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Results of Morgen’s 100-word competition: May 2017

Hello everyone. This month I received 31 entries from 16 authors. There was a mixture of amusing and entertaining but the ones I chose were, for me, the ones that summed up the prompt of ‘comic’.

Four were disqualified for only being 99 words (no obvious reason why) and sadly three were the only entries by those (new to this competition) authors. One should actually have been 98 as two words weren’t hyphened that should have been.

Every month, I say to check your word count (both via whichever document software you use and manually) and DO send in more than one entry because if you’re disqualified for your one and only story (or two and only) then you’ve missed out for the whole month.

One lost a point for having a ‘gong’ instead of a ‘going’*. That may sound tough but most, if not all, competitions will do this. It’s only fair to the other entrants. So please read, re-read, and read your stories again. *It’s a shame because that story particularly tickled me as it featured a character (even the same name) that featured in one of my novels.

The winning stories are ones that I reacted most favourably to. They were clever, surprising, eek-making (in a good way), or gave me a warm fuzzy feeling.

You may have chosen a different order or indeed not placed one or more of them so if you entered and didn’t find your story / stories here, don’t lose heart. You probably only just missed out (there were originally eight highly commended then I whittled down to the maximum three) so do enter new stories this month*, next month, whenever you like (but not in advance!). It’s an ongoing competition and free, so you could win at any time. There were new and familiar names this month so anyone could win… it’s all dependent upon whether your story grabs me, for whatever reason (whether it be clever, funny, unusual, quirky, or sweet).

A new recent feature… there are some ‘Honourable Mentions’. They don’t win anything but they were so close to being Highly Commended that I wanted them to know how close they came. It’s still something for them to put on their CVs.

*The theme for June is ‘German’ and you can submit your entries at any time up to midnight (UK time) on Friday 30^th June.

So without further ado, below are the successful entries this month:

Read the rest of this entry »

Flash Fiction Friday 191: 6-word stories batch 44

26 May

Welcome to Flash Fiction Friday and the one hundred and ninety-first piece in this series. This week’s is the forty-fourth bunch of 6-word stories by a variety of authors, together with their 6-word biographies!

6-word stories

by Asra Choudhury – thinker, feeler, aspiring writer

Whiskey, jazz, sleepless night; playing solo.
Fire, water, wind, earth – distant reality.
I played your rules to lose.
Profanity thus became the absolute endgame.
Epitaph: finally she found her home.
Crimson, could be blood or love.
Take my doppelganger – she collects souls.
You and I complete the yin-yang.
I kiss my prince, the frog.

by Carol Pryke – trying hard to write.

He went. He won. So good.
He loved and lost, then cried.
Storms, wind. Vast damage. Eventually calm.
Sunbathing, burning, swimming, cooling off, drowning.
Wedding dress. Driving too fast. Shroud.
Church. Vows. Speeding. Morgue. Shroud.
Slipping. Sliding. Submerging. Sinking. Sunk.
Father’s gun. Murdered spouse. Hangman’s noose.
Stealing sweets. Robbing banks. Prison cell.
Edit. Delete. Send. Rejection. Write.

by Chong Teck SIM – Singapore, Bookworm, Volunteer

Huge lighting flashes. Shaking in bed.
Walking cane. Uneven ground. Tense muscles.
Flu season. New strain. Packed hospitals.
First-time model. Jittery bugs. Runway mishap.
Precocious student. Multi lingual education. Sought after translator.
Male model. Aquamarine eyes. Screaming fans.
Charity event. Bad economy. Few donors.
A creeping shadow advances. Loud screams…
Failed automobile business. Drinking until morning.
Classical Chinese. Beginner’s level. Already confusing.

by Mark K – a writer? Trying hard.

