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Wednesday, March 28, 2012

100 Words: Flash Fiction

There are several definitions of flash fiction. Some forms are really strict in word count. Stories can be comprised of as few as 55 words to as many as 1,000 words. But regardless, it's essentially a short story with some kind of plot. The flash fiction I've read raises more questions about the characters than it answers, but it's a really cool form of storytelling. This is my first attempt - it is bad, sorry - so don't judge too harshly. I turned mine into a 100 word challenge and I'm using a character from a story I want to write at some point in the future.


Clouds


Clouds. His mother had loved clouds. She’d told him, when he was a round-faced little boy, four, with dirty feet and torn clothes, that clouds were sky ships, sailing through an ocean of blue just like the real ships plowed through blue, foamy seas. She’d pulled him up in her lap and told him the stories. Her apron had smelled like the thick, caked soap she used to wash clothes. But that had been before…and this was after. He was a man now and he had no mother, no memories, and he didn’t look at clouds. Daydreams were not allowed.

3 comments:

  1. That sounds very sad, to not have memories and day dreams. I loved looking at clouds and letting them become things like dragons and dinosaurs when I was young, and my children were young. How boring life would be without clouds and an imagination.

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  2. You have more talent in your pinky than I have in my entire body! Damn!!!!

    It does beg some questions and urges the want to know more. I normally favor and prefer EPIC.

    As for this boy/man.. Interesting. Sad. Makes me wonder what, more than mere maturing and aging, brought about the change.


    I too love clouds and finding hidden shapes. The various kinds and colors, some look like giant marshmallows, others forebode coming storms. I love the different paces they move with as well.

    Good job Chica!!!

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  3. I was a bit confused, at the no memories. Being this is past tense, and I got the feeling it was in his point-of-view, the begining was Infact a memory. Perhaps, it was being narrated but it felt personal.

    I do love it, though and my confusion and question is not made to be callus. I question because I care. LOL! I sound like Monster, Inc. "we scare because we care."

    Regardless, I could not do this fete. So, I guess my confusion is more questions raised.

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