Great story, I have not heard the song that inspired it but I will go look it up. I love the fight she has with herself over the razor blade, very real.
Oh noes, you have armed the criminals. Great read, and adds a lot of excitement to the mix. But, I personally believe that the chipmunks are good any time of the year.
I loved the classic remnant from the “dream” that still exists even after the fact. One day he will regret wanting to leave the Zen masters hideaway so quickly.
Great twist, really incredible use of wording too. The last line is a killer, “From the roof, baby!” , almost made me snicker despite the graveness of the suicide.
I managed to write something for this, had to fight my writer’s block through the whole thing though. Don’t think mines really macabre, but I did my best. Great challenge by the way!
Incredibly written, and really original. The twist didn’t really knock me off my feet though, since it seems like you sort of gave it away with the title.
I’m guessing your favorite show is Black Books? You hid the year born very well, I’m not 100% sure on it but I’m thinking it’s hidden in the number guessing part.
Getting intense, I love the switching points of view covering the action. It gives it such a greater feeling of action, and a wider view of the situation is neat too. Keep em coming, I love this series.
I think I’ve picked out a few of them. Awesome job hiding ‘Jennifer Government’ in as favorite book. Killeen or Bruce Lee are my guess for pet names, and Kristen equals friend?
@Ana Cristina: Weeds is my favorite show, good catch. @BernerOberland: Got the pet name right, and the year I was born as well. @Mistress Elsha Hawk: Got the favorite subject. @John Perkins: J-Pod is fantastic, the show based on it was pretty good as well. You got my favorite number, friends name, and sort of the city… it’s a different Bangor though. @Cidneylou: Got the nickname, though not really fair since you were there when it was given to me.
Thanks guys, I was really uncertain about this one so it’s awesome that you liked it. 8D @John Perkins: The line in question used to be _”...balanced on top of it was that…” but I had cut it down to fit the character limit. It was tough to make this one stay under for certain.
So… Karl has a sleeping disorder, is a veteran, owns an anemic rabbit, and performs magic tricks? When I am as old as him I certainly hope my resume of oddities includes things that incredible. His line at the end was extremely creepy though.
Ouch, I was a gas station attendant for a few weeks way back when. I must not of lasted long because I only meet one of those three described perimeters. Great story and another great sound effect with the ‘squelch’ at the start.
@Trifalmadorian_gameshowhost: Ha Ha, yeah well, when a cowboy dishonored his boss he didn’t have to commit suicide. @PyroPunk: Awesome alternate take on a historical event. Although the 10 years later seems like an awful long time to wait.
I was expecting some sort of butter related randomness, but the Spanish Inquisition… that came out of nowhere. Now I have to go find and watch that skit again, havn’t seen it in so long.
@Ana: I wasn’t happy with the block of text either, but I had reached the character limit. I have managed to move some things around and it is split up now.
I can absolutely relate to Prandi in this one. When I moved to Canada I went through a phase where I changed a lot about myself to try and fit in, and I went nuts over local history and such. My Grandparents would constantly tell me I was being ridiculous. Great entry!
That last line was great, you have a talent at describing things that happen without actually having to outright mention them. It’s as though you write around an action, if that makes sense?
Excellent choices, those stories were all incredible. I have some ideas for challenges, but judging is a pretty intimidating task so I’m probably going to leave those ideas for some sort of ficlet milestone.
I think maybe the reason why it seemed off to me is that the only contact I’ve had with military personal has been Canadian and British, but the snipers attitude does seem less obnoxious if I keep what you guys said in mind while reading it over again.
Great writing, as always, but for some reason when I read ‘Dead Bang’ I had pictured this Tom guy as being a stand out, calm headed, clear thinking and intelligent sniper scout. This turned him into a callous, impatient, and disrespectful grunt. Oh well. Favorite part was the second paragraph.
Well my curiosity got the better of me and I looked it up, for anyone that cares the song was used as a basis for a movie of the same name in 1988. Check it out… http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095930/
Excellent super hero scene, hilarious in it’s awesomeness. I wish I could tap in to whatever well of knowledge you pulled those rules and regulations from.
I think it’s done now… I had only planned on writing one entry but twenty or so minutes would pass and something would call me back to writing another one. I really suggest listening to the song if you have not heard it before. It’s The Crane Wife by The Decemberists and it is in 3 parts, so… go listen and hopefully enjoy it.
I have fished many books out from under my bed over the years, and I wonder if any of them ever felt like this. Really good writing, I … think I’m going to go look under my bed for books right now.
I honestly felt a little bad for him when I first read this. Getting your nose broken while experiencing a hangover in the early morning hours is not all that pleasant. He did have it coming though, certainly.
