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.
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, 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 2018.
Pep Talk
Okay, everyone here?
Good! Zoomerama, baby. Am I ever getting tired of virtual faces.
We all must be, right?
Yeah…of course.
I’m with you there.
Human contact.
Office contact…the way work was always intended to be.
How are you all doing?
Not many thumbs up.
Let’s get those lumpy digits up…
There’s a button…go on, press it.
Thanks, Howard. Good example.
We’ll get back to this.
By the way, some of you look like you need a shave.
Ladies, the beauty parlors are opening up.
Let’s put our best face forward.
THAT’S THE AGENDA FOR TODAY ISN’T IT?
You’re darn tooting.
We have to get back to work…don’t get me wrong, I know you have all been productive at home. That was a necessary alteration in our referred employer-employee relations. Totally Virus Necessary. TVN!
I coined that. And you all did well. Well, as far as we know.
But you must be getting tired of meeting on screen. And staying at home all the time. Wearing pajamas every day. Confusing day with night.
And your pets. They’re probably getting bored with you always hanging around. Not your cats. I know some of you are feline freaks.
But your pooches. I know they love having you at home but it’s a false reality. Confuses them
So, back to work. And no more talk about ‘quiet quitting.’
Shoulder to the wheel.
The steering wheel.
Or Car, Bus, Train, Bike…
Whatever you use, see you bright and early Monday Morning.
The team raced ahead of the buggy, wild-eyed and with their ears raked forward. The driver didn’t need to use his whip; their fear was enough to spur them on. Stopping them – that would be a different matter. He let them run, keeping his hands light on the reins. Hauling them back would achieve nothing; they would ignore him if he did that. He hoped he’d be able to guide them subliminally, trusting in his soft touch and the horses’ sense of self-preservation. Maybe that would be enough to prevent them from running headlong into a tree.
A vampire reared up ahead of the carriage. A bolt of lightning struck an oak to the left. A sudden shower of hail drove into the driver’s face and the buggy’s wheels slewed to the right when they hit a rut.
Would you have:
1. Curled into a foetal position and prayed for an auspicious alignment of the planets?
2. Steered the buggy sharply to the right, hoping it wouldn’t overturn, severing your head from your torso?
3. Let the horses run free, believing they’d anticipate the hazards ahead and react accordingly?
4. Thrown the crucifix you were wearing at the Count, or
5. Resigned yourself to letting Mother Theresa be killed… or worse?
The correct answer is obviously 5. Mother Theresa
Where the heck did SHE come from? How are you supposed to anticipate someone who leaps out in front of you? Especially after dodging a vampire with an undeath wish.
When I look back on those summers working at the Pioneer Village, it’s amazing how much I learned that’s relevant to my current job. Sure, there’s a vast gulf between the technology of the pioneers and astronauts settling Mars, but so many things carry over. Often they’re in the way you’d least expect.
Like the last year I was there, when I got tasked with taking the buckboard down to the river to pick up some supplies that had been brought in by boat. Sure, it was a motorboat rather than the flatboat that would’ve been used back in the day, but that was out of sight of the tourists.
I didn’t get halfway before the horses spooked and lit off into the brush. Here I am, yanking on the reins and yelling at them to stop and getting no response.
In Driver Ed, they warn you not to panic in a skid because panic kills. In a car, that’s because you’ll do something stupid, but when you’re driving a team of horses, you’re dealing with a pair of living creatures with their own personalities. And horses are prey animals, so they look to you for protection. If you’re freaking out, they’ll assume they’re in mortal peril and run for their lives.
Somehow I got those two back under control and got back without anything broken. But I sure took a lot of ribbing over it. And I sure learned the value of keeping calm.