Chester Pane
from Portland, Oregon is reading The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot DiazJuly 28, 2012 - 11:48pm
@J.Y. : I think you are right about the hashtag. This is trial and error. Error being my middle name.
XyZy
from New York City is reading Seveneves and Animal MoneyJuly 29, 2012 - 2:11am
I thought your middle name was Alabaster Book Shop 122 4th Street New York, NY 10003™
Chester Pane
from Portland, Oregon is reading The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot DiazJuly 29, 2012 - 3:50am
Damn it, Clint. That is my ubiquitous password. Great. Now I have to change my ubiquitous password (and no, I did not steal the idea from 'Lullaby' people) on all my accounts.
Chester Pane
from Portland, Oregon is reading The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot DiazJuly 29, 2012 - 3:52am
Oh, I almost forgot. The prize for this month is a personalized, signed copy of Lidia's new novel.
jyh
from VA is reading whatever he feels likeJuly 29, 2012 - 4:47am
XyZy
from New York City is reading Seveneves and Animal MoneyJuly 29, 2012 - 5:09am
Well, Chester, that's what you get for using something obvious like your middle name for your Ubiquitassword™. You really should've used something sneaky, like 12345. It works for me.
Chester Pane
from Portland, Oregon is reading The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot DiazJuly 29, 2012 - 5:23am
I have really always liked the idea of:
my password is my password™
Hector Acosta
from Dallas is reading FletchJuly 29, 2012 - 11:44am
Michael J. Riser
from CA, TX, Japan, back to CA is reading The Tyrant - Michael Cisco, The Devil Takes You Home - Gabino IglesiasJuly 29, 2012 - 12:44pm
wickedvoodoo
from Mansfield, England is reading stuff.August 1, 2012 - 4:59am
Woo - and we're done here. This was a lot of fun. I didn't manage ten subs but i am happy with the six i did send over.
So, Chester, is there to be a poll this time or are you simply picking your favorite?
jyh
from VA is reading whatever he feels likeAugust 3, 2012 - 9:23am
?
Chester Pane
from Portland, Oregon is reading The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot DiazAugust 4, 2012 - 5:22am
/Martin, I am trying to get a grip on my life...he-he. I will get to it. Yes, I am just going to pick my favorite this time. I love these. I was at The University of Oregon studying Journalism intending to go into advertising because I adore the girth of brevity.
But we all know what happened to that major.
Thank you all for participating. I want to redo this every July for the rest of eternity.
Oh, and about that prize. Lidia Yuknavitch's novel Dora is #1 at Powells. Bam.
wickedvoodoo
from Mansfield, England is reading stuff.August 4, 2012 - 1:29pm
All good, bro. Been rushed off my feet a little just recently too.
Yeah, we should definitely do this, or something similar at least, again sometime.
Chester Pane
from Portland, Oregon is reading The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot DiazAugust 5, 2012 - 3:46am
I will call a winner tomorrow. Totally behind on everything right now.
Fritz
August 5, 2012 - 3:05pm
1000 words - prompt 'germs'
any award? just curious
Pretty Spry for...
August 8, 2012 - 4:34pm
Stranded in a mood most melancholy, I strove to type the words. "There are no entries so far this month. Sad face :("
Get on it!
1000 words. Germs. GO!
Bump bubububump bump!
Chester Pane
from Portland, Oregon is reading The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot DiazAugust 9, 2012 - 12:01am
Hmmm. Prizes? Not sure yet. Finally got Rachel's Clown Girl signed (my ineptitude, not Drake's, she is a true lady that Drake. I fancy her. Oh, and that other woman. Lidia? She is grand. A true spirit. And Rachel is getting her book too.
Prizes. Hmmm. Anyone know where to get ecstacy? If so, email me.
April Victoria
from California is reading Mortal Ties by Eileen Wilks August 10, 2012 - 8:37am
Hey, so, totally new here. Quick question: are the prompts for each month updated on the first post of the first page? That's what I am assuming is going on here but I'm not 100% sure so I figured I'd ask.
Thanks!
Hector Acosta
from Dallas is reading FletchAugust 10, 2012 - 8:44am
Welcome! And to answer your question, yep.
Chester Pane
from Portland, Oregon is reading The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot DiazAugust 11, 2012 - 3:25am
Hi April, and welcome to the insanity. Yes. The prompt is germs for August.