The song a 3-parter with the same title as the ficlet, by a group of neat people known as The Decemberists. I have a bit of an obscure musical taste, I guess…
This is great, I like how a stranger in the darkness is calling him ‘dude’ and trying to calm him down. I know if someone started talking to me from the darkness in a never ending plane of bamboo my fears would NOT be relieved at all.
Haha, good challenge. I think I actually know some unconventional zen folk, though they may border on being a little “too” unconventional to write about… hmmm
I think that the nature of the challenge makes it so that everyone reading knows a twist will eventually be coming, and so we’re looking for it. The biggest twist would be to make an entry with no twist at all. I liked this entry, got an inkling as to where it was going with the album as well.
I can understand how you couldn’t contain this to just 2 ficlets. I found the ending to be abrupt, but I think it needed to be for the last line to really be as powerful as it is. Good stuff.
To the students the teachers smile looks like a sneer, he’s assuming they are all ignorant and that he has the answers to all their questions… so his smile looks a bit derisive I guess
The intermingling of fantasy action with the role players dialog is neat. It’s been a good 6 years since I played a pen & paper session of anything, this made me want to get a group together…
“Fan-fucking-tastic.” was my favourite phrase for a long time. Seeing it here made me grin. I personally don’t understand the purpose of the push off and slide at the start, I just chalked it up to the character being a little jumpy and unstable.
I know a lady, works as a desk secretary, who honestly practices her facial expressions. But anyway, neat story so far and I like the detail of the smudge on the 35th floor button to highlight the dirtiness of the character.
Yeah, the number I was going for was 18 but only mentioned it outright once with the bottles of water. In total, if you take out things like decimal places and zero’s, theres 8 mentions of 18.
Great scene, for some reason houses with brick walls and iron gates have always scared me. I think you missed an ‘h’ in the third sentence, when the guard is lowering his head.
Oooh, and the first thing that came to my mind when I read “ebony queen” was an African transvestite… but that’s probably because I watched a Jerry Springer rerun earlier today.
I like this series, I like it a lot. Lot’s of brewing drama and great dialog, and characters that can be related to as well… which is a hard thing to do especially with more than 1 author writing them ,so… high five!
Excellent! I rewrote this comment 4 times because I was not happy with it. But seriously, really good capturing of a common occurrence, at least for me.
I read the whole thing, and I realize the seeds of mistrust were sown back during the melting soldier scene. Just trying to say that the written distrust of Jen makes me question her background just as much as the main character does. Great writing and I can’t wait to see where it all goes.
Yeah, the line felt really off to me as well, I couldn’t think of what to add to make it better… in retrospect maybe ”...to one of the forensic unit working inside.”
Never heard of Jennifer Government. By itself this really isn’t much, you are right. I see it as being more of a foundation for something more, maybe I’ll sequel it.
I did have a little fight with myself over how to reveal the nature of the school, and making it a casual mention instead of a surprise twist won out, but just barely.
I’m going to try my hand at this as well, though I’m not sure how well it’s going to turn out. Like Perkins said it’s going to be difficult to pull off with ficlets.
For some reason during the first read I imagined the legs as literally being ‘on fire’. I did not sleep well last night I guess. Well written, really gets the confusion the character it feeling across.
Very depressing atmosphere, gritty and real. If I hadn’t of been listening to happy music while reading it, I would probably have felt slightly frightened by the descriptions.
I had to look up what a ‘gilet’ was, which is awesome because that took me on a tangent of learning about clothing for almost an hour. Great scene, superb descriptions.
“that particular shade of black that really is just a lack of colour.”
The dialog is taken from the lyrics of songs that played, on shuffle, from my music library. I’ll give you a high five if you can name any of the songs…
“I have made it quite clear to myself that I’m intrested in finding out what makes you…tick…”
Struck me as being one of the creepier things anyone could ever say to anyone else. Laughed a bunch at some of the other lines he was sprouting though, especially…
“I’ve never had sex with a girl, a woman…or man, not that I want to have sex with a man, shit…”
The music I imagined while reading this was really quiet something… the way the phrasing is done seems to reflect the tune your musician is playing. Might just be me and my overactive imagination though, still… intense story.
Really neat premise, the ending develops some good foreboding feelings. If you’re a plane guy, I gotta say the ‘Snow Birds’ have always impressed me more than the Navy’s ‘Blue Angels’ though.
I can recall being in the position of having to make the switch from sitting to hovering over a stall toilet, and I gotta admit you captured and described the scene really well. Very nice.
Tepid exclamation of enjoyment followed by a quizzical statement, which leads into a respectful questioning of purpose. Ending with a phrase of parting, and an exclamation mark…!
I have an education in Radio Broadcasting, a career as a Musician, and an interest in Juggling. My grasp of standard English isn’t amazing, but I’m working on it.
