“No time,” Charlie gasps. “I’m sorry.” and then the clawed arms shatter the window and plunge through his abdomen. Gore spraying from his wounds, he squeals, “Run baby!” and throws me his keys.
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Trifextra this week chose a challenge posed by community member MOV from Word Cut. She asks us to: “Write a horror story in 33 words, without the words blood, scream, died, death, knife, gun, or kill. Good luck.”
… Read the restAnn said, “Amtrak never gets anyplace on time.”
“For the fourth time, I’m sorry,” said Karl.
“Sorry!” Ann’s voice rose. “We’re in the middle of Nebraska, and the wedding starts in an hour. This is the worst gift you could have given me.” Karl didn’t answer, and Ann didn’t stop. “You’re so cheap!”
“What do you mean, cheap?” he protested. “This cost us twice as much as plane tickets.”
“And it’s taking four days instead of four hours! What a waste of money.” Ann pounded on the window.… Read the rest
Twice a week these days, I go through Kübler-Ross’s five stages, and it’s all because of Trifecta. I sit beside the computer like a junkie waiting for the new prompt on Monday and Friday, and denial hits as soon as I read it. I can’t write that. What do they even want?
Anger quickly follows. What the hell do they want? How am I supposed to finish this? There isn’t enough time. Why do I have so few words? Why this three obsession?
Then I start bargaining. OK, if I push all my other stuff back a day or two, that will clear Monday and Tuesday for drafts.… Read the rest
Over at this week’s Trifextra writing challenge, we are to complete in our own 33 words (the second part of the story below for me) the story the editors have begun with their 33 words (the first part of the story below for me)
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“There’s nothing cute about it,” he said. The register of his voice indicated decision more so than discussion.
She disagreed heartily and privately, staring past his head and out the window behind him.
She exclaimed, “They’re tiny! The child wouldn’t come without her familiar; the cat wouldn’t leave its kits; and I had only the demon box to hold them.”… Read the rest
James remembered another line and sang, “Juanita, my sweet torpedo…”
“Torpedo?” Sherry’s voice rose an octave. “Torpedo?” She collared James and forced him to sit down. “It’s chiquita” she hissed.
On James’ other side, a man said, “No, he’s right.… Read the rest
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After a day of spiders Thursday, including a quarter sized one in the house, prevented me from finishing my weekly Trifecta entry for the first time since I started participating in the challenge, I was really bummed. So. I’m making sure to get this Trifextra entry done in spite of the moaning over homework from a school absence (kid, you miss three days, you got work to catch up) going on in the kitchen and the clinging preschooler who wants for playing with in the office. … Read the rest
Chris asked, “Are the eggs safe?”
Trying not to disturb the silence, she nodded. Then, squinting into the grotto, Susannah gasped. “Oh look! They’re hatching!”
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This is my submission for this weekend’s Trifextra prompt, which asks us to submit a 33 word story with a justifiable exclamation point.
… Read the restBut she had to control that fear, because Demons at the Door’s success hinged on creating Sister Edmund as a plausibly faith conflicted nun. She disarmed Daniel and his pregnant wife Freda when they first begged for shelter, but at the climax herself shot the Nazi who stumbled onto the convent’s hidden Jews.
“I’m fine,” Aaron said, then offered, “I’ll wink when you cross left.… Read the rest
“Please,” he said.
Grinding her teeth, she growled, “This time only and then no more. This time only.”
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This weekend, Trifextra is asking us to finish the story launched by the words “The phone rang at 4am”. Not counting those four, we have 33 words to tell the whole tale.
… Read the restNick sang “Death chanced upon me in the hall.”
The women on either side of him echoed “ha-a-ll”.
Just outside the cubicle, the leader kept unnecessary time with the same hand he had used for the countdown, and Nick sang, “But I refused to fall.”… Read the rest