Guest Storyteller – Kelsey G. (via Fictional Campfire)

I have a guest storyteller over at the Fictional Campfire today!

I am very proud to present my first guest storyteller here at the Campfire. Of course, I’m also proud because she is my niece. Because Kelsey loves to write stories so much, I knew that I had to ask her if she would like to write one for the “Fictional Campfire”, so I did that yesterday. In the true spirit of flash fiction, Kelsey immediately grabbed pen and paper and got to work. Soon afterwards, she returned to where the “big” kids were talking … Read More

via Fictional Campfire

Stories, Stories, Stories.

Over the past few weeks I have read quite a few really great pieces of short fiction. Back at the beginning of April, Haley Whitehall offered her readers a Flash Fiction Challenge. This really got the ball rolling for me writing wise. What is Flash Fiction you ask? First you take a prompt like “It was a dark and stormy night” and challenge writers to produce a short story of a set length.

The result has been some of the most fun, twisted, surprising, clever, shocking pieces of fiction that I have read. Currently I have taken part in 3 challenges so far (include my own) this month. It gets a bit hard to find all the stories, so I figured that I would dig them all out and put them in one post. Keep in mind that this is not all the stories out there (there are so many) just some of the ones that I enjoyed.

Haley Whitehall’s April Flash Fiction Challenge – rules as follows; You must start your story with the sentence:”She had been warned, but now it was too late.” The story must be 500 words or less. Challenge ends May 1st.

• “The Well” by Selena Wolff
• “She had been warned, but now it was too late…” by Sandra Bell Kirchman
• “Message Waiting…” by me from Other Side Of 40
• “There is no place like home” by Billie Jo Woods
• “To love and to cherish” by badluckfairy
• “She Had Been Warned” by Mike
•  Untitled by Michael Pallante
• “Glitched” by Elle Rohan
• “Double Spaz” by Pia Newman
• “The Gun on the Desk” by me from Fictional Campfire
• “213 (A Story)” by Sonia G Medeiros

Other Side Of 40 Flash Fiction Challenge – rules as follows; Must start with the sentence “I cared what she thought, so when she dared me I knew I was in trouble”. Story must be 500 words or less. Challenge ends May 1st.

• “Fly” by me from Fictional Campfire
• “Dare to Live” by Haley Whitehall
• Untitled by Selena Wolff

A second Challenge from Haley Whitehall  Write a Historical Flash Fiction Story – rules as follows; create a piece of Historical Fiction of a length of your choosing.

• “Flax” by Knittingknots
• “Journey by Train” by Billie Jo Woods
• “Barrage” by me from Fictional Campfire
• “A Demise of my Own Doing” by Yikici

I hope that you take some time to read these wonderful stories. I can tell you that they are well worth the time to do so! To all the above writers, thank you for crafting such wonderful tales!

Photo “287.365” by rbbaird (Flickr)

Fictional Campfire

I’m pleased to announce the creation of “Fictional Campfire“. This brand new blog will offer me a place to work on my fiction writing skills without worrying about how it fits with the “Other Side of 40” theme. I hope that you can drop by and maybe pull up a camp chair. The fire is burning, and the stories are just about to start.

Now Hear This !

Photo by kpweker (Flickr)

Don’t blame me OK! This is totally not my doing. When you find yourself muttering under your breath when you edit your story for the 50th time “Why did he challenge me?” please remember its all Haley’s fault!

She dared me to issue my own Flash Fiction Challenge. Thinking about it now, I’m pretty sure she said “I double dog dare you! ” and according to the “Rules” I now have to do it.

So here goes –

I formally Issue this Writing Challenge!

Create one fictional story of 500 words that starts with the sentence “I cared what she thought, so when she dared me I knew I was in trouble.”. Challenge ends May 1st.

I’ve read some super stories written for Flash Fiction challenges in the past few days, so please participate! As with Haley’s challenge, include a link to this post on your blog, and/or add a comment with a link to your flash story on this post.

Have fun and I look forward to reading some more stories!

Message Waiting…

Its been a while since I let my creative side loose. This story is my response to Haley Whitehall’s Flash Fiction Challenge . Haley from Soldiering Through the Writing World who has been a guest blogger on the Other Side of 40 before, has thrown down the gauntlet with the following challenge. Write a 500 word story (before you count, I used all 500) that must start with the sentence – “She had been warned, but now it was too late.” Below you will find my offering.

(Haley, thanks for the much-needed kick in the creative pants.)

She had been warned, but now it was too late! The text messages were all the proof needed. Alone on the rain-soaked front porch of the house she stood frozen, trapped between fight or flight. Staring at the doorknob and fiddling with the keys, Sara replayed the events of the last half hour over in her mind. It was a nightmare come to life.

It had been a good day at work, and she had felt quite pleased with herself that nobody had figured out her “little secret”. Smiling, she had shut down her computer when her cell phone alerted her to an incoming message. Checking the ID she didn’t recognize the number, so she opened the text. “I know” was all it said. A cold shiver ran down her spine. She snapped the phone shut and quickly looked around. Not a soul in sight. She took a deep breath and flicked off the desk light.

By the time she exited the elevator, she had convinced herself that it had been a wrong number and was nothing to worry about. Shoes clicking on the foyer floor, she walked past the guard at the security desk.

“Night Sara” he said as she came along side the counter, “any big plans tonight?”

“Nope Dave” was her answer “just a nice quiet night. See’ya.”

The guard smiled as she left the building, then picked up his cell phone. She was unlocking her car when the text alert sounded again. The ID was the same number, and this time the message said “I’m waiting”. This can’t be happening she thought. Quickly she got into the car as she scanned the parking lot. No one was visible. Frightened she jammed the car into gear and speed off towards home.

Her breathing had slowed down by the time she had pulled into the driveway. She was resting with her head on the wheel when the phone chirped a third time. The same number, and this time the text said “soon”. No this wasn’t real, this happened to other people not her! Looking at the street she saw nobody around, so she bolted from the car to the front door where she stopped.

Finally Sara thrust the keys into lock, and pushed the door open into the waiting darkness. Her hand found the light switch, but it didn’t work. Slowly she edged down the hallway towards the kitchen. From the darkness of the living room she heard a bump followed by a low curse.

“Hello, is there someone there?” she challenged, as fear twisted in her chest.

Suddenly the lights blazed on revealing her friends and co-workers.

“Surprise! Happy birthday Sara!” they shouted.

Sara screamed and fainted.

A few hours later as the sounds of laughter spilled from the house, no one noticed the man dressed in a security guard uniform standing in the backyard shadows. He opened his phone to check the clock. Oh well he thought, I have time and besides, she had been warned.

Photos: (Top left) “Street” by jijis (Flickr), (Bottom right) “Stormy Night” by Christina Welsh (Flickr)