Here are the prompts chosen by last week's winner, Pinkcookie.
You may use one of both to inspire your writing.
“Travel brings power and love back into your life.”
― Rumi
― Rumi
Remember to check the rules.
Have your 100 - 200 words submitted by 12:01am Friday, September 6, US EDST.
We want anything and everything: poetry, prose, fanfic, OF.
JUST GET WRITING!
Leave your entry as a comment - include your word count, and your twitter handle if you have one.
Probably good practice to reference any source material, too.
FYI - entries that exceed (or are under) the word limits will not be considered by the judge.
Also, I've had a few questions lately regarding the submission of more than one entry. Yes, you may submit more than one flashfic. I'm going to say a maximum of two (2) entries though. Furthermore, they're not to be continuations, or related to each other in any way -- they need to be completely separate, stand alone entries.
P.S. Don't forget to follow @fanficflashfic on twitter.
....
IMPORTANT NEWS HERE:
Yo! Flashers ...
Did you know you can get the super awesome people over at the Emergency Beta Service to have a look over your flashes before you submit them? Click this link, or the box on the right of screen, and it'll send you right over to their website. You can submit a question, and have them look over your flash for you. Just remember to check out their rules first, and give them a few hours to get back to ya!
...
Words: 195
ReplyDeleteTwitter: midnightsun1901
Note: Set in Sydney
Planning your honeymoon is supposed to be a fun, laugh-filled experience, right?
Yeah, no.
Sorry to burst your bubble.
Well it wasn't for me, so maybe your case is different.
Maybe it would've been like how I described had we been able to pick out a damn destination.
For weeks, although our bantering was good-natured, we argued about where we should travel after we got married.
I suggested France, but he said it was too far away.
He suggested New Zealand, but I argued it was too close.
And so it went on for weeks and weeks without end.
I was about ready to tear all my hair out.
He was so frustrating that I constantly bore a grimace.
He looked like he was about to lose it also.
I was genuinely getting worried about our relationship.
But then we looked up how much the plane tickets cost.
And we both decided hastily that Queensland may be a better option for us.
Let's just say we like to dream.
Reality doesn't easily penetrate our bubble.
Maybe we are compatible after all
Good to know, because we're getting married tomorrow.
Unlike the planning, I can't wait.
“Hey, watch out!” he said as he caught the woman’s arm. He’d noticed this one earlier, her long hair swirling over her shoulders and aquamarine tank top.
ReplyDelete“Ooops.” A smirk teased around her lips. Her elbow had jabbed his ribs, and he wasn’t sure it was accidental.
“That was rude,” he pointed out, suddenly wanting to goad her, to keep talking.
She shrugged. “Stay on your own side.”
“I could say the same,” he pointed out. “Why don’t you get back to your freaky friends? I’ll stick to the right side.”
“Oh, you’re right all right,” she said. There was that grin again. Behind her, about thirty people chanted, holding signs supporting health care. Behind him, about twenty shouted Tea Party slogans. “And you’re wrong.” Her eyes became playful.
He relaxed his shoulders. “I’m not.”
“Typical,” she snorted. “Always so sure.”
“Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical demonstration.” He took a sip of water.
“You get your politics from Monty Python?”
“Of course.”
“I may have to re-evaluate.”
“Your views?”
“No, you. Maybe.” She took his bottle of water and sauntered off, waving. “Emory’s Pub, tonight at 8. Beer is apolitical.”
Oops! Forgot to add:
DeleteWord count: 199
Twitter: SerendipitousMC
this made me *grin*
Deletethanks!
@moonlit_girl
perfection :-)
Delete@moonlit_girl
Ni!
DeleteChocoMG2112
Thank you for your kind comments! This was fun to write.
Delete@ChocoMG2112: *wink*
@everydaybella89
ReplyDeleteWords: 170
“God damn it, Edward! I told you to turn right at the cutoff, but did you listen to me? No. You’re just too smart to listen to your idiot wife.”