The plan, right now, is to write at least one ficlet a day, while trying to vary the genre and style of the scenes I write as much as possible.
Although I like the idea of a series, the idea of a single moment being captured and abandoned is more exciting to me than laying down a connecting sequence of scenes… but I’m doing some sequels anyway!
I love feedback and comments, and I would love for you to add to scenes I’ve written if you should feel so led.
Thanks for your time.
LISTEN! Songs of the Week (June 22-28; 2008) Sunday – Cowboys by Counting Crows Monday – Misread by Kings of Convenience Tuesday – Sentimental Heart by She & Him Wednesday – Pity and Fear by Death Cab for Cutie Thursday – Hands Away by Interpol Friday – Saturday -
Favorite author
Alan Dean Foster, Anne-Marie MacDonald, William Gibson, Phillip K. Dick, Douglas Coupland, Carl Hiaasen
On Invisible [Sing-Song Challenge]:
posted 3 months ago
On Siren Song:
posted 3 months ago
On No Place Like Home (Unconventional Zen Master Challenge):
posted 3 months ago
On Bagman: Would You Please Die, Sir?:
posted 3 months ago
On Everybody's Envy (Unexpected Twist Challenge):
posted 3 months ago
On {The Dead Tell Tales Challenge} Dead Men Tell Tales:
posted 3 months ago
On Bagman: DataBomb:
posted 3 months ago
On Careless:
posted 3 months ago
On That Bastitch Dr. Seuss [Unexpected Twist Challenge]:
posted 3 months ago
On Cleanup {Scavenger Hunt Challenge}:
posted 3 months ago
On Bagman: Fire and a Fight:
posted 3 months ago
On Foreign Hands:
posted 3 months ago
On Bagman: Full of Surprises:
posted 3 months ago
On Release The Hounds (Scavenger Hunt Challenge):
posted 3 months ago
On Musically Conflicting [The Scavenger Hunt Challenge!]:
posted 3 months ago
On The Scavenger Hunt Challenge!:
posted 3 months ago
On Spin. Click. Pass.:
posted 3 months ago
On Nobody Gets Hurt (Twisted History Challenge):
posted 3 months ago
On One Sick Puppy:
posted 3 months ago
On Zombie Emancipation:
posted 3 months ago
On Anne's Resolve [Twisted History Challenge]:
posted 3 months ago
On Enola Gay {Twisted History Challenge}:
posted 3 months ago
On Zombie Hegemony:
posted 3 months ago
On Nobody Expects It (Unexpected Twist Challenge):
posted 3 months ago
On Define Exists (Unconventional Zen Master Challenge):
posted 3 months ago
On Ring {John's Unexpected Twist Challenge}:
posted 3 months ago
On "Can I tell you a story?" Continued!!!!:
posted 3 months ago
On "Can I tell you a story?" Continued!:
posted 3 months ago
On "Can I tell you a story?":
posted 3 months ago
On The Future's Bright:
posted 3 months ago
On "Can I tell you a story?":
posted 3 months ago
On "Can I tell you a story?" Continued!:
posted 3 months ago
On Bold as Brass:
posted 3 months ago
On So Many Variables, So Few Guns:
posted 3 months ago
On Hear Ye, Hear Ye: Winners of the Out-of-Order Challenge (Part 1):
posted 3 months ago
On Live Fire Test:
posted 3 months ago
On Live Fire Test:
posted 3 months ago
On Exotic Creature Inspiration [Sing-Song Challenge]:
posted 3 months ago
On No map, no exit:
posted 3 months ago
On You Got Served!:
posted 3 months ago
On Rutaffo, the Super Ref [Great Supporting Character Challenge]:
posted 3 months ago
On Exotic Creature Inspiration [Sing-Song Challenge]:
posted 3 months ago
On The Crane Wife 4 [Sing-Song Challenge]:
posted 3 months ago
On Find Me:
posted 3 months ago
On What's In A Name?:
posted 3 months ago
On The Crane Wife [Sing-Song Challenge]:
posted 3 months ago
On A Dose Of Her Own Medicine:
posted 3 months ago
On Heart of Ice:
posted 3 months ago
On The Beast:
posted 3 months ago
On Bug:
posted 3 months ago
On An Impossible Room (Unconventional Zen Master Challenge):
posted 3 months ago
On The Stairwell to Nowhere (Unconventional Zen Master Challenge):
posted 3 months ago
On Unconventional Zen Master Challenge:
posted 3 months ago
On Sing-Song Challenge!:
posted 3 months ago
On Exotic Creature Inspiration [Sing-Song Challenge]:
posted 3 months ago
On White Patent Shoes [Unexpected Twist Challenge]:
posted 3 months ago
