Competition day arrives and I stay up until midnight to see my pull (late for me these days). Genre: Suspense and/ or Thriller. Definitely not my strong suit. Action: Forgetting a name. First thoughts: exciting! I stayed up thinking I’d jot down some ideas and write a rough draft. Well, I quickly thought every idea I had was corny. With only 100 words, I felt the story really needed to hinge on the assigned action. How could I really put a character in harm’s way because they’ve forgotten a name, without making it super lame? I called it quits at 1:30am with no words written.
What’s beautiful about a story this short is that I could play with it in my head really easily. Throughout the day I drafted, wrote notes on my phone, drafted again, and mentally rehearsed lines until I felt the final piece. I only had 24 hours, and I’m happy with how it came out. I don’t think it will win me any awards, but I had a lot of fun and it stoked the writing fire. Which is really what I was hoping for.
Let me know what you think!
Z
Genre: Suspense and/or Thriller
Action: Forgetting a name
Word: Held
Prove It
The gun safe was her father’s. I should’ve known. Mary held the revolver with white knuckles. Her finger was off the trigger; my wife was still in there somewhere.
She had lost fifteen years of memories in the accident. Through delirious tears she demanded, “My husband would know!”
Weeks spent proving myself and placating paranoia exhausted me. I couldn’t leave her in that facility. But to her I was a stranger, or a captor, and I couldn’t remember her childhood dog’s name.
Sobbing, she slid a finger to the trigger. I considered cartoons and passwords knowing I failed my Mary.