Today’s Picture Prompt
Today’s Word Prompt!
The following may be used as a sentence in your story OR provide a basis for it:-
“iridescent flame”
Read on for the rules!
Rules!
- You may enter as soon as this post appears.
- Post entries in the comments – you may simultaneously display them on your personal blog etc but please show a link back to this competition post.
- Stories must be 150 words – margin of 5 words either side – AND based on the picture and written prompts.
- Entry titles do not count towards the word count.
- Only one entry per entrant.
- 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 usual 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 judge/s – 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.
The Judge
This week’s judge is…
That’s right. This week it’s me. Sorry to disappoint, but if you are interested in being a judge then please send me an email on the address supplied on my contact page.
How You Can Help
Give a +1 or a tumblr reblog or click the ‘tweet this’ link up on the right hand side or share from the facebook fan page or retweet from my twitter page to spread the word.
Or, even better, go on the #SatSunTails twitter search results and retweet other entrants.
The more people that hear about #SatSunTails, the more entries there are and the better the competition becomes!
So What Are You Waiting For?
Go on. Have a go!
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Maggie gazed upward into the heart of the iridescent flame burning as bright as her passion to escape.
But she wouldn’t leave yet, not without Tom by her side.
Out of worry she tore at the skin by her thumbnail with her teeth, then squeezed until a jewel of blood appeared. If Tom were here he would gently clasp her hand to stop her self-destruction.
Finally he emerged from the far side of the clearing; he was not alone.
“Maggie, get the axe!”
It weighed heavy in her hands as she watched the chase below play out in slow motion.
Tom reached the ladder, the huge bag strapped to his back made his climb unsteady.
Then one of the bandits pulled on the anchor rope, the balloon lurched.
Another jolt, Tom jumped into the basket; he uncurled her fingers from the axe.
With an almighty swing the cords were cut.
They were floating free.
@reravelling
(154 words)
Progress
Edison had always used his arcane powers for the betterment of others…to enhance, to improve, and to empower. If, along the way, his methods had sometimes been a bit…unconventional then so be it. He made no apologies if others must be exploited for the achievement of his objectives. Most recently, his experiments with incandescent light had required such sacrifices be made.
He had lured the naive explorers from their home dimension with vague promises of wonders to be shared and treasures to be gained. In point of fact, he had only desired two things from these beings – their peculiar conveyance, its canopy filled with the swirling iridescent flame, and the secrets of how they had harnessed and contained such a wondrous power source.
That they had remained defiantly reticent and singularly uncooperative to their very deaths had been an unfortunate setback indeed. Still and all, he mused, the puzzle now lacked fewer pieces to completion.
155 words @klingorengi
"It's a commemorative lamp."
I looked at the incandescent bulb, configured as a hot air balloon, chained to the ground, a rope ladder dangling down. "Commemorative of what?"
"The day my great grandfather died." He looked at the lamp. "He was the test pilot. One of the first test pilots."
"What happened?"
"It was the first attempt build and fly an armored balloon. They put a steel mesh around the balloon that emitted a flammable gas that encased the balloon and gondola in an iridescent flame, hot enough to melt anything shot at it. It worked in fifty unmanned flights." He sighed, "Great Grand-daddy was the first pilot. Unfortunately, it got struck by lightning and its own flames burned it. All that fell from the sky was ashes."
He shook his head,"The government erased the whole story from history, then made sure our family would always be taken care of."
150 Words
@LurchMunster
Do you believe in magic? Dad said it was a bunch of hooey, but Mama knew it was real.
“It’s not a matter of faith,” she told me. “It’s real because I can see it.”
We didn’t take anything on faith, especially not the promises from men in blue suits saying our landscape wouldn't change. Funny thing with men in blue suits. They smile when twisting the knife, and before you know it’s stuck in you, it’s too late.
Dad didn’t want to sell. He had no choice. So the back forty went to the company, leaving us with eighteen acres and enough to keep it running another ten years.
I prayed and prayed for help that night. Asked for a sign.
It came with an iridescent flame, orange, then yellow, then white hot, carrying the balloon across our land before crashing in an explosion right where the company setup.
Magic? I know it’s real.
@Leo_Godin – 155 words
Competition closed