Enjoy, be careful - and whatever you do, don't forget to check for hedgehogs before you light the fire. Right - that's my brain cleared out.
Winners of Last Week's Prediction Challenge
We had fewer entries than usual this time round but what we did have were double-concentrated! All gorgeous, dark and delicious, except for my frivolous little thing.
My winner is Ravenways with her untitled and wicked girdle delight. Absolutely dripping with gothic delectation. Congratulations!
Runner-up, with her terrifying tale of eternal torture is Antonia Woodville's Another Day In Hell. A girdle of manacled women - beautiful. Well done Antonia.
Words for 04 November 2011
What will we see; what will we choose...?
- Passport
- Rent
- Interrupt
Okaaaayyyy. Good luck with those.
Rules
The rules are: 100 words max flash fiction or poetry using all of the words above. Please add your entries in the Comments box below. You have the whole week until 9pm UK time on Thursday 10th November to enter.
Winner will be announced next Friday 11th November. If you can, please tweet about your entry, using the #fridayflash hashtag, and blog if you feel like it.
Get your visas ready. No fakes. Transport me...
Winner will be announced next Friday 11th November. If you can, please tweet about your entry, using the #fridayflash hashtag, and blog if you feel like it.
Get your visas ready. No fakes. Transport me...
_________________________________________
wow, I didn't expect that! Thanks, Lily!! Congratulations, Ravenways, it was only a matter of time before your dark class writing walked off with the winner's crown!
ReplyDeleteThat's made me feel good, down with the flu thing doing the rounds and feeling b a d but this has helped a lot toward recovery!
Right, on with this week's words and the annoying title which has just come into my head that demands a story to go with it.
Congrats Ravenways and Antonia, some great writing.
ReplyDeleteHi all, sorry I've been away for a while but hopefully this effort will make up for it!
ReplyDeletePaul.
********
Repos
Lana snatched her passport from the dresser, knocking over a vase and spilling water on the floor. Her hands shook, but she didn’t have time to calm herself. The Repos were coming and she had to leave quickly.
A heavy knock at the front door interrupted her train of thought. Lana’s eyes widened as she held her breath, frozen in terror.
“We know you are there, Miss McAvoy. The rent on your body is now due.”
The man’s voice was calm, but her fear made Lana mute. It only lasted until the door was broken down and the screaming began.
Welcome back Paul - it has been a while!
ReplyDeleteRepos is great. I feel as though I'm getting a preview of a thriller movie. "The rent on your body is now due" - how intriguing is that? A splendid vignette on a much bigger story.
can you imagine such a time as that.. well I guess you can.. and now I can too.. great write..
ReplyDeleteBeloved
Derek watched the beetle scuttle across the factory floor.. Desert sands had drifted through the busted walls filling much of the space.. Sarah had text-ed him earlier whining about the rent and how fat her passport picture made her look.. He had laughed at her promises to turn back time.. He didn't care if she got her girlish figure back or not .. He wasn't going home .. Smiling at the dainty tidbit spread before him.. He prayed that this time he wouldn't be interrupted.. Sliding two bullets into the revolver.. he shucked his fatigues.. and whispered "beloved"
Paul, I love the ghoulish feeling of this one!
ReplyDeletePB, another shocker ending. Loved the ethos of this one, so much going on without being said.
So far, no inspiration... but then I have just written a 1000 story, so I guess I need to let the inspiration pool fill up again.
didn't take long, 25 minutes, according to the times of posting. Here goes:
ReplyDeleteSaturday chores.
‘I said – don’t interrupt me while I’m working!’
‘But father, the rent man’s here and he won’t go away. He wants money.’
‘Money? I’ll give him a passport to hell!. Get out of the way! No, second thoughts, ask him in.’
‘But father…’
‘If you say that once more, I’ll brain you! Go!’
Count to twenty. That’s how long it takes to get someone in the cellar. Nineteen, twenty.
And here he is, the landlord himself.
‘Mr… what’s this?’
‘Bit of blood, sir. Local Tory councilor, actually.’
‘Good. Look, forget the rent this month; keep up the good work, eh?’
quick plug here, if I may, for the 'other' showcase of your horror work, Spook City.
