UPDATED WITH WINNER: LitReactor's Flash Fiction Smackdown: February Edition - Now, with New Rules!
Flash fiction: A style of fictional literature marked by extreme brevity.
Welcome to LitReactor's Flash Fiction Smackdown, a monthly bout of writing prowess. For this edition, we are going to alter the rules a bit to keep it fresh. You now get 25 words and 2 sentences.
How It Works
We give you inspiration in the form of a picture, poem, video, or similar. You write a flash fiction piece, using the inspiration we gave you. Put your entry in the comments section. One winner will be picked and awarded a prize.
The Rules - NEW!
- 25 words is the limit. (You can write less, but you can't write more.)
- The whole story must only be 2 sentences. No more. No less.
- Any genre
- Give it a title (not included in the word count, but keep it under 10 words).
- We're not exactly shy, but let's stay away from senseless racism or violence.
- One entry per person.
- Editing your entry after you submit it is permitted.
- We'll pick a winner on the last day of the month.
- LitReactor staffers can't win, but are encouraged to participate.
- All stories submitted on or before February 27 will be considered. We'll run the winner on February 28.
This Month's Prize
A copy of Fight Song, the new novel by Joshua Mohr, who you may recognize as one of LitReactor's excellent instructors. Mohr's other novels Termite Parade (a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice selection), Some Things that Meant the World to Me (one of O Magazine's Top 10 reads of 2009 and a San Francisco Chronicle bestseller), and Damascus, have all received high praise. Mohr teaches in the MFA program at the University of San Francisco, and you can listen to him yuck it up with our own Rob, Josh, and Cath on the next episode of Unprintable - The LitReactor Podcast.
Here's a bit about the new book from Amazon.com:
When his bicycle is intentionally run off the road by a neighbor's SUV, something snaps in Bob Coffin. Modern suburban life has been getting him down and this is the last straw. To avoid following in his own father’s missteps, Bob is suddenly desperate to reconnect with his wife and his distant, distracted children. And he's looking for any guidance he can get.
Bob Coffin soon learns that the wisest words come from the most unexpected places, from characters that are always more than what they appear to be: a magician/marriage counselor, a fast-food drive-thru attendant/phone-sex operator, and a janitor/guitarist of a French KISS cover band. Can these disparate voices inspire Bob to fight for his family? To fight for his place in the world?
A call-to-arms for those who have ever felt beaten down by life, Fight Song is a quest for happiness in a world in which we are increasingly losing control. It is the exciting new novel by one of the most surprising and original writers of his generation.
Your Inspiration
Image from Yowa Yowa Camera Woman Diary.
Now Get Writing!
And the winner is...C Patrick Neagle
While not the only entry that alluded to Peter Pan, this entry had that punch of humor that characterizes a great piece of flash fiction. The allusion to the well known story fills in enough back story to make the dialogue make sense and be funny. I had to read it a few times to make sure it fit the 2 sentence rule, and it does...technically...have two periods. So, I went with it. Nicely done!
Long-Distance Relationships
"Peter," Wendy said--not breathing hard, not even angry--as she bobbled above polished linoleum at a bank of payphones, "I'm 25. This must stop."
Column by Taylor Houston
Taylor Houston is a genuine Word Nerd living in Portland, OR where she works as a technical writer and volunteers on the marketing committee for Wordstock, a local organization dedicated to writing education. She has a BA in Creative Writing and Spanish from Hamilton College and attended Penn State's MFA program in Creative Nonfiction. She has taught writing at all levels from middle school to college to adult, and she is the creator of Writer’s Cramp, a class for adults who just want to write!
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Comments
Never Land
I bought green tights and taught myself to fly. Broadway called; they casted Justin Bieber in a harness.
Binary 12: Connection, Please
If you could fly, why would you use the low phone?
That's like a giant peeing in the kids' urinal.
Lost connection
by Diana Radovan
I tried calling myself in a parallel universe to remember who I was. Nobody picked up and the sky was wireless and out of reach.
Plea for Sanity
What is it about the color blue that always lifts my spirits?
God, if you're there, please pick up.
You Told Me To Never Call There Again, But
They say in heaven there are no quarters to make calls. I'm on my way out and you're not picking up, so that was goodbye.
Absence Makes Us Look Yonder
This tired long distance relationship cliché made her feel hollowed out, weightless. Alexander Graham Bell was a bastard; he had made strangers of us all.
Because
She dreamed of placing a call while floating in a European airport. This, she decided, was reason enough to murder her husband.