I have learned a few things about Twitter. Yes, Rennie, a hashtag would have helped everyone. Oops.
There are some really good ones...
Chester Pane
from Portland, Oregon is reading The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot DiazAugust 11, 2012 - 4:09am
I need help picking:
Flash Me! July 2012
Twitter brevity contest
I'm not going to tell you what you just did in my vagina. –Jessica Taylor
Never enough hours in the day? Fake time for yourself with Counter(feit)Clockwise Therapies™- Martin Garrity (Wickedvoodoo…voodooflashery)
I fall, a 2 fast thud.® Rising, a cracked ground 2 swallow the leftover pieces. 2day turns 2morrow & my known grasp weakens. –Rachel 122
Curled up on the Serta Sleeper®, Jane thought about her miserable boss. Hung from Jane's shower, her boss couldn't think at all. –Bill Tucker
Her lips felt electric. I cupped her breast and looked into her eyes. The Glimpse® buried in her iris showed me the next day. –Hector (Hexican) Acosta
She found comfort simply in measuring time. ™-Averydoll Jessica Taylor.
Harlottery® - win yourself a woman of the night, tonight! Gigotombolo® - get lucky, get fucked silly!-Voodooflashery
With pockets full of breadcrumbs, Emperor Norton threw his hands to the sky. "I can make pigeons!" We laughed amid FeatherRain™-XyZy Clint Rhodes
Caught in the glow of her iPhone®, she failed to realize the world had gone away. Look Up™-Bill Tucker
You left a ValenTime™ on my pillow last night. It was sweet... but I'm still changing the locks.-XyZy (Clint Rhodes)
I push the lime into the Corona® & watch the beer fizzle. Blood inside me feels the same everytime I look at my wedding band. –Hector Acosta
Bob's LIVTAT® of his daughter continued to change and grow older, years after he buried her.-Hector Acosta
New Figtitious Cookies™! BIG fig taste with ZERO calories, because they may not actually exist.-Michael Riser
His face in the Magic Mirror® had aged 50 years, broken and sagging from a lifetime of abuse. Buyer's Remorse™-Bill Tucker
Because I am a mess.
Hector Acosta
from Dallas is reading FletchAugust 11, 2012 - 5:28am
Man, that Hector Acosta is an awesome writer. I'd go with him.
Chester Pane
from Portland, Oregon is reading The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot DiazAugust 11, 2012 - 3:35pm
He is.
Do I need to create a Poll? What do you guys think?
jyh
from VA is reading whatever he feels likeAugust 11, 2012 - 4:41pm
It was an honor just to be snubbed.
Covewriter
from Nashville, Tennessee is reading & SonsAugust 12, 2012 - 11:15pm
Before reading the other comments I was reading and thought Hector has two really good ones. You guys all had nice ones . I failed at this one but glad to see some really nice stuff
Hector Acosta
from Dallas is reading FletchAugust 13, 2012 - 6:57am
Wohooo, that's a vote for me, I'm in the lead!
I think if we want to do a poll, the list has to be cut down, as I'm not sure any tweet will be a clear winner otherwise.
Bill Tucker
from Austin, Texas is reading Grimm's Fairy Tales (1st Edition)August 13, 2012 - 8:21am
I'm just glad three of mine got chosen for the final. That said, I agree with Cove, Hector's were really well done. Yeah, I'm too modest to vote for myself. Either that or too naive. Lots of good stuff here!
Maxpowers13
is reading The Gods of Gothem,Lyndsay FayeAugust 13, 2012 - 3:19pm
Hi I'm new here, first post first story and such. This was the first thing I thought about when I heard germs.
994 words
“I’m not crazy, I just need to state that as fact before I say anything more.” Though my parents and this man clad in his long white jacket more common on a chemist than a doctor tell me otherwise.
They might try to dissuade me of my sanity, but I knew it to be the only truth here. I could feel myself squirming against my restraints, but I couldn’t control my arms or legs they moved with a mind all their own. He looked over his small oval glasses, marking the first time he broke eye contact with his clipboard to make it with me.
“Then tell us why you have been acting this way and we can let you go” all of his words sounded patronizing but his composure was stone cold.
“Everything I did was just because I had nothing better to do” The words sounded a bit pathetic coming out of my mouth. I was in pain, could they not see that?
“I was just bored”.
“You are telling me that snowboarding off the roof was the only way you could think of to handle your boredom?” I think that idea amused him he let out a slight hiss that might have been a laugh.