ReplyDeletehttp://spookcity.blogspot.com/?zx=9de0c8a12cd7a4ef
they were good enough to feature one of my new stories. There's a lot of good stuff on there to read, if you ignore mine...
Very pleased to be there and on Thrillers Killers 'N' Chillers too under my real name, not the one Google decided to give me. Out of all my postboxes, Google chose that one as my blogging name!!!!
I have a letter from my mum for my absence but the dog ate it.....along with my homework.
ReplyDeleteIn Debt.
“Please, don’t interrupt me.”
“But…”
“But, nothing! You’re behind on your rent. I’ve given you long enough now. You’re 7 weeks behind and payment is due.”
“I…I can’t aff…”
“Oh, testicles! If you can’t afford your rent, where the buggery are you going with your passport in your rucksack?”
“I…I…”
“I…I…You’re pathetic, you little waster. I want my money or there’ll be painful consequences.”
“Y…you can’t threaten me like th…that, you’re an em...”
“Wrong, you lowlife piece of scum! Not an MP. I’m the PM and I want my money!”
Sorry not been on for ages.. get bogged down sometimes. Here is my effort..
ReplyDeleteCONTROL
''Your attention please. We are sorry to interrupt your viewing with this important announcement from The Blue Control Tower.
With immediate effect all British Citizens will become neutrals. All passports and personal documents must be relinquished by eleven hundred hours tomorrow latest.
There will be opportunity later for some of you to rent a new identity and regain citizenship.
Please note that Foreign Nationals are not affected. They will continue to receive the support of The Blue Tower and are free to continue to access all things beneficial to them.
You may now return to this indoctrination. Thank you.''
October's Helter Skelter has settled somewhat - so I'm hoping to get back to the regular, weekly ways!
ReplyDeleteStore of Good and Excellent Bargains - PPT Photos while U wait
"Marty" stepped through a rent in the dusty curtain, coming back into the tiny back room of the tuck shop. He suited the name "Marty" like the name "duck" would suit a rabbit.
"Ok, sir. One passport photo. Sorry for the interruption."
He wasn't.
I sat back, nearly touching the screen. Marty fumbled with the bargain-store tripod, muttering something incoherent. A brass lamp fell over.
"Ready, sir?" he asked. "Do not smile."
"I'm not."
"Don't speak."
"Fuck you, Marty."
"Pardon, sir?"
"Nothing."
Click.
"Five minutes, sir."
I picked up the lamp.
"No!" cried Marty. "Do not..."
Something inside moved.
Click.
Predictioneers with devious minds, answer me this one.
ReplyDeleteAbout 3 years ago a house was destroyed by fire, killing the elderly lady who lived in it. The wreck stood, burned timbers and all, for an age. Then along came a builder and put up a very nice modern but 'suited to the environment in which it lives' house. They finished it, put the FOR SALE sign outside -
and it has burned down.
?????
OK, now to comment on the current entries... now I have that off my mind. Oh, another thing before I get involved. The car sticker I saw on a pickup tonight. It's bothering me.
ReplyDeleteHAVE YOU FORGOTTEN JESUS?
ISN'T IT TIME YOU DID?
Am I missing something here?
David, natural dialogue and the greatest twist imaginable, PM indeed! good one!
Rosalind, chilling. This could so easily happen.
Chris, whoo, lots going on here, expand it into a full length story, yes?
Splendid new entries - back to comment later.
ReplyDeleteAntonia - burned down twice - way spooky - any history known on what was there before the first burning? Or could it be the old lady - disgruntled?
Here's my Prediction plaything...
Immolatum
Whorls of raging filth rent the November sky.
“Draw me down!”
Beneath the demon’s gaze Gribbage observed as his acolyte quaked.
“Be calm lad; you are in control – not he of you.”
The boy set aside the royal vestments to bare his body and soul to the creature. He threw back his head.
“Here be your passport to the earthly domain. Enter, and grant me the power to rule in our names.”
Before he could raise his arms in invitation, the young king’s heart stopped, his pulse – interrupted. Gribbage bent over the fresh corpse; kissed its eyes.
“Welcome... my Lord.”
Rent's Due
ReplyDeleteYa bring the rent?
He's collecting from someone else. Can't interrupt him now.
