I’m moving house tonight and won’t have internet access for a while, so I’m posting this week’s Fiction Friday a day early.
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You might think that day would be forgotten, lost in the cacophony of days since.
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He is alive, though death would be better, I think.
Fiction Friday
One Horse: A Study in Memory
Trigger Warning: Disturbing content
I wrote this as a story, but I’ve been told it’s poetry, so I’ll post it in both categories and let you decide.
More Writing Exercise Responses (March 2021)
My new Kindle arrived the other day.
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Australia emerged from the pandemic relatively unscathed, with less than five hundred deaths.
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It was like books with special features and we were stoked.
Writing Exercise Responses (March 2021)
Lust turned to confusion, then terror, as loud tremors announced the first impact.
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He did not wish for more time, though the opportunity to cause more mayhem would be welcome.
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Heimdall watched, eyes hard, as Loki lay, wounded and broken, on the frozen ground.
Planning
“Johnson’s become a liability.”
Restless Revenant
Intrigued, she carefully cracked open the cover, mindful of the brittle pages, so absorbed with her find that she never noticed the gently blown dust forming patterns in the air, or the increasing chill causing her skin to goose bump.
Error 500
We’re alive, but not living, not really. We’re stuck in some endless play and can’t find our way from the stage.
Isolated Scene February 2021
Snow freezes, seeping into your bones, swallowing sensation and suppressing your instinct to survive.
Random Snippet February 2021
When he woke in the woods in the dark and cold of night, he’d reach out to touch the child sleeping beside him.
Sentry (Revised)
A small, unacknowledged, part of your heart despises the serenity, welcomes its transience, eagerly awaits the coming chaos. Before the war, in the world-that-was, you despised the cold spread of adrenaline. Now you crave the exhilaration and terror of combat, the struggle to eke out one more moment of existence.
Sentry (Original)
You perch on the side of an overturned Coles truck, carefully scanning the crumbling homes and weed-choked footpaths for any sign of movement. The air is oppressively still, the silence palpable. Almost painful. Your ears strain for any hint of life. You desire movement and you dread it.
Random Scene January 2021
The alleyway was damp and narrow. Slivers of sunlight filtered through drab stone buildings, creating shadowy alcoves, concealing the clandestine dealings of thieves and cutthroats.
Sixty Seconds (Revised)
How much can change in sixty seconds? An idea. A thought. A text received. A text answered. A life can end. A life can begin. A proposal – the beginning of a lifetime together. Perhaps the apocalypse could happen in sixty seconds.
Sixty Seconds (Original)
I took a course at uni entitled Writing Apocalypse: Histories and Speculation. Our first assignment was to write a 500 word piece with the theme of ‘apocalypse’ inspired by, or in response to, our course readings and tutorial discussions. We were allowed to interpret the word ‘apocalypse’ rather broadly. This is my piece as it was submitted. Next week, I will re-post this piece incorporating the changes that were suggested by my marker. I recieved 76% for this assessment, but I personally feel like I should have scored much lower because I failed to convey to my marker that the piece was meant to be a person mourning a loved one killed after texting and driving, rather than a conventional apocalypse.
Legacy
Magpies strut, did you know? They carry themselves with the arrogance of the snottiest aristocrat, prancing about as though the very ground beneath their feet was laid down with the sole purpose of them one day gracing it with their presence.
An Isolated Scene
The tent stood tall in the clearing, a grunting roo its only company. A rusty pot lay abandoned in the mud, ants feasting beneath the mould and grime. Frost coated grass stretched to a horizon made sharp by the early… Read More ›
Laying Low
Mama’s face lit up when she spied me through the old screen door. “Well hello there, Sugar.” She said. “Ain’t you a sight for sore eyes.” “Hello Mama.” I replied. “May I come in?”
Tally
He was short. That’s what caught my attention. I’m a fairly average height, but he barely reached my shoulders. Otherwise, the guy was unremarkable. Dark hair, blue eyes, handsome but not gorgeous — if not for his height, few would… Read More ›
Blood
Hushed whispers and tugging hands startled me awake. My fuzzy mind, still groggy from sleep, struggled to make sense of my surroundings as I was roughly dragged down smooth stone stairs towards a cold steel cell. I felt something wet… Read More ›
Unravelled
Terry waited for Julie to pass before emerging from the shadows. “Hello, Michael.” he said coldly. “Terry! But you… you’re…”
Luck
‘Fake’. That’s what we all thought when we saw the video of the homeless guy tearing out the cop’s throat with his bare teeth. Two point three million views and not one person thought it was real. Sure, the word… Read More ›
Echoes
Peering over the rusty gate, she noticed patches of moss growing on a broken stone path. Dandelions and toadstools littered the overgrown grass hiding the dens of field mice. An old tyre rested between the roots of an ancient oak… Read More ›
Infestation
Infestation: noun — the presence of an unusually large number of insects or animals in a place, typically so as to cause damage or disease.¹ I slam the dictionary closed. The word certainly describes my life at the moment. Infestation…. Read More ›
Ashfall
Ash. I am so sick of the sight of ash. It’s worse than sand, you know. It gets into everything. Cleaning it is a never-ending chore, since it just keeps on falling. It’s in my clothes, my hair, even my… Read More ›
They Came
The day before they came was the same as any other. I woke to the sound of my alarm blaring at six a.m.. Grumbling about the unfairness of life, I stumbled blearily into the bathroom where I performed the usual… Read More ›
Sunlight
Sunlight filtered through the partially closed blinds, creating a pattern of artificial lines across her pale skin. She lay still upon the bed, arms out-stretched, hair framing her face, like a sacrificial offering. His eyes roamed her body, flawless, save… Read More ›
Writer
Tick The room was quiet, oppressive. The sound of her own breathing filled her ears.
Tree
I got to help Dad pick the tree this year. The one I chose took up the whole backseat. I didn’t mind. It meant I got to sit in the front with Dad. Still, we drove home slowly, ‘cos the… Read More ›
Gifted
You close your eyes and take a deep, shuddering breath. Your ears strain as you try to convince yourself that the house is empty. A low moan sounds from beneath the tree, causing your breath to hitch. Slowly, softly, you… Read More ›
Planet X Sneak Peak
I have been so busy concentrating on NaNoWriMo this week, that I completely forgot to write something for today’s Fiction Friday. Instead I have decided to give you a sneak peek at one of the earlier scenes from Planet X, the… Read More ›