Humpty Dumpty’s a really good egg.
Rolex TV, you gotta watch it.
Snap crack ’n’ pop. Osteopath fails.
Wanna break bones? Let’s get cracking.
Boomerangs’ return, and so will I.
He tumbled harder than Jericho’s walls.
Eyes sting? Don’t snort chilli… Fool.”
“Speak louder please, I have tinnitus.”
A priest will always cross you.
Is there anybody there? Yeah. A ghost.

by Peggy Schimmelman – writer, poet, dribbler, drabbler

He forgot his dirty laundry, witch.
Surprise sixtieth birthday party? Celebrate this.
Your wife died of boredom, sir.
Back it up next time, crybaby.
Sorry, honey. Stolen husbands aren’t returnable.

by Rehanna writes to silence internal chatter

Attempted a five-word story! Failed. Grr.
I came, I saw, I fled.
She sells seashells… he crushes them.
Their eyes met. Then slid apart.
Once, a Londoner spoke while commuting!
One, two, three, four – I forgot.
You think this is a story?
‘Once upon a time’, she began.
‘Drop the gun! Ow, my toe.’
A six-word restriction can inspire trepidation.

by Steve Lodge – writer specialising in gibberish

His sinister visitor wasn’t even odd.
She is learning a new language.
This is exactly what it seems.
Draw me closer, nibble my ear.
Ice skating makes my teeth itch.
Let me caress your gorgeous shoulders.
Let me look into your eyes.
I would rather not eat courgettes.
Bad planning never made life easy.
Several hours later, he made toast.

and then three from yours truly… Morgen Bailey, Morgen With an E

Country House Rescue. Epitome of Britain.
Underrated medium. Lost weight. Became small.
Shooting. TV documentary? No, murder.

Thank you, everyone.

If you’d like to submit your 6-worders (up to ten per blog post, although you can send as many as you like and I’ll either pick the best ones or if I like most / all of them, schedule ahead) and / or 500-word max. stories for consideration for Flash Fiction Friday take a look here.

Results of Morgen’s 100-word competition: April 2017

14 May

Hello everyone. This month I received 39 entries from 20 authors, some funny, some sad, and as you’ll see, I’ve picked a variety.

One was disqualified for being 99 words (with no obvious reason why, i.e. no added punctuation that didn’t count as a word) which was a shame, especially as it was submitted on 1st April! Fortunately the author had submitted two other stories. However one of those had an extra ‘to’ in it so deleting that took the story down to 99 words. A story by another multi-entrant was effectively 99 as it had an extra ‘the’ in it. Again a great story but again, two others to choose from.

Another (from a newbie) had a rogue ‘said’ so removing it took the story down to 99 words. Sadly, it was the only story from that author, although I did receive two revised versions of the same story which, as per the rules, I didn’t accept. Another 99-worder was so because it had a row of asterisks which don’t count as a word (as per the rules) and although from a regular entrant, it was their only one this month so their opportunity ended there.

Finally another story was disqualified for having no (apparent) relevance to the theme of ‘fool’.

PLEASE read and re-read your stories before submitting them. This also shows the importance of sending in three stories.

Another was disqualified for being two words over… because the words were connected with ellipses (…) so when separated, pushed the word count over (see the rules on this matter) which was a real shame because it was a really clever story (Beatles themed – I’m a big fan!). Fortunately, again, the author had sent two other stories, both on the word count. Yay.

The winning stories are ones that I reacted most favourably to. They were clever, surprising, eek-making (in a good way), or gave me a warm fuzzy feeling. You may have chosen a different order or indeed not placed one or more of them so if you entered and didn’t find your story / stories here, don’t lose heart. You probably only just missed out (there were originally eight highly commended then I whittled down to the maximum three) so do enter new stories this month*, next month, whenever you like. It’s an ongoing competition and free, so you could win at any time. There were new and familiar names this month so anyone could win… it’s all dependent upon whether your story grabs me, for whatever reason (whether it be clever, funny, unusual, quirky, or sweet).

For the first time ever, and I may well do this again, there are some ‘Honorable Mentions’. They don’t win anything but they were so close to being Highly Commended that I wanted them to know how close they came. It’s still something for them to put on their CVs.

*The theme for May is ‘comic’, which doesn’t just have to be about humour – there is more than one meaning of a word – and you can submit your entries (do send three!) at any time up to midnight (UK time) on Wednesday 31st May.

