Okay here is a quick bonus post to celebrate reaching the 50-post milestone (Hooray! This is post 51!). Some readers of my last post commented on the benefits of honing the craft of writing with 100-word stories. Another reader suggested I try Lilly McFerrin’s Five Sentence Fiction, which is just what it sounds like: a challenge to write a story in five sentences (but with no word limits) from a single word prompt. Here is my five sentence offering, which happens to also be exactly 99 words! The prompt that I chose was the word “tattered.”
A howl cuts through the dark humid air like the searching flashlights, as my heart races faster–a bad thing. They’ve brought out the dogs and I don’t know why I fear them at this point, their teeth on my throat would be welcomed. If I could, I’d stand up waving my arms and shout, “over here,” but I can’t move. Sticky blood pumps through the tattered, ragged hole in my stomach and soaks into the thirsty earth. One way or another it will soon be over, I think, as the night grows solid and baying dogs echo faintly.
Feel free to join the challenge. What can you do in five sentences?
Great short! I’ve not tried the 5 sentence fiction specifically. Maybe it would be worth looking into for the challenge. Nice work
Thanks! Give it a whirl. What have you got to lose? It’s only a commitment of 5 sentences…
Oh dear! Definitely what you’d call being between a rock and a hard place. I felt for him – you were very convincing here.
Sandra Thanks for the encouragement and for stopping by. I hope you will poke your head in from time to time…
Very good! I’ve done several of these but none recently. I’m getting the bug again. Another good site is A http://yearningforwonderland.blogspot.com/2012/04/once-upon-time-writing-contest-eric.html
Thanks Donna. I’ll have to wander over to Yearning for Wonderland and check out the contest. Thanks for the link!
Really well done creating that intense, desperate mood in such a short space. Nice job
Thanks so much for joining us for FSF. Look forward to checking out more of your writing!!
Lillie thanks for the kind words of encouragement. Thank you for creating a space for people to come and share their very short stories. What a great idea. I look forward to participating more. Is that five sentences?
Nicely done!!
Great piece full of anguish, though not necessarily desperation. Perhaps I need to reread it, but I didn’t quite feel the despair, the heart-racing, the alarm-induced irrationality of the narrator. To me, there was more acceptance than anything else — yes, something of a will to be found and survive (the intended arm-waving and shouting), but mostly just resignation. Either way, I loved reading it.
/ Rain
Rain–
Thanks for the feedback. The feeling I was going for was the desire for survival squashed by the realization that he was too far gone and, yes, resigned to the inevitable. Glad you liked it.
Nice one!
Reads really well I think.