Welcome to the twenty-second #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:-
“deepening intent”
And here is your picture prompt:
& good luck!
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A Better Prize
Ted wrapped his hands around a slick wooden handle, and hefted the mallet. Time for the yearly masochistic ritual forced on him by his older brother. He swung, grunting with effort and heard a satisfying crack upon making contact with the lever. Holding his breath, Ted tensed as the metal puck rose toward the bell.
It stopped short.
Ted's brother slapped him on the back. "What a sissy. Let's go."
To his left, a young girl, bald and pale, walked away from the ring toss. Her downcast eyes told a story. Just one prize. Something to make her last nights memorable.
Gripping the mallet with renewed vigor, Ted pushed his brother away. "One more try. For her."
"It's your buck. Pussy."
The little girl met his eyes, expecting disappointment.
With deepening intent, Ted swung in a great arc.
A bell, a bear and a little girl's smile later, Ted went home satisfied.
@Leo_Godin – 152 words
Boardwalk Dining
She was a study in sexuality this one. Her honey-blonde hair was braided into two tight pigtails, her flawless beauty bathed alternately in various hues by the garish boardwalk lighting.
The click of her Mary Janes on the decking was muted but, nonetheless, at times audible. Her legs were encased in thigh-high stockings ending at the hem of the plaid skirt that clung to her like a second skin. Generous portions of her tanned lower back and smooth abdomen were visible, left uncovered by the too-small blouse that molded itself to her breasts.
She strolled, at ease, seemingly unaware she was tempting prey for predators of the human variety.
The leather-clad bravoes who seized her anticipated a variety of carnal pleasures on the brackish sand below.
Scant minutes later, she strode the boardwalk again. Wiping a stray trace of blood from the corner of her mouth, she wondered if she had any room left for dessert.
155 Words @klingorengi
Autistic Me
I went to the carnival because I knew I was supposed to. It was a social activity. Ride the rides. Spend time with peers in the same age bracket. I’d shown up alone. Like always. Called everyone I knew. They were all busy. Like always.
I rode a few of the rides. My hair blowing in the wind. My guts moving from gravitational and centripetal forces. The world spinning in circles. Colors all blur into a chaotic rainbow. Sensory overload always made me feel alive. Let me escape my isolation. If only for a little while.
I watched people, with a deepening intent to learn how they behaved. I was broken. Something in me was broken. Thought if I studied enough people, I could figure out what. And fix it. So I wouldn’t have to feel the ache of loneliness and isolation that I knew was my fault.
150 words
@LurchMunster
Awesome! I love your wit.
She stood in shadow, hope shining in her eyes. Hope, in his presence! The audacity of it! Head Minion or not, she couldn’t just up and defy everything they were working for like that! Hope just wasn’t… Evil.
“I know you have a heart! Is allowing yourself to feel really so inconceivable?” She dared to speak, hands clasped as if in prayer.
He’d been too soft with her, because of her obedience and efficiency. Replacing her would be near impossible.
“I am not so easy to sway from my purpose,” he regretfully reached into his desk for his gun.
Her smile mirrored his regret, “I know.”
The shattering glass from the age dimmed rainbow roller crashing through the office window behind him was genuinely unexpected. Throwing himself aside with an exclamation he watched horrified as tattered colorful ursidaes emerged from the conveyance.
“So I called the Care Bears.”
148 words
@DavidALudwig
Lights flashing and music blaring; the crowd's vitality tugged at her, and sapped her strength. She sharpened her focus, pinpointing her target in the midst of the dance floor, and jagged fragments of memory cut at her as she drifted unseen towards him. Deepening her intent she fought against the tide of memories threatening to sweep her away.
She watched him gasp as she appeared before him. Anne smiled, her colour brightening as his faded. She reached out and clasped him in a lover's embrace. His eyes widened, and he tried to push her away. But she tightened her grip, kissed him, and drank in his warmth; savouring the moment. She felt him cool in her arms; his life ebbing away. This was the first time she'd been warm since the headlights, pain and cold had taken her away.
He'd been one of her killers. She grinned in anticipation. There were three more to go.
155 words
@tollykit
Competition is closed