So without further ado, below are the successful entries this month.

First place (winning free access to three of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £60 / $60) or a free edit and critique of up to 2,000 words (worth £14 / $18):

Ash Nazir with ‘Master of Disguise’

The Job Centre adviser stared at the claimant. “Why the long face?”
“Little mishap,” Bottom said. “With a feisty fairy. Turned my head into a donkey’s. Will it affect my benefits?”
“As long as you’re available for work. What can you offer an employer?”
He smiled, showing his goofy teeth. “Laughter and fun. I was a Fool for Queen Titania and King Oberon.”
“Why did you leave?”
“Short contract. Only for midsummer.”
The adviser perused the form. “How will you fit into an office environment?”
“Like this.” Bottom stuck a moustache on his snout and put on some glasses. “Ta-da!”

Second place (winning free access to two of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £40 / $40) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,500 words (worth £11 / $14):

Paul Isaac with ‘Not Okay’

Caught adrift in a supermarket aisle, grief, pure and simple, washed through me like a wave. I hastily concocted cover and dropped some canned food onto my foot.
‘These damned hands!’ I said, forcing a smile through freshly salted cheeks. ‘Help me pick these up will you?’
‘No.’ My son’s eyes were smouldering. ‘You’re not hurt. You’re crying. Again. You’re not fooling anyone,’ he sighed. ‘Just admit it.’
‘I’m-‘
Ten years young and freshly motherless, it should be me keeping him afloat. An approaching sea of faces whispered their symphony of sympathy.
‘I’m…’
Worse. They circled with concern.
‘I’m fine.’

Joint third place (winning free access to one of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9):

Carol Pryke with ‘Dinner Four Too’

Zak perused his handiwork. He was pleased Chef had let him loose on menu preparation.
Starters: Crawn Poptail. Carrot Sloop. Pish Flatter.
Main course: Chigh and pips. Gammon and pony apple. Post rork.
Sweat course: Strawberry pool. Cares and mustard. Clueberries and bream. Janana and Belly.
“Oh, what a choice,” he mused. “Hey, Boss, done the menu.”
“Sure ya spelt it right today, Zak? ‘Old beef and salad’ yesterday was not very appetising. Nor was ‘Scrumbled Oggs’.”
Grabbing the screwed-up paper, Chef waved his ladle about. “Fool. Haven’t you learned anything? It should be gammon and pineapple, NOT pony apple.”

Laura Besley with ‘Farewell’

‘Angela?’ I lean over the partition.
She blinks once before looking up from her computer. ‘Hi, Derek.’
‘I’m leaving.’
‘Oh, right. See you on Monday.’
‘No, I’ve got a new job. I won’t be back.’
She blinks three times. ‘But?’
‘But?’
‘But you can’t.’
‘I can’t? What do you mean?’ My heart clacks as quickly as the keys on the computers around me.
‘Nothing. Ignore me. Good luck.’
‘Thank you. I… uh… no, nothing. Take care.’
She nods. ‘You too.’
I walk away, turning back only once, to see her blinking rapidly whilst looking out at the early evening sky.

Highly commended (winning my Entering Writing Competitions course worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9) – in alphabetical order:

Helen Jones with ‘Strawberry Fool’
M W Brown with ‘Phoneutria’
Sarah Treadwell with ‘Nobody’s Fool’

And new! Honorable mentions (not winning anything but only narrowly missing out and still looking good on their CV) – in alphabetical order:

Danielle Henderson with ‘A Brief Encounter’
Elizabeth Kearney with‘Joy Fool’
Jennie Gardner with ‘Knicker-bicker-glory’
Pamela Humphrey with ‘Just A Fool’
Sibbo with ‘The Takedown’

Congratulations, everyone. The entries for this month are already drifting in. Remember, you can send up to three per month so rather than miss out on a chance by sending one story, do submit more.

If you’ve enjoyed these stories and / or just want to leave a comment, please do so below and / or you can email me at morgen@morgenbailey.com., although I won’t (can’t) discuss forthcoming entries unless it’s a general query.