I snow boarded off the roof into the pile of leaves I had raked earlier in the day. I might have had a concussion. I never did end up going to the hospital maybe my mother was just trying to punish me.
I have my reasons I knew why I was doing it, at the time I knew I just wanted to get that little rush of adrenaline, feel my heart race a bit. Something had to keep me going I guess since it was a particularly hot day and I could look back at the irony of snowboarding when it was a good fifteen degrees Celsius out.
A couple other actions had led to my being here tied to a bed in some kind of ward, I think it is a hospital but it is hard to think straight my vision is all fuzzy.
Last Friday I was fired, they found out why my till was always a little lighter than it should have been at the end of every shift. I have to say I never did like working at the little crappy corner store and for a while I played it off like I was just bad at math. Now my last paycheck was docked to pay back their losses. Now I had no money and a serious addiction to keep me occupied.
I don’t know if you get the picture yet but I’m a high school dropout, seventeen and I still live with my parents. Pretty sweet deal so long as I keep the house clean I have free rent and food. Now though I think something broke on me.
I burned through the small stash I had that evening, I had developed a problem and a gram of horse hardly got me started anymore, so I decided to board off the roof and nearly broke my neck.
My family has no idea about what I do, so my mom looked after me and put me in bed. Now I remember better that I had protested and didn’t want to go to the hospital. That whole night I felt like I was ripping at the seams. I had to fill my veins and after my stunt I was on lockdown. I opened my second floor window and climbed out it’s a pretty common routine my parents are sound sleepers. They have their own little addictions and ambian can be bought over the counter.
I met a few familiar faces we hung out and after a little friendly exchange I got what I needed. But what I thought was a little of the worst looking junk I had seen was actually something else.
I should have known it was going to be too good to be true.
I felt hot almost Immediately the needle wasn’t two seconds off my skin and they all looked pretty pleased with themselves. The people I call friends. I wavered, my mind bounced around inside my head.
Suddenly I felt I was wading through the air as if it was resisting me.
Blackness for a while and then when I finally return to drive my own body I remember feeling a little less panic stricken.
Still my heart was beating so fast it sounded like a racing horse. I looked down at my hands; they were scraped, and there was a good bit of blood on them. The two nails on my middle right and index finger were peeling off. My knees felt like they could no longer hold me and looking down they had scrapes and cuts. If I hadn’t been sitting on a picnic bench in the middle of a park I would have fallen over.
That calm moment did not last long, I felt a bug crawling on my leg it only took me a few seconds to stand up and start screaming I remember it all and now realize it was more than likely in my head. In the moment I thought I was sitting on an ant hill. Tiny insects crawling all over me I was running back and forth shaking and flailing my arms. I fell on the ground and tried to roll them off but no luck. I remember Screaming for help and finding non. Running and screaming running and screaming. Oh my god, now I’m remembering my smashed fifth metatarsal (barley awake to hear the doctors talk about my injury) a car ran over my foot.
Next thing I do is close my eyes, I try to stay still I try to put the tiny crawling things from my mind, I still squirm. I reiterate the tale to the doc, this is not going to be an easy fix.
Chester Pane
from Portland, Oregon is reading The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot DiazAugust 16, 2012 - 1:22am
It was an honor just to be snubbed® -J.Y. Hopkins
I can't stop laughing. That is the shit right there.
Chester Pane
from Portland, Oregon is reading The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot DiazAugust 16, 2012 - 1:24am
I am too drunk to do a pole. Or? Hmmm. I could do a pole. A bi-polar pole.
A Mapplethorpe?
A Misanthrope?
Nope.
Simply a thrope.
wickedvoodoo
from Mansfield, England is reading stuff.August 16, 2012 - 2:21am
Aha - I see there are finalists picked! I have been on holiday so I have been out of the loop. You planning on putting those ones to the vote then, Mr Pane?
As soon as you are a little less thropic, of course.
Covewriter
from Nashville, Tennessee is reading & SonsAugust 25, 2012 - 11:30pm
Chester I'm gonna try to come with something here. I feel I should once I bitched about horror/ tweets. I'm gonna try. I have a week so maybe. Plus competition seems light guys. Come on with your germ stories
Covewriter
from Nashville, Tennessee is reading & SonsAugust 25, 2012 - 11:30pm
Chester I'm gonna try to come with something here. I feel I should once I bitched about horror/ tweets. I'm gonna try. I have a week so maybe. Plus competition seems light guys. Come on with your germ stories
Chester Pane
from Portland, Oregon is reading The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot DiazAugust 29, 2012 - 1:44am
tick tock tick tock.
