Flash Fiction – 5th Ed.
Obviously this business of moving and job changing has impacted my blogging. Don’t ask what it’s done to my writing, since that’s basically not happening right now. This post is an attempt to restart the creative process a bit. A selfie boot in the ass, if you will.
If you want to join in the Flash Madness, go to Rochelle’s Purple Blog and follow the rules.
Concept: a weekly picture is posted, and the writer is challenged to produce one-hundred (more or less) words of some sort of fiction with a full plotline (beginning, middle and end). Here is my fifth installment:
JOURNEY
A poke at the burning hunks of hardwood sent a cloud of firefly embers into the jet night sky. They swirled and died in a counterpoint to the distant, winking stars.
“Watch those grim thoughts,” I thought, “This is no time for cold feet.”
Tomorrow the shuttle would deliver me to the ship. Later, the torch would ignite. I considered the ancient days of sailing ships and the colonists who rode them. A twenty-year journey across the sea of night. The warmth of another star’s light.
“How like them am I?” I wondered.
(93 words)
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Critique and general abuse are welcome. Use the comment button and share your thoughts.
September 5, 2014 at 07:32
Powerful piece. Well done.
September 5, 2014 at 08:05
Thanks, Shandra.
September 5, 2014 at 07:33
Interesting story inspired by a captivating picture.
September 5, 2014 at 08:05
Non-sequitur, but my head’s always in space.
September 5, 2014 at 23:09
I get it. I wish I could find a way to get to space. Unfortunately, a fire like that would most likely never be seen again. I like your story.
September 6, 2014 at 08:16
Ha! Thanks, Jaded.
September 5, 2014 at 07:46
I like it, Rants. You write fiction well.
September 5, 2014 at 08:06
Thanks, TD. You do well yourself, you know. Rock on!
September 5, 2014 at 08:12
Thank you kindly, sir. \m/
September 5, 2014 at 08:14
\m/
September 5, 2014 at 07:49
Restart my ass, you dove right in. “A twenty-year journey across the sea of night. The warmth of another star’s light.” Fuck you for that awesomeness.
September 5, 2014 at 08:07
You wield compliments like a 2×4. You’re welcome.
September 5, 2014 at 08:56
Take it from a sic-fi fan, near perfection.
I was brought back : Heinlein, Silverberg, The Stardust Voyages etc
Not Asimov though, apart for “Put Knob A in hole B”, he never wrote anything so succinct save limericks.
Great going, Tay.
September 5, 2014 at 09:12
You can’t pay a much better compliment to a hopeful Sci Fi writer.
September 5, 2014 at 10:33
I have often wondered what anxieties churned in the stomachs of explorers heading off into the unknown. Great story, BR.
September 5, 2014 at 10:35
Thank you! I hope I got close to what they feel.
September 5, 2014 at 10:54
enjoyed reading this so much. very lovely.
September 5, 2014 at 12:28
Thank you!
September 5, 2014 at 13:21
Wow! 20 years journey into the Space…, I don’t think I could do it.
September 5, 2014 at 13:31
True, but think of the possibilities.
September 6, 2014 at 00:31
This is very good Rants! With so few words you share the vastness of a starlit sky as well as the vastness of space!
September 6, 2014 at 08:16
Exactly what I was trying for.
September 6, 2014 at 17:19
Twenty years, no wonder he’s thinking so much. I like that he’s thinking about the stars somewhere else. A reflective piece. It’s like you never left at all, man. Well done!
September 7, 2014 at 08:15
Thanks, Amy!
September 7, 2014 at 03:48
Dear BR,
I felt his apprehension. A long journey indeed. Nicely done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
September 7, 2014 at 08:16
Thanks, Rochelle.
September 7, 2014 at 12:38
More please! Loving the ‘Counterpoint … to the stars…’ woah, great stuff!
September 7, 2014 at 19:21
Sweet! I’m working it!
September 7, 2014 at 14:51
This is like travelling on many level .. in time, in mind, and potentially away.. yes I like this a lot.
September 7, 2014 at 19:22
Thank you, Bjorn, I appreciate it.
September 7, 2014 at 18:44
So that’s how it’s supposed to be done! You set a fine example.
September 7, 2014 at 19:23
Thanks, Archon. You do quite well you damn self, dude.
September 8, 2014 at 07:11
BR, I would imagine that every voyager to far places thinks thoughts something like this. You put yourself, and us, into his mind perfectly. Well written. 🙂 —Susan
September 8, 2014 at 08:16
Awesome comment. Thanks, Susan.
September 8, 2014 at 15:00
I love this! I can feel his or her anxiety. It takes a brave person to commit to twenty years in space. You didn’t say if it was a man or a woman, and while most seem to think it is a man, I’m picturing a woman. But, I could be wrong.
September 8, 2014 at 19:58
Does it matter? Yes, I left it unstated intentionally.
September 9, 2014 at 01:39
Dear BrainRants, You are a Science Fiction Writer in my opinion, as good as it can get. Very insightful – I feel like I was there with him or her. So good – excellent writing!
Nan 🙂
September 9, 2014 at 03:29
Thank you, Nan!
September 9, 2014 at 19:46
Delightful piece. The fear and magnetism of the unknown well stated.
September 10, 2014 at 03:28
Thank you, Alicia!
September 11, 2014 at 10:14
You are definitely in your wheelhouse here. I loved how you played words off each other, and how each thought foretold the next. Very nicely done, Rants. Heinlein and Asimov are in good company.
September 11, 2014 at 12:09
Not too bad yourself there, H.E., based on what I’ve read. Thank you!
September 12, 2014 at 00:26
I Like this so much, a very poignant piece.
September 12, 2014 at 04:26
Thank you!