3 Comments

Posted by morgenbailey on May 14, 2017 in competitions, ideas, short stories, writing

Tags: Ash Nazir, Carol Pryke, creative writing, Danielle Henderson, David A Jones, drabble, Elizabeth Kearney, Ernest Hemmingway, flash fiction, Flash Fiction Fridays, free 100-word competition, free competition, free copy editing, free copyediting, free editing, free short stories, free writing competition, Helen Jones, Jennie Gardner, Laura Besley, literature, M W Brown, micro fiction, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, MW Brown, novelist, Pamela Humphrey, Paul Isaac, Sarah Treadwell, short stories, short story, short story podcast, Sibbo, story author, story authors, twitter fiction, writer, writing, writing advice, writing tips

Results of Morgen’s 100-word competition: March 2017

14 Apr

Hello everyone. This month I received 42 entries from 26 authors. An interesting mixture this time and several newbies to the competition. Welcome!

Two were disqualified for being too long: 102 and 101 word, although with the latter there was a ‘the’ missing so should have been 102) which was a shame as it was my favourite of three submitted from that author, a regular to this competition. The 102 was from the only entry from a newbie. PLEASE everyone, check your word count and do submit three stories to give yourself a better chance of getting through to the judging.

Three others were two words two short, and one, even with a hyphenated word, would have still been too short. Another was 97 words, although the 98 had a series of hyphens which doesn’t count as a word so was actually 97. Fortunately, again, both these authors had also submitted two other stories but it was a great one so a real shame. The other was had a two-word title so I’m guessing the author included the title. It was a first-time entrant.

Even more of a shame was one, the only submission by one of the new entrants, that had to be disqualified for being a word over the 100 words because the author had hyphenated two words that shouldn’t have been. Again, it was a brilliant story that didn’t make the competition as the author hadn’t because it was his only entry. Every month, I encourage you all to submit three stories and this just goes to show how you could miss out.

Another story was disqualified for being 99 words but contained a hyphenated word so could have been miscounted. Fortunately the author sent in another story which was the 100 words.

The winning stories are ones that I reacted most favourably to. They were clever, surprising, eek-making (in a good way), or gave me a warm fuzzy feeling. The entries were especially strong this month with many scoring 8/10, narrowly missing out.

You may have chosen a different order or indeed not placed one or more of them so if you entered and didn’t find your story / stories here, don’t lose heart. You probably only just missed out (there were originally eight highly commended then I whittled down to the maximum three) so do enter new stories this month*, next month, whenever you like. It’s an ongoing competition and free, so you could win at any time. There were new and familiar names this month so anyone could win… it’s all dependent upon whether your story grabs me, for whatever reason (whether it be clever, funny, unusual, quirky, or sweet).

*The theme for April is ‘fool’ and you can submit your entries at any time up to midnight (UK time) on Sunday 30^th April.

So without further ado, below are the successful entries this month.

First place (winning free access to three of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £60 / $60) or a free edit and critique of up to 2,000 words (worth £14 / $18):

Tony Rogers with ‘A Furry Friend for Many’

The girl flitted daintily through the rose garden to Norman’s pet enclosure.

“Hello, missy, back today then?” asked Norman. “You here to sketch my little rabbit again?”

Her pencil skittered across the drawing pad reproducing an uncanny likeness of the bunny.

“Yes, Mr Norman. He’s so pretty. What’s his name?”

“He’s got no name yet. What do you think, young lady?”

“I think he looks like… a Peter! He’ll be famous one day, just you mark my words.” With that she merrily danced away.

“Alright then,” called Norman, “whatever you say, Peter’s fine. But famous? Ha, Miss Potter… we’ll see.”

Second place (winning free access to two of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £40 / $40) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,500 words (worth £11 / $14):

N. Strickland Hawkins with ‘Escape’

Her salvation was in Norman’s bunny. Norman had loved it until it was in tatters – he had been able to love when he was a child. She knew she had to leave after he broke her jaw. The next time, he might kill her. How much was a bus ticket?