Are you folks trying to go easy on Chester?
jyh
from VA is reading whatever he feels likeAugust 29, 2012 - 8:50am
The Phage
It swims like a torpedo with legs.
Single-minded.
No mind.
Single purpose: expansion.
A robot of unknown origin.
Crystallized protein on skis.
It marks the return of dread to these walls.
This mania.
These cardioviralia.
Felicity carton twelve times a spunk handler missage report. Best Book of Mormon tickets always.
Fritz
August 31, 2012 - 8:01am
Edit
took it off. Gonna develop it
jyh
from VA is reading whatever he feels likeAugust 31, 2012 - 9:06am
No contest* --- the one actual story wins!
*12 hrs before the buzzer
Jonathan Riley
from Memphis, Tennessee is reading Flashover by Gordon Highland September 4, 2012 - 6:52pm
What time zone is LitReactor running on. Testing. Eastern time. Damn. Was hoping it was Pacific. Fuck it I'll post anyway. Just wrote this, probably gonna do a lot more with it:
Hand Sanitizer
The slick-haired, even slicker-witted “suit” sneezes. On most days Carmen Patel could talk a nun out of her nickers. He could sell a bottle opener to a man holding a tab-top aluminum can. He could sell a beer to a baby and a baby to a drunk, but he’d rather take “tabs” and wash his hands. Carmen is the king of closing, buying low and selling high. Today Carmen can't close a door. One sneeze and he is after the Purell. He showers his hands in it.
Used-car salesmen have dirty hands. Carmen always thinks about what people do with their cash when no one is looking. Some coke-junkie in an ally uses a rolled up Lincoln as a “tutor.” A teenager takes a shit and wipes his ass with Jackson. Later he swaps it with his asshole friend for some skunk-grass. Washington gets sweaty hanging out in G-strings; smothered between double-D’s. A D.E.A agent totes a wallet full of blood stained Benjamins. Dead skin cells and pubis. Live dust mites and sperm. Does anyone really know what hides grain deep on the paper in their pockets? Carmen does. He showers his hands again.
A call-girl pops out of a yellow cab. She struts onto the lot at 6 a.m. in latex and stilettos. She reeks of smoke-butts and dry-sex. The stripper-blonde customer wants to buy a mustang and she wants to pay in cash. Carmen’s favorite type of customer is his waking-life nightmare. It’s easy to fudge the books when they pay in cash. It’s easy to hard sell. There’s not enough hand sanitizer in Atlanta to disinfect all that scratch. Carmen makes the sell anyway. He showers his hands again.
wickedvoodoo
from Mansfield, England is reading stuff.September 1, 2012 - 4:03am
I feel a bit heroin-withdrawly about not writing anything this time! Has been a hectic month away from the keyboard for me.
The forum has been a tad quiet this month anyway, Chester ran a two-month poll once before, maybe this one could run for longer too? I'd like to sub something soon if I can.
Bill Tucker
from Austin, Texas is reading Grimm's Fairy Tales (1st Edition)September 5, 2012 - 7:02am
I'm with voodoo. My August has been crazy and I have an idea for this prompt. Just need to get off my keister and get it on paper.
Fritz
September 6, 2012 - 1:39pm
Mine is taking a ride on the slush wheel at daily science fiction - just for kicks. So i did one,but didnt post it here. Guess that doesnt count. :). Enjoyed the prompt though - lots of potential
Bill Tucker
from Austin, Texas is reading Grimm's Fairy Tales (1st Edition)September 14, 2012 - 4:35pm
So, is if official? Are we extending this into September? I'm regretting not getting one in and I'm craving the challenge!
Chester Pane
from Portland, Oregon is reading The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot DiazSeptember 14, 2012 - 5:31pm
Yeah, that is a good idea. I will think up a good frothy prize...probably Wordstock related.
Covewriter
from Nashville, Tennessee is reading & SonsSeptember 14, 2012 - 8:31pm
I'm glad you are giving us another month. Thanks Chester. The site has been quiet lately. I'm hoping to see more posts in the workshops so i can review more and post more. It's so important for me to do that. The editing helps me write better too. Working on the germ thing Chester. I want a frothy prize.
@J.Y. : I think you are right about the hashtag. This is trial and error. Error being my middle name.