On Hitman [Unexpected Twist Challenge]:
posted 3 months ago
On Unexpected Twist Challenge [Results Posted]:
posted 3 months ago
On Daddy's Home Part IV:
posted 3 months ago
On Sweet Oblivion:
posted 3 months ago
On The Houdini Bar Danceoff:
posted 3 months ago
On Pyro punks and Sailor Emo's Juliet and Romeo:
posted 3 months ago
On Great Supporting Character(s) Challenge (The Big 250):
posted 3 months ago
On Dennis Yunker and His Senior Moment:
posted 3 months ago
On Instructions Not Included:
posted 3 months ago
On Death at The Diner (Out of Order):
posted 3 months ago
On The Aftermath (Out of Order):
posted 3 months ago
On Explosion:
posted 3 months ago
On An Unsettling Realization:
posted 3 months ago
On Selling The Drama:
posted 3 months ago
On Bagman: Deadline Run:
posted 3 months ago
On Living is a problem because everything dies:
posted 3 months ago
On The Teacher Arrives:
posted 4 months ago
On The Teacher Arrives:
posted 4 months ago
On In The Neighborhood:
posted 4 months ago
On Be nice to the Halfling:
posted 4 months ago
On Bagman: Payday:
posted 4 months ago
On Bagman: One Shell Square:
posted 4 months ago
On Making It Count (Challenge by Numbers):
posted 4 months ago
On Nanobot offensive:
posted 4 months ago
On Trying to sneak it in [Challenge by Numbers]:
posted 4 months ago
On Trying to sneak it in [Challenge by Numbers]:
posted 4 months ago
On Chain of Authority:
posted 4 months ago
On Home From Shopping:
posted 4 months ago
On The Kind That Hate Was Bred In:
posted 4 months ago
On Trying to sneak it in [Challenge by Numbers]:
posted 4 months ago
On Dead To Rights:
posted 4 months ago
On Gronlandic Edit [Your Theme song, Your Story Challenge]:
posted 4 months ago
On The Mark (2):
posted 4 months ago
On The Mark:
posted 4 months ago
On The Really Evil Voice:
posted 4 months ago
On Over the Edge:
posted 4 months ago
On Spy vs Villian [Precise Maneuvers Challenge]:
posted 4 months ago
On Over the Edge:
posted 4 months ago
On Backhand Fury: uselessness' PRECISE MANEUVERS Challenge:
posted 4 months ago
On Into the School:
posted 4 months ago
On your move (precise maneuvers challenge):
posted 4 months ago
On your move (precise maneuvers challenge):
posted 4 months ago
On A Score To Settle:
posted 4 months ago
On Never Trust A Big Butt And A Smile:
posted 4 months ago
On Ode to Backspace:
posted 4 months ago
On Misshapen Fairy of Unhappiness:
posted 4 months ago
On INT. HOSPITAL - MIDNIGHT (Out-of-Order Challenge):
posted 4 months ago
On Nosepickers Anonymous:
posted 4 months ago
On Bagman: Through a Killer's Eyes:
posted 4 months ago
On Simple Case 2 [Out of Order Challenge]:
posted 4 months ago
On Simple Case [Out of Order Challenge]:
posted 4 months ago
On Picking Teams:
posted 4 months ago
On Simple Case 2 [Out of Order Challenge]:
posted 4 months ago
On More Pressing Matters:
posted 4 months ago
On Gentrax Secondary:
posted 4 months ago
On Picking Teams:
posted 4 months ago
On The Out-of-Order Challenge!:
posted 4 months ago
On PBBT's Soundtrack Challenge:
posted 4 months ago
On Networks Without Tongue:
posted 4 months ago
On My Name Is Jake And I Don't Know What Is Happening.:
posted 4 months ago
On Tiny Life:
posted 4 months ago
On Intruder:
posted 4 months ago
On landings:
posted 4 months ago
On Payment Pending:
posted 4 months ago
On Lyrical Lovers:
posted 4 months ago
On Bagman: Live at the Scene:
posted 4 months ago
On Bagman: Live at the Scene:
posted 4 months ago
On In a Room, High in the Castle in the Air:
posted 4 months ago
On Duel in a Clearing:
posted 4 months ago
On Revealations:
posted 4 months ago
On I've got a Crush on you...:
posted 4 months ago
On Song of the Swamp:
posted 4 months ago
On It's Always the Person You Least Expect:
posted 4 months ago
On A Perfectly Normal Day:
posted 4 months ago
On A New Member of the Gang:
posted 4 months ago
On Möbius Strip: The Man Behind the Curtain:
posted 4 months ago
On Movements Beyond Human Control:
posted 4 months ago
On Title That Demands Your Attention:
posted 4 months ago