Every day, going through his pants pockets, a quarter there, a dollar there, praying he wouldn’t notice. Now she fingered the side seam of its body, put her thumbs inside, ripped it almost in half, sending a shower of coins onto the table. Was it enough? She began to count.

Third place (winning free access to one of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9):

Sue Borgersen with ‘Catching Swiftie’

Norman is a black greyhound. He lives with Polly, his woman. She watches videos of his previous life; racing in Florida.

“There gooooes Swiftie!” screams The Starter.

Norman flies, his muscles rippling. He chases Swiftie, the lure.

Norman never catches Swiftie, never wins. So he’s retired at two years old. A failure.

Polly is at Walmart. She spots the squeaky fluffy bunny in the pet toys.

“Here’s your very own Swiftie,” she tells Norman.

Norman rips and tears the stuffed brown bunny like a hound incensed, finishing with a big swallow of the squeak.

Written all over his face: success.

Highly commended (winning my Entering Writing Competitions course worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9) – in alphabetical order:

Michelle Perry with ‘Memories in the Attic’
Sarah Treadwell with ‘Norman’s Bunny No More’
Carol Pryke with ‘A Bunny Called Norman’

Congratulations, everyone. The entries for this month are already drifting in. Remember, you can send up to three per month so rather than miss out on a chance by sending one story, do submit more.

If you’ve enjoyed these stories and / or just want to leave a comment, please do so below and / or you can email me at morgen@morgenbailey.com, although I won’t (can’t) discuss forthcoming entries unless it’s a general query.

6 Comments

Posted by morgenbailey on April 14, 2017 in competitions, critique, ideas, short stories, submissions, writing

Tags: creative writing, David A Jones, drabble, Ernest Hemmingway, flash fiction, Flash Fiction Fridays, free 100-word competition, free competition, free copy editing, free copyediting, free editing, free short stories, free writing competition, literature, micro fiction, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, N. Strickland Hawkins, novelist, S.B. Borgersen, SB Borgersen, short stories, short story, short story podcast, story author, story authors, Tony Rogers, twitter fiction, writer, writing, writing advice, writing tips

Flash Fiction Friday 190: 6-word stories batch 43

31 Mar

Welcome to Flash Fiction Friday and the one hundred and ninetieth piece in this series. This week’s is the forty-third bunch of 6-word stories by a variety of authors, together with their 6-word biographies!

6-word stories
by Alyssa Drake, helping readers lose themselves

Forever yours; carved into forgotten trees.
Squealing, joyful peals of bubble-filled delight.

by Chong Teck SIM, Singapore, Bookworm, Volunteer

A single story with eight six-worders…

Badminton fanatic; musician wannabe: my brother.
His 21st birthday: a surprise waited.
Nervously, he introduced his beloved Lee.
Loud gasps resonated throughout the room.
Unperturbed, I congratulated the brave couple.
Breaking barrier, more wishes came forward.
Their eyes began to tear up.
A new love story was born.

by Jeanette O’Donnal, happiness guru, cryptic writer

United States President Trump impeached today.
New York weatherman flies west. Killed.
Kansas serial killer captured near victim.
Calculated guess proves accurate for mathematician.
Dead mermaid found beached in Florida.
Childless woman flees with sister’s baby.
Underground military base explodes in Huachuca.
Famous scientist incarcerated for criminal activity.
Ancient frozen woman thawed and lives!
Motherless child stabs sister, kills father.

by Laura Winkeslpecht, writer, poet, thinker, interested

Daughter texting; now she bikes everywhere.
Math test: gunshots equal classmates screaming.
Ultrasound appointment. Then trip to realtor.
High school dropout develops dishpan hands.

by Mark K – writer? Trying very hard…

with some Liverpool fax ‘facts’ (written and shared in jest, we really love the city and its people!)

