Thursday, March 24, 2011

Second Crusader Challenge

Image: luigi diamanti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

For our second Crusader Challenge, we were to write a flash fiction story of 100 words or less that starts with the words, "The goldfish bowl teetered". As an added challenge, we could write our story in our own genre, so mine's a fantasy.

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The goldfish bowl teetered on my knees. Water sloshed. Red and Dot flapped their fins.

“Your parents’ estate is worth billions,” Mr. Driscoll said. “It’s all yours.”

I concentrated on an ant crawling up the wall. It sprouted a seventh leg and then an eighth. Then, as if too stunned to hold onto the wall, the spider fell.

“I’m sorry for the loss of your parents,” Mr. Driscoll said. “How tragic that Red’s and Dot’s bodies were never found after the fire. I miss them already.”

“Thank you.” I wrapped a protective arm around the fishbowl. “I miss them, too.”

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So there's a little insight into my twisted mind. :) Have you ever tried writing flash fiction? I'll admit, I've never written anything this short before and I found it very, very hard!

I'm going to change my blogging schedule to post Monday and Thursday evenings, so be sure to stop by Monday for my review of Terry Lynn Johnson's Dogsled Dreams!

Have a great Thursday, everyone!

41 comments:

Unknown said...

Twisted mind or not Susan I loved this. You are a natural at flash fiction! I feel that I should give it a go!

Stina said...

I've never tried it before but this is awesome. You make it seem so easy, though I somehow think that's a lie. :)

Cherie Reich said...

Love it! Great twist.

Rebecca Bradley said...

Love it!

Bish Denham said...

What a spooky ending! Fabulous. 100 word flash fiction pieces are also called drabbles. I LOVE trying my hand at them. Sometimes a short piece can inspire something MUCH larger.

Brian's Home Blog said...

I thought it was absolutely terrific!!!

Bossy Betty said...

Great stuff! Flash Fiction looks fun and you do it so well.

Michelle Merrill said...

Cool! I agree that 100 words was a great challenge. You did really well, though.

Shannon O'Donnell said...

Wow. That was terrific, Susan. :-)

Carolyn V said...

You did such a great job Susan! It's so fun to see everyone's posts. They are all so different!

Chantele Sedgwick said...

Ooohh! That was great! Loved the ending! :D Great job!

Sierra Gardner said...

Great job - this was very intriguing!

Old Kitty said...

What?!?!?! OH no!!!!! LOL!!! Very dark and macabre!!! Yay!! Loved it!! Well done you! Take care
x

Carol Riggs said...

Love the twist of having the parents in the bowl, somehow transformed as the fish! Nice. :)

TerryLynnJohnson said...

whoa. that was excellent! I know how hard this is, I tried a post card contest once - 250 words. 100 words would be even harder! But you've done a great job. Especially liked the ant/spider.

Marcia said...

I actually did win a flash fiction contest. I don't think that was the term, though. It had to be 100 words exactly. I took a 250-word story I had attempted years before and pared it down to 100. I get a big kick out of "micro-cutting." :)

jkraus8464 said...

There was something fishy about this ending! Great job!

Golden Eagle said...

I love the twist in your flash fiction! :) Great story.

Crystal Collier said...

Very interesting. Nice job.

Carolina M. Valdez Schneider said...

Lovely, Susan. It's really hard to write flash fiction. I'm not good at it, so I'm pretty much in awe of anyone who is. It's amazing how much you've conveyed in only 100 words!

Margo Berendsen said...

So impressed! A story about a girl who can transform ants - and apparently her parents! (ouch!) all in 100 words. VEry, very impressed!

alberta ross said...

great twist at the end - really enjoyed this

Trisha said...

WOW, this is pretty cool - and as for flash fiction, I really love how each line can totally change what you're expecting from the story :)

Jemi Fraser said...

That is awesome!!! I do love a twisted mind :)

Can't wait to read your review - I adored Terry's book - it is FANTASTIC!

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

That was great! Yep...twisted!

Lenny Lee said...

hi miss susan! yikes! i got a twisted blogger friend. ack! ha ha. im thinking thats gotta be pretty hard doing a story in just only 100 words and being told how to start it out. im gonna try it for fun. you did a really cool story with a surprise at the end. now im scared to go look in our fish tank. who knows whos in there. ha ha.
...hugs from lenny

Anonymous said...

I loved the twist.

Have a great weekend.

Dawn Simon said...

Ooh, fun! Nice twist! :)

Cally Jackson said...

Great twist. Now I'm wondering why! :-)

S.A. Larsenッ said...

Nice job!! I love the slight eeriness of the piece. Enjoy your weekend.

DEZMOND said...

ooooh, we love Terry Lynn!

Talli Roland said...

I loved that, Susan!! I can't believe it's something you wrote so quickly!

Witless Exposition said...

I love this! Each sentence is another great layer to this (didn't get the ant at first, but now, great touch!). Wonderful job!

The Happy Whisk said...

I'm late to the party ... but this was great. Very very well done and a great deal of fun to read. Two thumbs, errr, fins up.

Alison Miller said...

I LOVE it! Red and Dot in the fishbowl - awesome. I love how the ant sprouts new legs too. Very creative.

Charity Bradford said...

LOL, that is great! Thanks for sharing.

Deniz Bevan said...

Brilliant! I'd read on to see what happens next!

Kari Marie said...

You knocked it out if the park! Great twist!

Al said...

Great story.
Yeah I find it hard to write anything less than 100k words ;-0

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

ha! fantastic twist! Loved it :)

Nas said...

Great twist! I loved it!