffee as he thumbed through emails and messages on his smartphone, looking for human connections as life passed by, unseen.
September 26, 2014 — 4:10 PM
Daynamidway (@Daynamidway) says:
A smile curled across his mouth like a paper over flame, black and brittle and with the promise of things which cannot be undone.
September 26, 2014 — 4:15 PM
EC Moore says:
I really like the style of your prose.
September 27, 2014 — 3:26 AM
Daynamidway (@Daynamidway) says:
Thank you. 🙂
September 29, 2014 — 10:30 AM
R.L. Black says:
There’s bad, then there’s up crap creek without a paddle, which is where I was.
September 26, 2014 — 4:15 PM