Welcome to the nineteenth #SatSunTails microfiction competition.
Be warned – the prompts aren’t easy, but that’s so you can write to the best of your ability.
If you haven’t had a go before at this writing challenge, then please don’t hesitate to try this weekend.
Rules!
- Post stories in the comments
- Stories must be 150 words (margin of 5 words either side) AND based on the picture and written prompts.
- If you title your entry this is not counted in your word count.
- Only one entry allowed (so make it count)
- End each entry with word count and name/twitter handle (if you forget these REPLY TO YOUR OWN COMMENT with them before judging closes)
- Monday 11am GMT is the expected closing time for entries BUT the competition will be open until I put a ‘competition closed’ comment so you may be able to slip something in (because I’m extra kind like that). Got that?
If you do not comply with these rules your story will be disqualified from judging. Good spelling and grammar will also help to make a better impression on judges – the odd typo, however, will be overlooked so please don’t worry about that.
For tips, read through the critiques from last week’s entries.
Winners!
There will be ONE OVERALL WINNER and THREE RUNNERS UP. After that there will be THREE CRITIQUES of three stories that didn’t make it.
It would also be nice to those participating if you could promote your fellow competitors and those who win.
Today’s Prompt!
The following may be used as a sentence in your story OR provide a basis for it:-
“an invitation to mortality”
And here is your picture prompt:
& good luck!
| [Did you enjoy this post?] |
| [Why not leave a comment or check out my books?] |
Padre held the golden cup aloft. He muttered an invocation before bringing it to his lips.
"I offer you this invitation to mortality. Will you accept?"
Two-hundred-years of life may not seem like a trial, but what happens when everyone you've ever loved dies? You think our capacity for love is endless? I reveled early on. No limits. Dining on beauty and vitality, I thrived for more than a century.
"Yes, Padre, I accept."
It all became so trite. Feeding once a week didn't satisfy, so I fed more. I turned to orgies of sex and blood, often drinking five or more in a single night. Life, if you can call it that, was little more than feeding and fucking with little cat-and-mouse games in between.
"Then come. For there is no greater love than this: to die for another."
He drank the holy water, then I drank him. Oh, to be alive.
Opening the door, Kevin addressed his visitor. This was no stranger but not exactly someone he considered a friend, either.
"Hello, Piotr, come on in."
"You said you had a rare artefact to show me? What have you found?"
"Indeed, this is not only beautiful and ancient but sure to have some significance, as well. It's right in here. Have a look."
He led his guest to another room that had a recess in the wall. In it there was an exquisitely carved cross, draped with a jewelled rosary. He knew how much it would mean to Piotr. More importantly, he knew WHAT it would mean to him.
"Is this some kind of a joke?" Piotr demanded, turning to face his host.
Taking the wooden stake from where he had concealed it and driving it deeply into Piotr's heart, Kevin said, "No, my friend, this is an invitation to mortality."
150 Words
@LupusAnthropos
Redemption
By Lisa McCourt Hollar
The doors closed loudly, startling the priest kneeling in front of the altar. It was late, all his parishioners should be home. Turning to see who had need of his counsel, the old man gasped, reaching for his rosary.
“Leave this place, demon.”
“You extended an invitation tonight…I was listening outside. I wish to accept.”
“My summons was for eternal life. You already have that…gifted from one I do not serve.”
“This isn’t life,” the vampire hissed. “I don’t want to exist forever, not like this. Immortality, bah…hiding in shadows, feeding off the innocent, this was thrust on me. I wasn’t given a choice.”
“Only the mortal can accept what my Lord offers. You cannot die.”
“You said, all that believed in Him. No one believes more than I.” Samuel picked up the wooden cross that sat on the altar. Its end was sharp. “Through the heart priest. I am ready to embrace mortality.”
Word Count: 154
@jezri1
Father Thomas entered the church ruin. He was to meet Sister Claire. She wanted to talk to him about a 'delicate matter'.
He smiled to himself. Did she want to tell him she was in 'the family way'?
Sister Claire wasn't what he would call attractive. She was quite plain and had a very round face.
He entered what was left of the Alter Room. The walls were almost gone, except one. It had a small vertical window and an ornate faded pewter cross stood proud on the wide window ledge, It had jewelled Rosary beads coiling round it. Sister Claire was kneeling in front of this cross. As he walked towards her, she stood to face him.
Father Thomas opened his eyes, he felt the weight of Sister Claire straddling him, fresh blood dripping down her chin.
"This is an invitation to mortality'" She spat the words at him.
152 Words
@_Aitch01
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry I failed," Eliora muttered, kneeling before the cross and rosary, even though she was beyond forgiveness. Her back still ached where her wings had been torn away.
A guardian angel shouldn't become too protective of their charge. Just because Rhett, while semi-conscious, had seen her when she'd saved him from the car wreck, and since then she'd been able to appear to him at any time, that didn't mean the two should have grown so close. He'd unwittingly become her invitation to mortality, a spiritual death. That night, she couldn't just watch the thug beat him senseless. One strike, and the mugger's body fell. She'd saved Rhett by committing the worst sin – murder.
Now here she was, a mortal. The church was her shelter, but Heaven would never accept her, especially as she couldn't truly repent. Though her act sickened her, she was glad she'd protected the one she loved.
155 words
@Leo_Godin 155 words
The photograph was taken inside a room in an ancient castle. The window was very deep, and had no glass. A single cross stood in it. A priests rosary was draped over that cross. Beneath the picture were the words, “An Invitation To Mortality”.
I opened the invitation. “Disenchanted with your immortal life? Tired of watching everything you love die, and turn to ash? Of a life that never changes? Of working in the same job for millenia? Of trying to learn to paint, or write? And still not being able to after centuries? We have a deal for you! Join the army! Join us on the battlefront! Get shot at! Face toxic chemical and biological weapons! The ways your life could end are almost limitless! If you wish to end your immortal misery, call us at 888-End-Life for more information. We look forward to hearing from you!”
150 Words
@LurchMunster
“Dearly Beloved, we're gathered here in the sight of God and in the presence of these witnesses, to join Morena and Paul in holy matrimony, which is an..”
The concrete floor was giving him cold feet, and the many distractions scattered around the church encouraged his mind to wander away from the present situation. Anything to aide his escapism from the day which was supposed to be “The Perfect Day”. Of course it wasn't his perfect day, it was hers.
Waiting for him outside was “The Perfect Life” Morena had planned for him. 2.5 kids played on the green, waiting to be born. Further down the road lay a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom semi-detached house a short drive from the centre of town. The next few times he would stand on these stones would be for christenings. After that lay only funerals.
“Do you, Paul, take Morena to be your lawful wedded wife?”
“I do.”
Competition is closed.