I thought your middle name was Alabaster Book Shop 122 4th Street New York, NY 10003™
Damn it, Clint. That is my ubiquitous password. Great. Now I have to change my ubiquitous password (and no, I did not steal the idea from 'Lullaby' people) on all my accounts.
Oh, I almost forgot. The prize for this month is a personalized, signed copy of Lidia's new novel.
#6
#7
Well, Chester, that's what you get for using something obvious like your middle name for your Ubiquitassword™. You really should've used something sneaky, like 12345. It works for me.
I have really always liked the idea of:
my password is my password™
Sub 8
Sub 9
Sub 10
Numero VIII
Wow lots of subs these past couple of days. Great work, folks.
And I like the sound of that prize. I like it a lot. DO WANT!
Final day, final submissions!
8
9
10
#8
#9
#10
Woo - and we're done here. This was a lot of fun. I didn't manage ten subs but i am happy with the six i did send over.
So, Chester, is there to be a poll this time or are you simply picking your favorite?
?
/Martin, I am trying to get a grip on my life...he-he. I will get to it. Yes, I am just going to pick my favorite this time. I love these. I was at The University of Oregon studying Journalism intending to go into advertising because I adore the girth of brevity.
But we all know what happened to that major.
Thank you all for participating. I want to redo this every July for the rest of eternity.
Oh, and about that prize. Lidia Yuknavitch's novel Dora is #1 at Powells. Bam.
All good, bro. Been rushed off my feet a little just recently too.
Yeah, we should definitely do this, or something similar at least, again sometime.
I will call a winner tomorrow. Totally behind on everything right now.
1000 words - prompt 'germs'
any award? just curious
Stranded in a mood most melancholy, I strove to type the words. "There are no entries so far this month. Sad face :("
Get on it!
1000 words. Germs. GO!
Bump bubububump bump!
Hmmm. Prizes? Not sure yet. Finally got Rachel's Clown Girl signed (my ineptitude, not Drake's, she is a true lady that Drake. I fancy her. Oh, and that other woman. Lidia? She is grand. A true spirit. And Rachel is getting her book too.
Prizes. Hmmm. Anyone know where to get ecstacy? If so, email me.
Hey, so, totally new here. Quick question: are the prompts for each month updated on the first post of the first page? That's what I am assuming is going on here but I'm not 100% sure so I figured I'd ask.
Thanks!
Welcome! And to answer your question, yep.
Hi April, and welcome to the insanity. Yes. The prompt is germs for August.
I have learned a few things about Twitter. Yes, Rennie, a hashtag would have helped everyone. Oops.
There are some really good ones...
I need help picking:
Flash Me! July 2012
Twitter brevity contest
I'm not going to tell you what you just did in my vagina. –Jessica Taylor
Never enough hours in the day? Fake time for yourself with Counter(feit)Clockwise Therapies™- Martin Garrity (Wickedvoodoo…voodooflashery)
I fall, a 2 fast thud.® Rising, a cracked ground 2 swallow the leftover pieces. 2day turns 2morrow & my known grasp weakens. –Rachel 122
Curled up on the Serta Sleeper®, Jane thought about her miserable boss. Hung from Jane's shower, her boss couldn't think at all. –Bill Tucker
Her lips felt electric. I cupped her breast and looked into her eyes. The Glimpse® buried in her iris showed me the next day. –Hector (Hexican) Acosta
She found comfort simply in measuring time. ™-Averydoll Jessica Taylor.
Harlottery® - win yourself a woman of the night, tonight! Gigotombolo® - get lucky, get fucked silly!-Voodooflashery
With pockets full of breadcrumbs, Emperor Norton threw his hands to the sky. "I can make pigeons!" We laughed amid FeatherRain™-XyZy Clint Rhodes
Caught in the glow of her iPhone®, she failed to realize the world had gone away. Look Up™-Bill Tucker
You left a ValenTime™ on my pillow last night. It was sweet... but I'm still changing the locks.-XyZy (Clint Rhodes)
I push the lime into the Corona® & watch the beer fizzle. Blood inside me feels the same everytime I look at my wedding band. –Hector Acosta
Bob's LIVTAT® of his daughter continued to change and grow older, years after he buried her.-Hector Acosta
New Figtitious Cookies™! BIG fig taste with ZERO calories, because they may not actually exist.-Michael Riser
His face in the Magic Mirror® had aged 50 years, broken and sagging from a lifetime of abuse. Buyer's Remorse™-Bill Tucker
Because I am a mess.
