Write a diary of a boring person.** Countdown 06:18 (Damien has 15 hours and 17 minutes left to live) I was supposed to be up at six. I jump out of bed, get dressed, and rush downstairs. There was a time when I hated running and now I can’t live without it. I love the feeling of the cool air
Read moreThe brief of the AWC Furious Fiction—January 2020 short story competition was as follows: Your story must include a COUNTDOWN of some kind. Your story must include a character who SHARES A SECRET. Your story must include the word SERENDIPITY. I actually submitted this for the competition, I didn’t win nor was I shortlisted. *** Countdown 06:18 (Damien has 15
Read moreBye now, Camille, take care of yourself.** Farewell Christmas is definitely in the air. Jingle bells are hanging up around the office, everyone’s looking forward to their holidays, staff members are leaving the company, and the end of year sausage sizzle is on, and really is the only reason why people have stuck around this afternoon. “Bye now, Camille, take
Read moreThe brief of the AWC Furious Fiction—December 2019 short story competition was as follows: Each story had to include SOMETHING EITHER BEING SENT OR RECEIVED IN THE MAIL. Each story had to include the following words: JINGLE, CLICK, BUMP, SIZZLE (plurals or -ing variants are allowed). Each story’s final sentence had to contain exactly THREE words. *** Farewell Christmas is definitely
Read moreThings that go bump in the night.** Midnight Deal There were 11 beneficiaries in the will. I wanted to be the only one, but I couldn’t pull off a change of will by myself, so I’d have to cut a deal with another beneficiary. Ed was always my favourite cousin, and I, his. I knew we’d be able to cut
Read moreThe brief of the AWC Furious Fiction—November 2019 short story competition was as follows: Each story had to include YOUR INTERPRETATION of ALL FIVE of the below emojis, in any order. Each story’s first word had to BE AN ANAGRAM of its final word(s) (repeating the same word wasn’t allowed). Each story had to include the phrase: THERE WERE 11
Read moreBorn to laugh at tornadoes.** A Witch, A Cupid & A Valentine’s Day Arrangement I’m not sure whether to love or hate Valentine’s Day. I use to love it when I was young, before I started living the life I have now and when I was more optimistic about love. I’m no man-hating cynic, but after a failed marriage and
Read moreThe brief of the AWC Furious Fiction—October 2019 short story competition was as follows: Each story had to take place in a LIBRARY or BOOKSTORE Each story had to include AT LEAST SIX of the following 20 words– each taken from the openings of the previous 20 Furious Fiction winning stories: BROKEN; MUSIC; AROUND; MECHANICAL; SMELT; GRUBBY; GAME; COFFEE; BEIGE;
Read moreWrite a story in which the first part describes a life as it then was, the second part describes a life as it now is.** Shaker Salt. Otherwise known as sodium or sodium chloride, it has always been my favourite type of seasoning. I would add it to every meal I’d eat. But I discovered at my recent physical that
Read moreThe brief of the AWC Furious Fiction—September 2019 short story competition was as follows: Each story had to include the name of at least ONE element from the periodic table. Each story’s first and last words had to begin with S. Each story had to contain the words TRAFFIC, JOWLS and HIDDEN. And finally, each story had to include something that BUZZES. *** Shaker
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