She's a pretty thing, ain't she? American?
Himself'll be pleased. 'E likes foreign food.
Please tell me you remembered to burn the passport this time? Good. Last time you forgot, it tooks weeks to clean up the mess. Bloody paper trails. Ha ha! See what I did there? Bloody?
Gah! Yer such a stick in the mud!
Why you always so squeamish about the first of the month? Told you before if you don't like the screaming, you should wait in the fookin' hallway.
It's your turn.
Well done Ravenways and Antonia.
ReplyDeleteHive
The brutal kick splintered the door open, interrupted the clammy silence.
She’d got as far as the window.
Jimmy stared at the slimy folds of flesh on the floor. Saliva glistened from swollen lips – the client lay dead, naked except for a belt around his neck.
Jimmy grabbed the girl’s hair, yanked her from the window.
She dropped the dead man’s car keys, her passport out of there.
‘No one leaves the Hive. And you owe me rent. Get undressed and earn me some money...’
Stupid bitch.
Her innards screamed. Tomorrow she’d turn thirteen.
She would never make it home.
Lily, steaming with anger this piece! Calm indeed...
ReplyDeleteRavenways, glorious images here.
AJ - pure gore and nastiness and so so good!
AJ - You capture gritty humanity like no other. I was already bleeding for her, and then you added the bit about her 13th birthday. Chilling. At least she took one bastard out.
ReplyDeleteRavenways - And I thought my first landlord in the slums of T.O. was bad - he had nothing on this guy. Nicely done.
Lily - GAH!! What happens next?! You can't leave it there! Loved the "once-removed" that Gribbage is playing at.
Antonia - I would build the next house out of empty gasoline containers and shredded newspaper. That way, even the spirits are going to stay well back: "Boo... holy $h!t you people are crazy... I'm outta here..."
Rosalind - nice tightly written commentary here, as things begin to get tighter and tougher all around.
David - Bwah ha ha -- PM. Love the personal-touch of the door to door shakedown. Like Rosalind - it's tragic that there's real truth to the working class woes you touch on here.
Antonia - Best. Dodge. Ever. Nicely told.
Pblacksaw - chilling stuff, and a little mystery there too - I'd want to know what happened earlier.
Paul - This is a story that's going somewhere. Love the concept.
I've just discovered Lily's dark little corner (thanks Twitter!). Some great pieces of flash fiction here. Thought I'd add my own.
ReplyDeletePerdition
He wants to rent me. I’m not cheap. He wants me bad. It will cost him his passport. He thinks it over, he re-negotiates, he pleads but there is only one price. I stand here, in the unforgiving heat, hand out, waiting for payment. The smell of my sweat attracts them; these dead men, these demons. Immorality led them down here but I have my own reasons for falling. I interrupt his dirty looks to demand payment. He hands it over and I’m his for one hour; after that I’m getting all the way out of this Hell.
I was writing this on the train home this evening thinking myself original and clever then saw your post Lily. Must have been peaking over your shoulder ;-)
ReplyDeletePortal
Candles flickered at the tips of the pentagram. At its centre stood Dravid, towering over his kneeling acolyte chained to the floor.
Dravid unsheathed his Zhaket and rent open the boy's naked torso. Steaming blood and entrails oozed across the flagstones, fluid channeling along the carved lines. Dravid began the incantation; his passport to eternity.
"Zhu kai domini, zhe khi ascendi, zha kho...."
He was interrupted mid-flow. Around him the candles sputtered and then extinguished.
Total darkness surrounded him. This wasn't meant to happen.
And then the demon growled.
@Crimson Archer oooh chilling sci fi!
ReplyDelete@Mystery and chilling all wrap into one.
@Antonia I'd be thinking twice before I knocked on his door!
@David I enjoyed the dialogue in this piece.
@Rosalind a frightening thought!
@Chris Oh I want to know more!
@Lily that's some possession - really dark!
@ravenways Nice!
@AJ Humpage - full of tension very visual!
@Nick nice descriptive writing.
@Phil oh don't stop, I have to know what happens! ^_^
Here is my effort for this week ^__^
ReplyDeleteTravel plans
“Sorry to interrupt you Master.