Man, that Hector Acosta is an awesome writer. I'd go with him.
He is.
Do I need to create a Poll? What do you guys think?
It was an honor just to be snubbed.
Before reading the other comments I was reading and thought Hector has two really good ones. You guys all had nice ones . I failed at this one but glad to see some really nice stuff
Wohooo, that's a vote for me, I'm in the lead!
I think if we want to do a poll, the list has to be cut down, as I'm not sure any tweet will be a clear winner otherwise.
I'm just glad three of mine got chosen for the final. That said, I agree with Cove, Hector's were really well done. Yeah, I'm too modest to vote for myself. Either that or too naive. Lots of good stuff here!
Hi I'm new here, first post first story and such. This was the first thing I thought about when I heard germs.
994 words
“I’m not crazy, I just need to state that as fact before I say anything more.” Though my parents and this man clad in his long white jacket more common on a chemist than a doctor tell me otherwise.
They might try to dissuade me of my sanity, but I knew it to be the only truth here. I could feel myself squirming against my restraints, but I couldn’t control my arms or legs they moved with a mind all their own. He looked over his small oval glasses, marking the first time he broke eye contact with his clipboard to make it with me.
“Then tell us why you have been acting this way and we can let you go” all of his words sounded patronizing but his composure was stone cold.
“Everything I did was just because I had nothing better to do” The words sounded a bit pathetic coming out of my mouth. I was in pain, could they not see that?
“I was just bored”.
“You are telling me that snowboarding off the roof was the only way you could think of to handle your boredom?” I think that idea amused him he let out a slight hiss that might have been a laugh.
I snow boarded off the roof into the pile of leaves I had raked earlier in the day. I might have had a concussion. I never did end up going to the hospital maybe my mother was just trying to punish me.
I have my reasons I knew why I was doing it, at the time I knew I just wanted to get that little rush of adrenaline, feel my heart race a bit. Something had to keep me going I guess since it was a particularly hot day and I could look back at the irony of snowboarding when it was a good fifteen degrees Celsius out.
A couple other actions had led to my being here tied to a bed in some kind of ward, I think it is a hospital but it is hard to think straight my vision is all fuzzy.
Last Friday I was fired, they found out why my till was always a little lighter than it should have been at the end of every shift. I have to say I never did like working at the little crappy corner store and for a while I played it off like I was just bad at math. Now my last paycheck was docked to pay back their losses. Now I had no money and a serious addiction to keep me occupied.
I don’t know if you get the picture yet but I’m a high school dropout, seventeen and I still live with my parents. Pretty sweet deal so long as I keep the house clean I have free rent and food. Now though I think something broke on me.
I burned through the small stash I had that evening, I had developed a problem and a gram of horse hardly got me started anymore, so I decided to board off the roof and nearly broke my neck.
My family has no idea about what I do, so my mom looked after me and put me in bed. Now I remember better that I had protested and didn’t want to go to the hospital. That whole night I felt like I was ripping at the seams. I had to fill my veins and after my stunt I was on lockdown. I opened my second floor window and climbed out it’s a pretty common routine my parents are sound sleepers. They have their own little addictions and ambian can be bought over the counter.
I met a few familiar faces we hung out and after a little friendly exchange I got what I needed. But what I thought was a little of the worst looking junk I had seen was actually something else.
I should have known it was going to be too good to be true.
I felt hot almost Immediately the needle wasn’t two seconds off my skin and they all looked pretty pleased with themselves. The people I call friends. I wavered, my mind bounced around inside my head.
Suddenly I felt I was wading through the air as if it was resisting me.
Blackness for a while and then when I finally return to drive my own body I remember feeling a little less panic stricken.
Still my heart was beating so fast it sounded like a racing horse. I looked down at my hands; they were scraped, and there was a good bit of blood on them. The two nails on my middle right and index finger were peeling off. My knees felt like they could no longer hold me and looking down they had scrapes and cuts. If I hadn’t been sitting on a picnic bench in the middle of a park I would have fallen over.
That calm moment did not last long, I felt a bug crawling on my leg it only took me a few seconds to stand up and start screaming I remember it all and now realize it was more than likely in my head. In the moment I thought I was sitting on an ant hill. Tiny insects crawling all over me I was running back and forth shaking and flailing my arms. I fell on the ground and tried to roll them off but no luck. I remember Screaming for help and finding non. Running and screaming running and screaming. Oh my god, now I’m remembering my smashed fifth metatarsal (barley awake to hear the doctors talk about my injury) a car ran over my foot.