Hell of stalker girl
"God is great and installed public phones plus WiFi service in Heaven, amen. I hope my stalked boy is online today, asap."
Long Distance: U.K. to Japan: I guess you've been gulping Vonnegut again. Your voice is electric and spinning ecstatic in his gravity well; you're much more grounded when reading Kafka.
I don't read Kafka or Vonnegut. In my life I've read one book or less by each.
[Oh, wait, that's fiction, and not directed at me.]
Good stuff, folks!
"Flight" directed by John Woo
Must warn Sensi about Samurai assassin who follow me on flight. Why I leave cellphone in luggage?
Hanna Barbera
"See ya. My legs are doing that cartoonish thing again, where the weirdly awesome sound effects play and they start running before I do."
1-800-Superheroes Anonymous
"Hello, So You've just discovered your superpowers. If you are currently hovering in mid-air, damaged public property, or shut down an airport, press 1 now."
The Kidnapping
by: P. R. O'LearyIt rang at the appointed time but she didn’t hear the kidnapper’s voice. She heard her son instead, and all he said was "April Fools!"
by Lance Bankerd
"You can't use that phone unless you're handicapable" snarled the rotund airport lackey.
"In point of Fact, sir and/or madam, I am gravitationally challenged"
Gravity: the force attracting one body to fall into another
Gravity called it quits, but Anna had one last thing to say. With her dying breath she said, “Mike, it was all your fault.”
INTERDIMENSIONAL LAYERCAKE OF LOVE or (GRAV-PHONE BLUES)
“I’ll walk through worlds for you, and they’ll collide and destroy us.”
"Love destroys the self of each lover, and a new universe is born.”
Impending Depths
The floor gave way at the ring of the pay-phone—she held on tight.
His voice crackled through the earpiece, "How's this for revenge?”
Be Careful What You Wish For
By Bret Fowler
"So, Mr. Wizard, how long did you say it would take for this flying potion to wear off?"
"Who said anything about it wearing off?"
"Quid Pro Quo"
I was testing Zeno's Paradox when my mother called from a waystation outside Honolulu. "Where did you leave my copy of Mein Kampf?" she asked.
Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand
I sprinted to the phone and answered it. The line was dead.
Phone Home
Leah called back home to Earth. She didn't want to live on this planet anymore.
Oh Gravity, Thou Art a Heartless Bitch
She wears her hair tight in a bun. That way, when she jumps for the camera it will look as if she's flying.
Grey dawn
The sea of ammonia and dandruff flowed from the bus, Ryan breathed a sigh now that the grey tide had ebbed. Another rainy day!
Everything To Him
He was in love with her once, and she him; their love was pure and unsoiled. His voice lifted her body and soul.
Photoshop Critique
The editing of the cables and harness was well-done, but the image is hardly realistic. In what world does anyone still use a pay phone?
Call Waiting: A Tragedy
Gloria was credited with one call from purgatory before entering the pits of hell's fiery inferno. She phoned her lover and cried, "Where are you?!"
10^10
The earpiece is caked white with dried sweat. Ten billion possible numbers and nobody has punched in the correct one.
"Slot Alternative"
They won't take my plasma anymore.
Now I afford my high one quarter at a time.
Long-Distance Relationships
"Peter," Wendy said--not breathing hard, not even angry--as she bobbled above polished linoleum at a bank of payphones, "I'm 25. This must stop."
Ghost Logic or A Song for the Dead Receiver
If I were you and you were I, you would be dead and my self, alive.
Regrettably, I love death the way you love life.
Dial "M" for "Meta"
"Hello, and welcome to MetaPhone!" came the hearty automated response. "If you are becoming lighter as you reach enlightenment, press one!"
Oooo! Hey, thanks! Excellent! I'd like to thank my mom, my dad, and the Academy. Oh, wait.
Seriously, there were so many great entries (1-800-Superheros Anonymous made me laugh for several minutes, at least); thanks for appreciating the work I went to, grammatically, to make mine follow the rules.
Congrats, C. Patrick. Well done!
I just personally want to give everyone here a goldstar. And a high five. yup.
Congratulations C. Patrick, you definitely earned it! And thanks! Your comment on my entry made my day because if I made the winner laugh, well then I'm calling it a win for me in my book too ;-)
The Spell
Numbers were all she saw as her body started to weigh again. If only to hear you while in this state once again!
Congrats to all! I really enjoyed reading this round! See you for next month's Smackdown!