Stenovik looked up from the book he was reading “ Is everything in place?”
“Yes, Master.”
“Your passport for the trip?” Gordrak nodded. “Good, and the rent paid on the old house.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Then everything is in place.” Stenovik’s jet black eyes cut into the man who stood before him. “Good. Now bring me something to eat.”
Gordrak left the room only to return a few moments later.
“Excellent, just how I like them, young and fresh.” Stenovik bared his ivory fangs as Gordrak tossed the girl onto the floor….
Step Up, Step Down
ReplyDeleteChance came down gutter road all sleek and spiff, doled up for the rent boys. Like they’d care.
He reeked of woods and spice cologne, but couldn’t hide the candy. He believed his money was a passport into my world.
Stupid fucker.
I licked the smile off him. With his teeth bared, breath bated, eyes rolling back, he finally looked something like a man – but not much.
They never expect you to interrupt their glamor, like none of us know tricks to hide what we are.
I sent him back out, hollow with insatiable need.
Fairies make the best whores.
Wasn't sure I was going to make this week, but managed to bash something out last thing last night. =)
ReplyDeleteFugitive
“Don’t bother with the passport. It’s fake.”
He doesn’t even look, just smiles smugly.
He’s too young, too eager: immaculate suit, shirt, tie; cute haircut; sharp eyes; perfect muscles. That has to be his first body, top of the range, bought on credit. Me, I’m down to rentals. This flabby thing stinks, but it’s all I’ve got. That and a few hundred years of tricks.
“Ok, old ma—”
I interrupt him the best way I know how. Evisceration.
As I leave he’s trying to shove his guts back in, blabbing about how much that ruined flesh cost him.
Congratulations to Ravenways and Antonia for last week. =)
ReplyDeletePaul - put me in mind of Repo Men, seems our heads went similar places. I like it. =)
PB - Teasing us with glimpses of darkness, feels like there is a lot of depth.
Antonia - Ha ha! A little wish fulfilment? ;)
David - The politicians strike back. Great punch line. =D
Rosalind - A nice little flash of dystopia, sci-fi... or is it? ;)
Chris - so sinister! I'm not sure what happened there, but I know it was nothing good...
Lily - Rich and awesome. I love it, feels so much bigger than it is.
Ravenways - Now there's a character! Something blackly interesting is occurring... =)
AJ - gah, always with the stomach-wrenching twist. And managed without physical grotesquery. Well done.
Nick - welcome! =) Really interesting scene and character, makes me want more. =)
Phil - they never learn... Great scene. =)
Helen - Vampires never do anything for themselves, have to have an Igor... I mean Gordrak. ;)
RR - Absolutely love it. From that beauty of a first line it twists and turns to an absolute killer of a punchline. =)
@RR great story!
ReplyDelete@John X wow I love that idea ofrented bodies, talk about ruining his suit LOL loved it!
Patti, nasty. Derek's a piece of work, isn't he? Clever how you've set the scene with the mention of desert sands and the presumably derelict factory. We need to know more about him - pro-hit man, or bastard with a weapon?
ReplyDeleteAntonia, tee hee. Far be it from me to cast comment on political 'activity' but this made me laugh. And a landlord with a conscience too, albeit a warped one. Your cellars must be full by now! (No problem about plugging Spook City or Dorothy Davies on TKnC!)
David, would the teacher have recognised your handwriting? The idea of the PM collecting rent is hilarious, though this could be surely be a parody on the current economic shite. I had to reread it a-la-Cameron which made it even better. "Oh testicles" - class.
Rosalind, welcome back! How chilling is this? Straight from Orwell. The line "There will be opportunity later for some of you to rent a new identity..." freaked me out; so matter-of-fact. There is a worrying sense of premonition to this - it would make a good movie.
Chris, aargh - what was it? What moved? Damn your teasing vignette, Monsier Allinotte. I want to know who 'Marty' really is, who the narrator is and what does he know - and what the f*ck's inside that camera. Brilliant.
ravenways, ooh - so much suggestion here. I'm seeing a grubby condo with these lowlifes hanging at the corners, waiting for 'Himself'. This could easily be landlord/protectioneers or the work of the Devil himself.