Next thing I do is close my eyes, I try to stay still I try to put the tiny crawling things from my mind, I still squirm. I reiterate the tale to the doc, this is not going to be an easy fix.
It was an honor just to be snubbed® -J.Y. Hopkins
I can't stop laughing. That is the shit right there.
I am too drunk to do a pole. Or? Hmmm. I could do a pole. A bi-polar pole.
A Mapplethorpe?
A Misanthrope?
Nope.
Simply a thrope.
Aha - I see there are finalists picked! I have been on holiday so I have been out of the loop. You planning on putting those ones to the vote then, Mr Pane?
As soon as you are a little less thropic, of course.
Chester I'm gonna try to come with something here. I feel I should once I bitched about horror/ tweets. I'm gonna try. I have a week so maybe. Plus competition seems light guys. Come on with your germ stories
Chester I'm gonna try to come with something here. I feel I should once I bitched about horror/ tweets. I'm gonna try. I have a week so maybe. Plus competition seems light guys. Come on with your germ stories
tick tock tick tock.
Are you folks trying to go easy on Chester?
The Phage
It swims like a torpedo with legs.
Single-minded.
No mind.
Single purpose: expansion.
A robot of unknown origin.
Crystallized protein on skis.
It marks the return of dread to these walls.
This mania.
These cardioviralia.
Felicity carton twelve times a spunk handler missage report. Best Book of Mormon tickets always.
Edit
took it off. Gonna develop it
No contest* --- the one actual story wins!
*12 hrs before the buzzer
What time zone is LitReactor running on. Testing. Eastern time. Damn. Was hoping it was Pacific. Fuck it I'll post anyway. Just wrote this, probably gonna do a lot more with it:
Hand Sanitizer
The slick-haired, even slicker-witted “suit” sneezes. On most days Carmen Patel could talk a nun out of her nickers. He could sell a bottle opener to a man holding a tab-top aluminum can. He could sell a beer to a baby and a baby to a drunk, but he’d rather take “tabs” and wash his hands. Carmen is the king of closing, buying low and selling high. Today Carmen can't close a door. One sneeze and he is after the Purell. He showers his hands in it.
Used-car salesmen have dirty hands. Carmen always thinks about what people do with their cash when no one is looking. Some coke-junkie in an ally uses a rolled up Lincoln as a “tutor.” A teenager takes a shit and wipes his ass with Jackson. Later he swaps it with his asshole friend for some skunk-grass. Washington gets sweaty hanging out in G-strings; smothered between double-D’s. A D.E.A agent totes a wallet full of blood stained Benjamins. Dead skin cells and pubis. Live dust mites and sperm. Does anyone really know what hides grain deep on the paper in their pockets? Carmen does. He showers his hands again.
A call-girl pops out of a yellow cab. She struts onto the lot at 6 a.m. in latex and stilettos. She reeks of smoke-butts and dry-sex. The stripper-blonde customer wants to buy a mustang and she wants to pay in cash. Carmen’s favorite type of customer is his waking-life nightmare. It’s easy to fudge the books when they pay in cash. It’s easy to hard sell. There’s not enough hand sanitizer in Atlanta to disinfect all that scratch. Carmen makes the sell anyway. He showers his hands again.
I feel a bit heroin-withdrawly about not writing anything this time! Has been a hectic month away from the keyboard for me.
The forum has been a tad quiet this month anyway, Chester ran a two-month poll once before, maybe this one could run for longer too? I'd like to sub something soon if I can.
I'm with voodoo. My August has been crazy and I have an idea for this prompt. Just need to get off my keister and get it on paper.
Mine is taking a ride on the slush wheel at daily science fiction - just for kicks. So i did one,but didnt post it here. Guess that doesnt count. :). Enjoyed the prompt though - lots of potential
So, is if official? Are we extending this into September? I'm regretting not getting one in and I'm craving the challenge!
Yeah, that is a good idea. I will think up a good frothy prize...probably Wordstock related.
I'm glad you are giving us another month. Thanks Chester. The site has been quiet lately. I'm hoping to see more posts in the workshops so i can review more and post more. It's so important for me to do that. The editing helps me write better too. Working on the germ thing Chester. I want a frothy prize.