Liverpool’s most popular boy’s name = Nick!
English translators needed in the Wirral
The Beatles scarpered! So did Cilla!
Sheffield = Steel industry: Liverpool = Steal industry
Liverpool’s building boom = much bigger jails.
Even fleas don’t stay in Liverpool

by Mayoli Mier – galaxy walking time traveler.

Caution: emotions fragile. Handle with care.
Love decided. Hearts collided. Wrong person.
Yearn for her. Think of me.
I can’t forget your soft lips.
Eyes closed, I jump. You cry.
Constantly complying can cause quicksand feet.
Do you remember me? No. (Yes..)

by Steve Lodge – genetically addicted to words…

Write me a sick note, Dad.
Tigers hide for a sinister reason.
Have you met Santa this year?
I’m slightly tired of old omelettes.
Search the Cave Of Golden Light.
I’m sure nothing costs that much.
Have you ever ridden a rhino?
That’s not even a real word.
What made you learn the ukelele?
Horrible dream I had last night.

by Terry Tripp – writer, artist, and teacher.

We’re all going to die. Tomorrow.
We made out. Now it’s over.
My childhood sandbox has cat poop.
Ghosts push me on the swing.
Thirty devoted years working. Now unemployable.
Still waiting for the one.
“I quit.” “I won’t.” “Kiss me.”
Not mine. I want it anyways.
We used to stay up late.
Santa, Easter Bunny, you… all real.

and then three from yours truly… Morgen Bailey, Morgen With an E

Penny Eleanor Lane. Avid Beatles fan.
Cat purring until he’s had enough.
Disliked LGBT until he finally realised…

Thank you, everyone.

2 Comments

Posted by morgenbailey on March 31, 2017 in ideas, short stories, writing

Tags: Chong Teck, Chong Teck SIM, creative writing, drabble, Ernest Hemmingway, flash fiction, Flash Fiction Fridays, Jeanette O'Donnal, Laura Winkeslpecht, literature, Mark K, Mayoli Mier, micro fiction, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, novelist, short stories, short story, short story podcast, Stephen Lodge, Steve Lodge, story author, story authors, Terry Tripp, twitter fiction, writer, writing, writing advice, writing tips

Results of Morgen’s 100-word competition: February 2017

10 Mar

Hello everyone. This month I received 25 entries from 17 authors. A tougher than usual month this time as five stories had scored the same so could have all been winners. Then six authors scored one point less so an equally difficult choice getting a Highly Commended listing (because two of the original five would have dropped down to Highly Commended, making eight to choose five HCs but in the end, I went with the stories who had the theme (classical music) at their heart rather than as an… <coughs> incidental extra (e.g. a mention or music playing in the background), and picked six Highly Commended rather than five.

Interestingly, another story (of three submitted by the same author) was in second-person point of view which I love – and my favourite pov to write in – but one of the other stories grabbed me more. Do have a go at this point of view (pov) as few people write it and therefore if you find a judge / publisher / an editor / who likes it, you could be more successful than an ‘ordinary’ pov story.

Back to the submissions, one was disqualified for only being 99 words. I was really hopeful as I read the stories but as I went through one, I noticed a rogue comma sitting on its own, detached from its previous word. Re-joining the pair, I recounted the story and it was now lacking its all-important hundredth word. It’s a real shame as it was a great story and from a new entrant (submitted on the morning of the final day). Please everyone, check, check, and double-check your stories. I know this is a free competition but you don’t want to pay for another competition and have your story disqualified unnecessarily. Sadly, the author only submitted one story so it immediately ruled her out of the competition. You can submit up to three per month (some entrants have sent two) so you may as well make the most of the opportunity. You still have the ones that aren’t successful to submit somewhere else (e.g. http://www.100wordstory.org/submit – they charge $2, http://oneadayuntilthedayidie.com, http://creativecompetitor.com/creative-writing-competitions/creative-writing-competitions-2017 – their 100-word story competition is closed for this year but that gives you loads of time to create more.)

The winning stories are ones that I reacted most favourably to. They were clever, surprising, eek-making (in a good way), or gave me a warm fuzzy feeling.

