So, this happened:
(in which I tweet a slightly strange sentence because I am tired and on a train; one Twitter user suggests it could make a good opening to a short story; I take the ball and run with it, challenging him and one other nearby Twitter user to a short story writing competition in which short means really short; the challenge is set).
In response to that original, hasty, bleary-eyed tweet (through a haze of travel-induced exhaustion), I was sent two entries. They are below:
Story 1 (@MarkSTaylor) - posted on Mark's blog
The man opposite is drinking coffee. I don’t like the smell, but at least it’s not booze. Booze might set me off, the way cigarette smoke did after I quit smoking. Everything except temptation…
Coffee isn’t black enough to tempt. It’s desire without the spice of wrong. I haul the smell into my nostrils and consider how I’ll complain about it later. I’ll need something more: a cuppa on a train isn’t even a tutting offence. Maybe he tipped it down my trousers - but you’d see the stain, wouldn’t you? My hand, then. I can play up the scald all day. Even better.
The man opposite is necking crisps. He doesn’t seem to care.
I wish I didn’t.
Story 2 (@Chris_Taylor13) - by email
The man opposite is drinking coffee. I don't like the smell, but at least it's not booze. Booze would make him drool uncontrollably, and alien drool is both slimy and smelly; people also say it's corrosive.
I look at his eyes, what there is of them. Since the iris is part of his skin, the whole eye has shrunk to a pinprick. That's what caffeine does. Next to him, his wife sits, her mouth formed into a tight “o” - her equivalent of an apologetic smile. I'm trying to look friendly but she can tell I'm disgusted by them.
Her husband speaks. It's an effort for him to form human sounds.
“Racist scum!” he hisses.
And the winner is…
Since I'm a sucker for sci-fi, and while Story 1 is nicely written, it doesn't quite go anywhere while Story 2 sends you off in a direction you can use your imagination to proceed further in. The award goes to @Chris_Taylor13, and while it's not an actual physical award, the smugness will be felt for miles around.
And so, in the interest of things happening on a regular basis, I'll be launching another Steckles Award for Extremely Short Fiction, using a tweet of my choice (since Chris technically chose the first one), and will announce it here and on my twitter feed (@stecks). Rules are below.
The Rules
- The story must be 140 words (yes, the initial competition was 100 words, but 140 is more Twittery) and start with the chosen tweet (the tweet is not included in the word count)
- Entries must be received within one week of the announcement of the competition, by email, link to your own blog, or Twitlonger.
- The winner of each competition elects the tweet which forms the basis of the next competition (if the tweet they choose contains a hyperlink or hashtag, that will be ignored and the remainder of the tweet will constitute the opening sentence)
- I will post all entries here on my blog at the end of each competition, as well as a short critique and announcement of the winner
- All participants should take the whole thing extremely seriously at all times
- I will be strict about word limits.