“Oh, come on, Bella. I have never called you an idiot. If you would just speak up a little bit more I might be able to do as you say.”
‘What the hell? I used my normal voice to tell you the road directions. You just wouldn’t listen.”
“This! This is what I’m talking about! The way you don’t talk about anything. It’s like you expect me to know what you’re thinking. I can’t read your mind, Bella.”
That did it. Bella broke down in tears and her poor husband rushed forward to take her in his arms. He had never meant to make her cry, but it had been building in his chest and, in the heat of the moment, it had just popped out.
“I’m sorry.” She sobbed.
“I know. You’ve just got to talk to me, okay?”
Word count: 200 words, on the nose
ReplyDeleteTwitter handle: @AnnaLund2011
~~~~~~~~~
“It’s this way!”
“Hell, no, it isn’t! It’s that way!”
You are fuming, and I’m so pissed off I feel I might be exploding.
Travel, they said. It’ll be so much fun, they said.
This trip is a power-struggle slipping into DEFCON 1; all white, maximum readiness.
“I am behind the wheel, you should just read the maps and tell me where to go!”
“I do tell you where to go, but you don’t listen to me!”
Right. There’s that. I truly don’t. Because you are so very wrong.
I stop the car. We both get out. You are frantically pointing in one direction, while I am just as frantically pointing in the opposite one.
Travel, they said. So much fun, they said.
“Let’s just ask someone for directions!”
“I know where to go, do I look like someone who needs to ask for directions? Goddammit, woman, listen to me! It’s that way!”
“You are such a man! Never wrong, never ask for help! I’m sick and tired of it!”
Suddenly there is a sweet, calm, female voice overriding our argument.
“Take a left in the rotary, third exit.”
Oh, for all that’s holy.
Thank you for the TomTom gps.
~~~~~~~~~
Twitter - @Aleeab4u
ReplyDeleteWords - 200
. . . . . .
"Are we lost?"
"No."
"Yes we are."
"Babe, relax."
"Don't tell me to relax. We're in the middle of nowhere with no cell reception. We should've asked for directions."
"I'm a man. I don't need directions. I know exactly where... Shit."
"Uh huh. I told you! Total dead end. Just pull over. I've got a map in my suitcase."
The sun, high in the sky, bakes the ground. Her feet create little clouds of arid dirt as she stomps to the trunk. He thinks she looks adorable mad. She thinks he's absurdly stubborn, but damn he looks good in those jeans.
"We should have went right at the turn off," she snaps.
"No. We should've went left."
"Is that why you went straight?" She arches an eyebrow, tone dripping sarcasm.
She's all pink-cheeked annoyance, and he wants to kiss her.
"Baby."
"Don't baby me."
He reaches for her, but she swats him away.
"Do you realize this is our first ever fight?"
She rolls her eyes, relenting, letting him pull her close.
"Know what that means?" He nuzzles her neck, making her laugh. "First ever makeup sex."
"What? Here?"
"Yep."
"You got us lost on purpose, didn't you?"
"Maybe..."
. . . . . .
@magtwi78
ReplyDelete200 words.
------
From the quote.
------
“Don’t go. I’ll pay for your ticket.”
“I do, mom." I hug her tightly, willing the tears to hold. "He’s everywhere.” Pulling back, I cup her cheek. A tear splashes on my hand. “I need to start over.”
She sighs. “I know. Call me as soon as you land.”
Nodding, I give her a watery smile. “Promise.” Crouching to pick up my carry-on and coat, I hurry for the boarding gate. With one last glance and a small wave, I step through the large doors.
I promise myself I won’t cry until I’ve left the soil of the state where my husband is buried. I need sun. I need a new start.
It’s been ten months, and the cracks that developed in my heart while his body fought death for two years have stitched closed. By the time I reach my seat, the tears are winning. As I stash my bag in the overhead compartment, a voice asks, “Would you like the window seat?”