You may have chosen a different order or indeed not placed one or more of them so if you entered and didn’t find your story / stories here, don’t lose heart. You probably only just missed out (there were originally eight highly commended then I whittled down to the maximum five) so do enter new stories this month*, next month, whenever you like. It’s an ongoing competition and free, so you could win at any time. There were new and familiar names this month so anyone could win… it’s all dependent upon whether your story grabs me, for whatever reason (whether it be clever, funny, unusual, quirky, or sweet).

*The theme for March is ‘Norman’s bunny’ (that should be fun!) – used in any way you like – and you can submit your (three) entries at any time up to midnight (UK time) on Friday 31^st March.

So without further ado, below are the successful entries this month.

First place (winning free access to three of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £60 / $60) or a free edit and critique of up to 2,000 words (worth £14 / $18):

M W Brown with ‘The Orcusi’

Doris dropped the necklace into her granddaughter’s hand. Rebecca started to protest but Doris ignored her.
“This is yours now. I can’t take it with me. I can hear the Orcusi. It started a few days ago. First the flutes… then violins… and now the whole orchestra. The deathly music plays and I will be dead by morning. Your mother heard it too, just before her accident. It’s our family’s curse, or perhaps… it’s a blessing.”
While Rebecca remembered her mother’s final words that terrible day, she tried to ignore the haunting flute that was playing in her own head.

Second place (winning free access to two of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £40 / $40) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,500 words (worth £11 / $14):

ados123 with ‘The Concert’

The sound of the strings rolled in as a uniform wave while the percussion rattled like shifting stones. The woodwinds roared with full fury of a storm, desperate to be heard and the brass tugged like a tidal rip. The violins rose in white tipped crests, rising and falling in bursts of sound. He was swept along as the music washed over him, luring him in, deeper and deeper until he sunk down into the depths, lost to its sounds forever.

When the orchestra finished his lifeless body was found under the seating at the front of the concert hall.

Third place (winning free access to one of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9):

Kay Shacklock with ‘When the Tympani Enters’

The concerto, as in life, is a chain of moments. If you know music, you will know this moment.

Both hands had eloped, free of the orchestra’s yoke, to gambol along the keyboard in a stormy cadenza. But the celebration of defiance and passion is soon spent, leaving only a lingering trill that yearns for home.

Boom, boom-Boom, boom-Boom emerges from a soft womb of resurrected strings. Gentle but insistent, like a new-born’s heartbeat. Of all things, it is a simple drum that sings the lullaby of fate.

Beethoven was deaf but that was a lie. He could hear everything.

Highly commended (winning my Entering Writing Competitions course worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9) – in alphabetical order:

Alyson Faye with ‘Requiem’
Andy Morfett with ‘Conductor’
Ash Nazir with ‘Alarm Call’
David A Jones with ‘Oh No, Not Classical Music’
Kathryn McFadden with ‘A to F in One Easy Step’
S.B. Borgersen with ‘Für Elise’

Congratulations, everyone. The entries for this month are already drifting in. Remember, you can send up to three per month so rather than miss out on a chance by sending one story, do submit more.

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Posted by morgenbailey on March 10, 2017 in competitions, ideas, short stories, writing

Tags: Alyson Faye, Andy Morfett, Ash Nazir, creative writing, David A Jones, drabble, Ernest Hemmingway, flash fiction, Flash Fiction Fridays, free 100-word competition, free competition, free copy editing, free copyediting, free editing, free short stories, free writing competition, Kathryn McFadded, Kay Shacklock, literature, M W Brown, micro fiction, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, novelist, S.B. Borgersen, SB Borgersen, short stories, short story, short story podcast, story author, story authors, twitter fiction, writer, writing, writing advice, writing tips

Flash Fiction Friday 188: 6-word stories batch no.42

24 Feb

Welcome to Flash Fiction Friday and the one hundred and eighty-eighth piece in this series. This week’s is the forty-second bunch of 6-word stories by a variety of authors, together with their 6-word biographies!

6-word stories

by Chong Teck SIM, Singapore, Bookworm, Volunteer