by Naomi L. | October 24, 2014 | Flash Fiction, J.C. Wolfe's Writing |
(What If? Exercise: Read the description here.)
It was the only thing I ever feared growing up.
It started with the missing socks from my drawer.
Then the snacks in my backpack started disappearing.
The food trails went under the bed.
I thought I was done for.
One night, I saw it.
It bared its teeth.
I knew then.
“Carrot sticks!”
Vegetarian.
This piece is based on What If? Exercise 93: “Ten to One”. The exercise is to write a 55-word story in which the first sentence has ten words, the second has nine, etc., until the last sentence has only one word. The objective is to show that precision and thrift in writing can produce surprisingly powerful results. I hope you enjoy what I’ve written. Thanks for reading!
Back to the story
by Naomi L. | October 17, 2014 | Flash Fiction, J.C. Wolfe's Writing |
Sometimes I wonder if it was all a dream.
I’d walk through the halls alone, always with my head down, never looking them in the eye. Maybe I was afraid they’d see too far into my soul.
Nobody ever saw into me. They only ever saw through me.
It was fear that guided me, fear that blinded me, fear that trapped me.
My solitude lasted to the end of those years. I felt like a ghost in their world. I almost believed they could feel a chill whenever I walked by.
I watched them grow and blossom into such interesting people. I knew their stories, their values, their hopes and their fears. I knew everyone’s name. Did anyone know mine?
I realized my mistake too late. I should have been brave. I should have reached out. I should have said hello every day, and asked how they were, and spent time with them any chance I had.
I should have tried to be part of their world. Instead, I chose to be invisible.
So don’t make the same mistake I did. Be brave. Live life. Choose to be seen.
Youth passes like a dream. Those who live it gain friendships and experience to take into the real world, while all that’s left for the invisible is to someday flip through a senior yearbook and scribble on the blank signature page that one question that will haunt them for years…
Did I ever exist?
by Naomi L. | August 22, 2014 | Flash Fiction, J.C. Wolfe's Writing |
Personal Log – Planet CCCLXV: Day 3
We had our first encounter with native intelligent lifeforms today. As expected, they’re rather bizarre and, in my opinion, frightfully ugly. They have rigid figures topped with a single round multi-cavity structure, which we suspect hold their cognitive centers. Each lifeform only possesses two optical organs, both of which face forward; it’s a wonder how they can see anything at all. Stranger still, however, are the limbs protruding from their cores: four stiff members that bend in the middle. It’s lucky those limbs are jointed, else the creatures wouldn’t be able to move or perform any functions. Speaking of functions… No, perhaps it’s best we don’t understand. That would be the stuff of nightmares to last for weeks.
Adapted from a writing prompt from Writer’s Carnival: Alien Reversal.
Write a paragraph on an encounter with an alien… only you are the alien meeting a human for the first time. Make it funny, scary or completely off the wall.
I imagine extraterrestrials would be just as horrified by us as we would be by them! I hope you enjoy what I’ve written. Thanks for reading!
by Naomi L. | August 15, 2014 | Flash Fiction, J.C. Wolfe's Writing |
It’s you and me, sweetheart.
Don’t be afraid. Forget the crowd, the lights, the world. Just like we practiced, all alone in the tent every night.
Follow my lead: reach out your gentle trunk and lift me into the air. I’ll climb aboard, and we’ll dance in the ring like only the stars are watching.
Everyone will love us, but we don’t dance for them. We don’t dance for anyone but us.
Tonight, baby, it’s only you and me.
Based on a circus-themed writing prompt from Writer’s Carnival: Class Act.
Using 100 words or less, write about a circus act. […] You can describe it, write about it from the POV of the circus performer, or even make up your own circus act.
The circus act I chose was a dance between a trainer and her beloved elephant partner. I hope you enjoy what I’ve written. Thanks for reading!
Note: for the record, I consider the use of animals in circus performing highly unethical and am strongly against it (which is why the only circus I really like is Cirque du Soleil). I simply took advantage of a circus-themed writing prompt to portray an emotional bond between a human and an elephant, as I consider elephants to be among the most fascinating creatures in the world. Thank you!
by Naomi L. | July 25, 2014 | Flash Fiction, J.C. Wolfe's Writing |
No one could believe it when they saw Johnny in first place. He was moving so fast, spectators hardly noticed him the moment he came round the corner. Just two more miles, he thought, then he’d finally prove himself to the whole town. “No one can move like Johnny!” they’d say. “He beat the world record!” Yes, he’d be a champion, and for the first time in his life, everybody would care.
—
No one could believe it when they saw Johnny in first place. He was moving so slow, spectators hardly noticed him the moment he came round the corner. Just two more miles, he thought, then he’d finally prove himself to the whole town. “No one can move like Johnny!” they’d say. “He beat the world record!” Yes, he’d be a champion, and for the first time in his life, nobody would care.
Based on a writing prompt from Writer’s Carnival: Banana Split.
Write a mini scene, no more than 200 words, about anything at all. Then when you’re finished, take two words and swap them with their opposites (for example, you would switch love with hate or cold with hot, left with right, etc.). Try to pick words that will scramble the read and/or make it humorous.
To make my way of thinking clear, I wrote out both versions of this scene: first the original, then the opposite. I hope you enjoy what I’ve written. Thanks for reading!
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