AJ, horrible. You are so good at stretching heartstrings to the point of snap. I can't ever remember reading something of yours that didn't make me gasp. This is superbly written, and disturbingly real.
Nick, welcome in - glad you found The Feardom door open ;-) Yum, Perdition sings of base desires yet pulls us even further down with lower tones that hint of damnation. Is this a street of human hell or the depths of Hadeian horror; maybe it is both. Lovely, tight writing.
Phil, I wondered who that was clinging to my neck. Just shows those demons can simultaneously manifest themselves in different guises and names (notice how I'm avoiding saying "Great minds..."). But I loved this piece; superb atmosphere. That final, simple line is truly chilling.
Helen, lovely tossing of the girl onto the floor - completely casual. Sometimes we forget that even vampires have to go through the rigmaroll of bureaucracy in order to get about. Helen - I could imagine this as a comic strip.
Reba, "rent boys" I wondered who'd be the first to use the term. Whoa!! I loved this from the first word onwards - wicked, dark and vindictive - and then you hit us with that killer last line. Filthy gorgeous.
John, you did make it - so glad! Those newbies and their perfect bods - classic mistake. This totally tickles my demonic flesh fancy - it's Clive Barkering all over the place; marvelous.
Paul - I love the frantic movement of the first paragraph. Makes her fear in the next one more palpable.
ReplyDeletePatti - There is so much going on under the surface of this that I want to turn the pages back so I can catch up on Derek's story, even if he is obviously not a nice man.
Antonia - Different kind of 'voting,' that is. I'm struck by what it must have been like to be a child in that house.
David - Such a nasty little conversation. I suppose that's what hands on politics is all about.
Rosalind - Hit on one of my biggest fears with this one. You set up a whole dystopian future in no time at all. Chilling.
Chris - This is full of wonderful little moments. The final 'click' is ominous in part because I'm not sure exactly what happened; I just know it wasn't good.
Lily - Gribbage is a sneaky mentor. Is it wrong I felt some sort of satisfaction that the king fell in the process?
Ravenways - I love the voice in this piece and macabre humor.
AJ - Your pieces always make me flinch. We spend so much time looking away from harsh realities, it's a wonder our eyes find anywhere to rest.
Nick - Welcome! I like that this could be taking place in a literal or figurative Hell. The strength in your narrator has a forged feel to it.
Phil - A great case of reaping what one sows. I didn't feel bad for Dravid at all. 'This wasn't mean to happen.' It never is, is it?
Helen - This preparation for a journey carried the feel of gentility, making the reveal feel brutal.
John - I love a crafty, seasoned criminal, and yours has such panache. I could see this like a movie before me.
@Nick - the bitterness oozes from this, and the power s/he commands, that he would hand over such an important doc. Great job.
ReplyDelete@Phil - what a perfectly wonderful sacrifice that has gone awry. Great atmosphere.
@Helen - this plays like a modernised "Dracula", complete with Renfield. Love it.
@RR - You had me at "evil fairy whore". Crazy fun.
@John - You and Paul totally nailed the Repo-men vibe, but amped it to another level making it about the whole body, and raising the question about where the person begins and ends - cool write!
@Lily - see, now you've rewarded me for teasing, and I'll never tell. ;)
Not what I had hoped to submit, but I'm suffering a brain freeze this past week and a bit. So I'll have to go with this, though It still needs some work.
ReplyDeleteWages Day
She relished his youthful enthusiasm, his compliance would be her passport to a better standing in the dark palace, now that it was her time.
“Lay on the slab” she directed.
He was happy to play along with the weird old crone’s games, and hoped her lack time would not interrupt their arrangement; it was her proclivities that paid his rent.
He lay blindfolded on her makeshift altar waiting for her fetid breath, and wondering how much he’d get for his troubles this time.
Sharp pain tore through his abdomen and further as he parted company from his workman’s tools.
Now William, you've made me giggle into my creme caramel with your sordid couple frolicking on the cold, cold slab. "...as he parted company from his workman’s tools." is a fine dessert.
ReplyDeleteNo more, Predictioneers. The doors are closed.
I will open the curtains at some ungodly hour in the morning to make that horribly difficult choice - and slip into 'the book' to find new Challenge words.
Good, good night.