Welcome to the twenty-sixth in the series: 5pm Fiction.
Late April 2011 I discovered http://StoryADay.org and the project that is to write 31 stories in 31 days. Anyone who knows me or follows this blog, knows how passionate I am about short stories so my clichéd eyes lit up at this new marvel. And just a few days later there I was, breathing life into new characters. This went on to become (with some editing of course) my 31-story collection eBook Story A Day May 2011.
I was nearing completion of the 2012 project when I decided that I didn’t want to stop at the end of May so 5PM Fiction was born. I put a load of prompts on the 5PM Fiction page and today’s was to write a story containing the following keywords: nose, arm, elbow, hospital, tune… so here is my 227-worder.
Thinking big
“Nose or arm?”
“What?”
“Which do you want? Broken nose or broken arm.”
“Are you mad?”
“You know the answer to that.”
“Neither. What the…?”
“We’ve got to get inside the hospital somehow.”
“Visit someone then… or pretend to. You can get lost in there for hours.”
“We don’t want to get lost, Mick, we need to see a doctor.”
“Then go to see yours.”
“No good, not enough drugs.”
“Is that what this is about, living up to Frankie’s vision of you?”
“No, I want bigger than that.”
“No-one’s bigger than Frankie, Harry.”
“I will be.”
“Start small, Harry. You know he doesn’t like competition.”
“I won’t be competition. We’ll be partners… don’t laugh.”
“Frankie’s got form, knows people. He’s not afraid of anyone.”
“Nor am I, Mick, which is why I need this plan. You play tennis don’t you?”
“Tennis? Sometimes. Why?”
“Tennis elbow’s a complaint, isn’t it.”
“Not one that needs treatment that badly. A GP is usually…”
“No time for that.”
“There must be another way. Get someone on the inside… bribe a nurse or something.”
“Now you’re singing my tune… just one problem.”
“What?”
“Cash-flow.”
“Harry! What happened to…?”
“Leoni, Candy and…”
“Sherice.”
“Yep.”
“All that gone in one night?”
“They have expensive taste.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“What are you looking at me like that for? Harry…. No… Leave my arm… Harry, no!”
***
Photography courtesy of morguefile.com. You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything… and follow me on Twitter where each new posting is automatically announced. You can also read / download my eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords, Sony Reader Store, Barnes & Noble, iTunes Bookstore, Kobo and Amazon, with more to follow. I have a new forum, friend me on Facebook, like me on Facebook, connect with me on LinkedIn, find me on Tumblr, complete my website’s Contact me page or plain and simple, email me. I also now have a new blog creation service especially for, but not limited to, writers.
Unfortunately, as I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t review books but I have a feature called ‘Short Story Saturdays’ where I review stories of up to 2,500 words. Alternatively if you have a short story or self-contained novel extract / short chapter (ideally up to 1000 words) that you’d like critiqued and don’t mind me reading it / talking about and critiquing it (I send you the transcription afterwards so you can use the comments or ignore them) 
on my ‘Bailey’s Writing Tips’ podcast, then do email me. They are weekly episodes, usually released Monday mornings UK time, interweaving the recordings between the red pen sessions with the hints & tips episodes. I am now also looking for flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays and poetry for Post-weekend Poetry.
Michael Hogan
June 26, 2012 at 5:39 pm
Great work, Morgen. Concise, dramatic and chilling. You are an inspiration to us all. And it is not just your wonderful imagination, it is–equally important–your self-discipline.
morgenbailey
June 26, 2012 at 5:51 pm
High praise indeed, thank you Michael. Lovely to have you back here…
I ask every interviewee if they write every day and most were far more prolific than I. I needed something like NaNoWriMo or Story a Day to get me writing every day and I loved it so I didn’t want it to stop. I often only just make 5pm (or like today, was ten minutes late). If I was just writing for myself it probably wouldn’t happen but knowing it’s to go on my blog I find the time pretty easily (although why most are flash fiction).
Thanks again.
Morgen