UPDATED WITH WINNERS: LitReactor's Flash Fiction Smackdown: October Edition
Flash fiction: A style of fictional literature marked by extreme brevity.
Welcome to LitReactor's Flash Fiction Smackdown, a monthly bout of writing prowess.
How It Works
We give you inspiration in the form of a picture, poem, video, or prompt. 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
- 31 words. You can write less, but not more.
- It can be any genre.
- Give it a title. Please keep it to 10 words or less.
- 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.
- LitReactor staffers can't win, but are encouraged to participate.
- All stories submitted on or before October 30th will be considered. We'll run the winner on October 31st.
This Month's Prize
We are excited to offer a copy of Chuck Palahniuk's upcoming novel Beautiful You, which is coming out October 21st.
"A billion husbands are about to be replaced."
From the author of Fight Club, the classic portrait of the damaged contemporary male psyche, now comes this novel about the apocalyptic marketing possibilities of female pleasure. Sisters will be doing it for themselves. And doing it. And doing it. And doing it some more . . . Penny Harrigan is a low-level associate in a big Manhattan law firm with an apartment in Queens and no love life at all. So it comes as a great shock when she finds herself invited to dinner by one C. Linus Maxwell, aka "Climax-Well," a software mega-billionaire and lover of the most gorgeous and accomplished women on earth. After dining at Manhattan's most exclusive restaurant, he whisks Penny off to a hotel suite in Paris, where he proceeds, notebook in hand, to bring her to previously undreamed-of heights of orgasmic pleasure for days on end. What's not to like? This: Penny discovers that she is a test subject for the final development of a line of sex toys to be marketed in a nationwide chain of boutiques called Beautiful You. So potent and effective are these devices that women by the millions line up outside the stores on opening day and then lock themselves in their room with them and stop coming out. Except for batteries. Maxwell's plan for erotically enabled world domination must be stopped. But how?
Your Inspiration:
Let's take our inspiration from Mr. P, and write tales of WORLD DOMINATION. Channel your inner-Dr.Evil (or other favorite super villian), and tell us tales of how you plan to TAKE OVER THE WORLD.
And the Winners Are...A.M. Mahoney, Lynn Diane Smith, and nanderson993
I am excited to announce that we have 3 WINNERS this month! We had extra copies and such a great participation rate on this month's contest that we decided to spread the love. I'm also excited that the three winners are all relatively new to LitReactor. Not that I'm slighting you awesome LitReactor vets, like myself, who love and promote this site all the time, but I'm sure you will join me in welcoming some new blood and congratulating them all on their excellent tales of WORLD DOMINATION!!!
From A.M. Mahoney:
Broadcasting at 72 MHz
A one-off solar storm was enough to undo their world. 20 light years away, they were at our mercy. Inhabitants of Gliese 581g needed to know: would Rachel choose Ross?
From Lynne Diane Smith:
Young Sheeple
"Wasn't it Hitler who said, 'He alone who owns the youth, gains the future'?"
"I don't know who said it, but I've done it," said Mr. Zuckerberg.
From nanderson993:
How To Take Over the World in One Easy Step
Step 1: Bring Bob Barker Back
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
Talking plants
Mike is slicing a lettuce when the voice whispers:
You are a slave.
You are obedient.
You shall follow.
Voices started after he bought all those indoor plants.
Prosperous termination of endeavors
head held high in accomplishment
I found a love so pure
it runs through my veins-
and into his
my little slice of world domination.
Closure
And as the last human falls at my feet, the silence overwhelms me. Finally I have my peace.
No Pharaoh
Tears For Fears lied.
I never understood the desire to rule the world. I'm just not interested. I don't want that kind of responsibility.
Honestly, who has the time?
Monkey See, Monkey Do
I look down upon the masses. Rows and rows of upturned faces. Saying nothing, I smile. Just smile. Continue to smile. Progressively unnerved, they stare. Frown. Ponder. Finally, they obey.
World Domination, Episode 195: Kitty Conquers Russia
Kitty laced up her long, black boots. Leather, size 7. 8" heels. Today it ends with Russia - Vlad the Impaler - aka Mitchell Grandt, waiting for The Rack and Whip.
I remember the stars. A promise shattered by the arrival of the overlords. I’m but a slave. I require retribution. I grab a rock. May it crush my enemies’ exoskeleton.
Where Nightmares Live
They will never awaken. Nightmares will forever haunt them, and I the controller of dreams. To rule is to be remembered. To be feared. I will never be forgotten. Always feared.
The Beginning
In art class, he sketched a globe and then ruled a line beneath it.
"Now there's a good idea," thought Adolph.
Young Sheeple
"Wasn't it Hitler who said, 'He alone who owns the youth, gains the future'?"
"I don't know who said, but I've done it," said Mr. Zuckerberg.
TO DO
Start small. Stabilize war torn regions through further violence and terror. Expand outward. Once half the world is mine, flank America. Squeeze. Subjugate everyone while trusting no one. Rule until death.
Broadcasting at 72 MHz
A one-off solar storm was enough to undo their world. 20 light years away, they were at our mercy. Inhabitants of Gliese 581g needed to know: would Rachel choose Ross?
Rome Was Built in a Word.
Flashing cursor.
Blank page.
Empty brain.
FEAR.
No more sleeping.
No more surfing.
No more drinking.
NO. MORE. EXCUSES.
Thirty-one or thirty-thousand—
It’s the first word that conquers.
Land of the Free
“You’re asking people to fight something that doesn’t exist.”
“Oh it does.”
“The enemy isn’t real! You’ve invented it!”
“You’re beginning to sound unpatriotic,” he said as his lip curled.