I glance toward the voice, and kind, green eyes smile back at me. I have to smile back.
“Thank you.”
He looks genuine, and is undeniably handsome. Unbeckoned, something blooms in my heart’s cracks.
Hope.
Like this one
Deletex
Sherbs
Twitter: Viridian6
ReplyDeleteWord Count: 189
I’m a rock star when I drive.
Blue skies and green lights; Adele has nothing on me.
Always four miles over the limit.
Always ten and two, and alt-rock that rattles the windshield.
Freedom is riot-loud, rebellious, and covered in parental advisory stickers.
I’m a rapper, throwing gang signs never seen in this suburban, cookie-cutter town — or in the slums of Harlem for that matter.
When grandma cuts me off, I make a different gesture with my hand, but I keep it behind the dashboard, ‘cause that shit ain’t proper or ladylike.
Two more miles, and I’m there.
Windows are up, radio is down. I crawl to a stop in front of the building.
And there she is.
Ponytail, and polka-dot lunchbox, and a backpack that’s as big as she is.
Pink, pink, happy, and pink.
“Mommy!”
Sticky kisses on my cheek. I blow a raspberry on hers.
I’m a rock star when I drive.
Blue skies and green lights; the itsy-bitsy spider has nothing on me.
Always under the limit.
Always ten and two, and a quiet smile in my rearview mirror.
Love is a worn-out Wiggles CD.
this is so great :-D
Delete@moonlit_girl
thx, @moonlit_girl :)
Delete@moonlit_girl
ReplyDelete170 words
the road signs in italy were something-
seventeen rectangles stacked,
one destination upon another
tiny arrows pointing right
left, straight-
i had the map in my lap, googlemaps
directions laid on top,
and even the green fiat that
we seemed to get stuck behind
on every single road did not
slow us down enough for me
to read the signs.
we got lost, so many times,
but we laughed, thought we
were doing better than most,
joked about how our friends
(stuck in our hometown
by choice) would never
have made it out of
the rental car parking lot
in milan.
that trip to italy has turned out
to be a good metaphor
for our marriage-
impossible, confusing, ridiculous at times,
too fast, too slow, with
everything we need
at our disposal but
still lost somehow,
sometimes new and old
and delicious and exciting and
funny and beautiful and
surprising-
just like that
gas station restaurant
in florence that had
homemade pasta
and the best pizza
in the world.
@Shneezles
ReplyDelete187 words
"The next time we visit your mother, make sure you know which part of the most barren city, in the most barren state she's moved to, okay?" he sighed.
"Well, next time we visit your mother, let's not. She's a pain in the ass." She rolled her eyes and stared at abandoned fields flying past her window.
"Do you know what's a pain in the ass?" he asked.
"Your mother"
"This damn rental car," they answered simultaneously.
"Look, I love her and all but her forehead doesn't move and she spends more on her hair each month then I spend on food." she shrugged. A smirked pulled at the corners of his mouth.
"Don't. Don't say it or I'll tell my mom that you'd actually love to try her home made faux beef." she huffed.
"Yeah, we'll I'll tell mine you returned your birthday present and spent the money on lingerie" he retorted.
"Fine. Truce?"
"Yeah." he smiled at her. "I'm just glad your dad's there so we can catch a game."
"I'm sad your dad's not around more often. He's hot. Age like him, alright E?"
@ChocoMG2112
ReplyDeleteWord count: 199
This is crap, I'm sorry.
~~~~~~~~
I was sipping an espresso at an outdoor café in Rome, waiting for her. She promised me there was news. Across the square, a man and woman were vehemently arguing. It distracted me.
My attention was brought back by a light but heated touch on my shoulder. She was there. Fiery, cat-like green eyes stared at me with pointed intensity. The golden-haired beauty remained stoic, as always.
