The night deepened. They were closing in on him. He could hear the hounds wailing just beyond the trees in the distance. The cacophony of the tracking dogs and horses trampling through the woods was putting him into a sheer state of panic. He was unable to rest or stop. His terror was growing by the minute. Planning for his escape had consumed his thoughts the last five years of his imprisonment. His immediate mission was to vanish into the vast Hinderlands of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Submitted in response to Rochelle Wisoff-Fields Friday Fictioneers
Looking at the neatly stored instruments Roland wondered how it got to this point. They were both from Bath in southwestern England. Both were best friends in school. They formed a successful band. Roland on keyboard and Curt on drums. They were one of the first of the successful synthesizer bands. That success lead to their entry into the world of Rock & Roll. Disagreement on the next direction the band should take lead to their decision to disband.
Curt had called last week and talked about reuniting the band. It wouldn’t be the same he realized. But, doesn’t everybody love a happy ending.
This is a flash fiction challenge where you will be provided with a new photo each week, and the first sentence of a story. Your challenge is to finish the story using 100-150 words, not including the sentence provided.
The team headed toward the island not sure what they would find when they arrived.
The invasion of Hanalei Bay had started at 0700 hours on November 3, 1961. The elite rescue team consisted of eight highly trained military personnel in four F470 Zodiac CRRC (Combat Ready Raiding Craft) rafts lead by Skipper Jonas Grumbly. Their mission was to rescue the five passengers of a private yacht named the “S.S. Minnow.” Aboard the yacht, under the witness protection program, was a Professor Xia Wong.
Professor Wong had spoken out about the Communist Party’s efforts to tighten controls on public discourse and squelch discussion of democratic values.
“I’ve got a visual on Professor Wong,” First Mate Krebs yelled over the loud sounds of the heavy waves.
“Describe the situation First Mate.”
“Well Sir, he’s sitting at a long dining table with three other guest and being served by two very attractive girls. And Sir, he’s waving at us.”
“Does he look distressed First Mate?”
“Actually Sir, he’s waving for us to go away!”
Every week on a Sunday, a new photo is used as a prompt for Flash Fiction challenge using around 200 words based on that image. Your story does not have to be exactly what the item in the photo is as long as there is at least a reference to it.
“Harold, that’s the fourth time you have hit the curb this trip. And we just left Heathrow and have another 120 Kilometers to go before we get to Bath.”
“I’ve never driven on the wrong side of the road before. I’m afraid if I cross the center line I’ll probably over correct. And that roundabout back there, that was something else. Pretty good idea for us Americans. If you can’t decide which road to take you just keep going around and around until you figure it out.”
“I have to hand it to you Harold, you really did a fantastic job in planning this trip. Fifteen days touring England, Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland. We are going to have a ball. It’s a lot to see in such a short time but I know we can do it.”
“Honey, it may take a little longer than we expected.”
“Why is that Harold?’
“See that traffic sign ahead?”
“Yes.”
“What does it say?
“Heathrow, 5 Kilometers.”
“I hate the English already!”
In this weeks Carpe Diem Haiku Kai Special challenge “Little Ones” we are asked to create an American Sentence. Created by Allen Ginsberg to make an “American” form of haiku, the sentence follows the same syllable count as a traditional haiku: 17. Written left to right vs vertically.
Inquisitive face, wagging tail, pleading their case, wishing beyond hope.
Here is my entry for the Weekly Writing Challenge. To find other responses to the challenge, click on the words in the previous sentence.
Haiku #1
headlights beam brakes scream
another found on road dead
sun begins new day
Haiku #2
wind howls west to east
way too close to run and hide
mother told me this
Haiku #3
ten kids were enough
hanged herself from a tree limb
fall leaves cover her
Criticism, as always, is more than welcome. Let me know what you liked and what you didn’t. I’m new to this genre so you can help me improve. The challenge is to write five Haiku’s this week. Here are my first three. Let’s see how close we agree on which is better, if any 8-).
DJ
DP Weekly Writing Challenge — Characters That Haunt You
Hornsey Library, London England
“I don’t see my book here, said Lionel.”
Jean, occupied in her own search for any reference material she could find on selling her own advertising business, failed to respond.
“I say, the selection of books in this section is quite limited but I see no reason not to have “My Life in Kenya” here.”
“Shut up Lionel. Since I last saw you 38 years ago, I married, had one child, suffered the death of my husband, and built a successful secretarial agency. Then you walked into my life again! You walked into my office looking for a typist for your damn book. I recognized you and realized my life was about to spin out of control. All I wanted for the rest of my life was to live by myself, be in good health, and hope I can sell this damn business.”
“When you left for Korea I sent you a letter baring my soul and telling you how much I love you. I never received a response so I assumed you had lost interest. And then you show up looking for a typist. Christ! Both my greatest fear and greatest hope happened when you walked in that door.
“Lionel you told me yourself that your and your wife divorced on the grounds of “mutual boredom” and to tell you the truth your boring me to death right now.”
“I say, said Lionel, do you think they would order some copies if I agreed to a signing?
Well at least they don’t have my end date yet! I’ll keep checking. But how do I tell you when they have my end date?
Inspiration provided by The Daily Prompt.
