Use the photograph above as the inspiration for your flash fiction story. Write whatever comes to mind (no sexual, political, or religious stories, jokes, or commentary, please) and after you PROOFREAD it, submit it as your entry in the comments section below. There will be no written prompt.
Welcome to the Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Challenge. In 250 words or less, write a story incorporating the elements in the picture at left. The 250 word limit will be strictly enforced.
Please keep language and subject matter to a PG-13 level.
Use the comment section below to submit your entry. Entries will be accepted until Tuesday at 5:00 PM Pacific Time. No political or religious entries, please. Need help getting started? Read this article on how to write flash fiction.
On Wednesday afternoon, we will open voting to the public with an online poll so they may choose the winner. Voting will be open until 5:00 PM Thursday. On Saturday morning, the winner will be recognized as we post the winning entry along with the picture as a feature.
Once a month, the admins will announce the Editors’ Choice winners. Those stories will be featured in an anthology like this one. Best of luck to you all in your writing!
Entries only in the comment section. Other comments will be deleted. See HERE for additional information and terms. Please note the rule changes for 2016.
Here they come, those hideously deformed septapeds swarming down the hillside, multiplying into thousands of hungry hunters. They must have smelled me hiding in the bushes. There’s no escape. It’s all my fault. No one to blame but myself.
When we landed on Kirkspocksulu at the edge of the last black hole we discovered, I never should have stepped out onto the glowing surface kicking my boots to activate the undulating green mist. Little did I know that one of those almost invisible tiny monsters attached itself to the back of my helmet. After my brief exploration, once I got back into the ship it detached itself and immediately birthed into hundreds of scrambling demons, instantly billowing into frightening forms. They attacked and devoured the entire crew. I guess they avoided me because I gave them a place to feed.
With one swift turn of the knob, I engaged the exhaust system and prayed as they were all sucked into space. Quickly, I activated the automatic flight controls and crunched into my Captain’s chair.
Alas, unknowingly, one or two had survived and were carried back home with me.
Now, here I am, fittingly, in the Valley of Death. No way to outrun. Nowhere to hide. In seconds, they’ll be all over me, then everything else on Earth. I glanced up at the three blinding suns and screamed, “Sorry, World. So sorr……….!”
“Oooohhhh!!! Aaarrrggghhhh!!!”
Somewhere in an Interrogation Room, “I was there with Andy and Phil when they were abducted.”
The Investigator wearing dark glasses and dressed in a black suit stared into the young man’s face, “You mean disappeared? Don’t You, Johnny?”
“Yah! What ever!”
“Well, maybe now, we’re getting somewhere, why don’t you fill me in on the details? Johnny.”
Tired and exasperated, Johnny went on, “For the last year those two idiots followed the activities of Area 51 in one of those UFO newsletters. So we hiked to the top of Bald Mountain. You could see everything from the runways to the hangers, the full facility.”
The Investigator asked, “then what happened? Johnny?”
Johnny replied, “Behind the base, we saw the side of the hill open and a saucer streaked out. It happened so fast, we didn’t even get a picture of it. They stayed, but it was to cold for me so I went back to my car. That’s when you guys showed up. That’s all.”
The investigator demanded, “What happened to them? Johnny?”
Johnny angrily screamed, “I don’t know! Maybe they were abducted? Or got caught and ended up in GITMO? I was in the car getting warm!”
The Investigator coldly replied, “I don’t believe you, Johnny. You still haven’t explained the gun we found on you, with two bullets fired, nor the dirty shovel in your car trunk along with their wallets? Let’s start over again, what were you really doing out there? Johnny!”
I was born and raised in southeastern New Mexico, a land of tradition and history, legends and myths. Since the days of the conquistadors and beyond the tribes of the Southwest had perpetuated the oral tales: the Jornada del Muerto, the Seven Cities of Cibola, the spirits that gave us water and life. And the evils that ended those lives.
Whether Hopi or Navajo, Zuni, Pueblo or Apache — each tribe had its distinct beliefs and prohibitions.
I am Mescalero Apache. Though always careful to respect the spiritual beliefs and pronouncements of my elders, I am a modern man and gave little credence to them.
One spring night I was camped alongside a rocky creek at the entrance to a box canyon known as “Hell’s Gate”. A box canyon is a formation nature has carved into the sheer walls of a limestone cliff. Once entered there was no way out unless you returned from whence you came.
“Old Roy” had been my pony for many years, bearing the burden of my body without complaint. As he aged though, he had become skittish. The cries of a pack of Mexican wolves wailing startled him: he broke his leather tether and bolted into the mouth of The Gate. Without thinking, I followed him.
We had been warned. We never returned.
During a tour to Death Valley, a boy found a crushed paper. He took it to his father, who looked into it. A handwritten letter…
In India a year ago I met Dr. Jacob. He promised to invite me to US for some brilliant project. I got his e-mail:
‘I recommended your name for our geophysical project. Organizers would send you air-tickets, and would pay you handsome allowance’
I came to California. A uniformed driver received me at airport.
I asked, ‘How far are we heading now?’
— ‘Nearly eight hours’
He showed a luxurious caravan, more comfortable than aircraft’
He said, ‘Feel at home sir. Should you need anything, press the calling button. Now relax’
The long cozy drive ended at a deserted place. By the picturesque beauty I could readily identify; Death Valley.
Dr. Jacob came in my cabin and explained to me, ‘This is a secret project of Martians’
It took me few minutes to think what I had heard.
He continued, ‘They have built for us a state-of-the-art lab beneath this valley. They are looking for the best talents on earth…’
— ‘Should I join?’ I interrupted.
— ‘Of course. They’ll pay the best package. But one condition, you’ll have to work for them, even…’
— ‘Even if it harms humans!’ suddenly a mechanical voice thundered.
SAVE OUR WORLD!
…
‘What rubbish! Get sanitizer bottle and clean your hands thoroughly’ the father tore and threw the paper away.