“Lehava, thank you for coming,” I spoke quietly. The hairs on my neck bristled as if someone may be listening.
She never spoke aloud to me, but nodded in reply. The long, delicate fingers that belied their preternatural strength slid a paper across the table. I opened the ancient parchment and read. It was a clue, but what did it mean?
Travel brings love and power back into your life.
“Travel where? What power? Lehava, you promised me this information would lead me back to her! How does this help?”
I must find my love, my only reason to exist.
“Father, you must find her.” Her pained words echoed in my head. “Start at the Vatican. Find Paulo.”
Her eyes flashed green and she was gone.
And I was alone, yet again.
@GeekChic12FF
ReplyDeleteWord count: 200
.
.
“I’ve heard of the middle of nowhere, but I never thought you’d actually take me there,” I snark as I take in our surroundings.
“Oh, shut up,” Edward grouses, looking at the map in his hands and turning it back and forth.
I roll my eyes and watch a vulture circle overhead.
Great.
It’s just waiting for us to perish on the side of this God-forsaken road that we’ve been on for the last half hour because he knew “the perfect shortcut”. Even though I told him he was wrong about a dozen times.
Edward’s never wrong.
“I think if we just stay on this, we’ll reach the pass in the next hour or so.”
“Unh-uh. I’m driving.”
“Why?”
“Because, my beautiful, stubborn man, we are lost. L-O-S-T. And you can’t seem to admit that. So you’re going to park your hot little ass in the passenger seat and let me take over so we can actually get to the lodge and enjoy this expensive-ass vacation.”
He huffs. “Fine. Whatever.”
“And when we get there, I’ll let you study the map to my g-spot.”
The frustration on his face dissolves into a cocky smirk. “I think I know a shortcut.”
Twitter: @hummingbirdFF
ReplyDeleteWord count: 200
~~~
The sun is near blindingly bright as I float on my back, watching clouds lazily drift overhead.
time
The water surrounding my body offers some sweet reprieve for my heated skin.
healing
My ears are just beneath the surface, magnifying each echo of my heartbeat.
life
I close my eyes and take a deep breath, inhaling the salty smell and tasting it on my tongue.
living
When I finally pull myself from the water, I just sit on the shore and stare. Breathtaking.
I watch others come and go, but still I gaze, until the final rays of sunlight disappear beyond the horizon.
I make my way back to the hotel and search out my most prized possession. I turn to page 27 and let my fingers run over the indentations of your writing, your expectations. Then I take my pen and write my own experience in the space you made for me. The empty space you left.
As always, a silent tear splashes on the page, even though my smile is bright.
Another place visited. Another journey without you.
But I’ve found so much beauty.
So much happiness.
So much of you.
And with each day I grow stronger.
~~~
Like the journal idea
Deletex
Sherbs
Thanks for the comment, hon! I actually had a much more vivid image and elaborate idea for this. But, you know, 200 word limit and all ;)
Delete@Alesoflyy
ReplyDeleteWords: 200
"I can't believe her." Alice is going to feel my wrath after her wedding for making me sit in a car for hours with her arrogant brother.
"Well, aren't you just a ray of sunshine this morning?"
"I can't believe you thought taking back roads would be faster."
I glance at the map in my hands. "You sure you know where you're going?"
"Yes," he grits out.
"Really? Because according to this map, we were supposed to turn half a mile back."
His nostrils flare.
I smirk at his frustration. "You should turn left." I point out as we come to a four-way intersection.
Instead of listening to me, he slams on the brake and shoves the gear stick into park before getting out. He tugs at his hair and begins pacing in front of the car.
"You're so infuriating!"
"You should've taken the interstate like I told you to, Jackass!"
Then his lips are on hard mine and the car hood is warm beneath my legs.
"I still hate you."
"Shut up so I can put that dirty mouth of yours to good use."
And he does.
Sorry, Ali. Looks like we're gonna be just a few minutes late.