Friday 26 October 2012

Spooktoberfest is here! (feat. flash fiction)


Woohoo!! Fun times are afoot today, because it's the start of the Spooktoberfest blogfest, hosted by Jackie Felger and Dani Bertrand. The aim of this game is to write a piece of flash fiction (300 words or less) that contains the following 5 words:


cobweb(s), cauldron(s), jack-o-latern(s), ghost(s), razor(s)


For more info, check out the link above! There is a really cool prize for the winner, too, and it's international!

Anyway, here is my entry, which according to Microsoft Word is 296 words long:

Ghosts of annoying lovers past assault me as I step out into the steamy cauldron of a spring day in Perth, head pounding with a nauseating hangover. Puffy white clouds leer at me like jack-o-lanterns from overhead and I glower to show the world just what I think. 
Why is it always me who has to do the walk of shame? Why don’t these one night stands ever happen at my place? And why must I always be the ultimate cliché and lose a shoe somewhere along the way? 
I hobble gingerly along a weedy garden path to the front gate and push through it, crying out in pain as a stray bit of wire digs its razor-blade sharpness into my right love handle. I take a moment, closing my eyes and drawing deep breaths to clear the cobwebs from my mind. And to try to unclench this damn jaw. ‘Cause this is no way to start off a day. 
Suddenly a high-pitched voice calls out from a short distance away—a horribly familiar voice: “Martha? Is that you?!” 
I open my eyes and no, I haven’t imagined it—that really is my mother across the street, squinting at me in confusion then disbelief. Frantically I look around for a street sign and find one. Dread flowers inside me as I realise why last night’s conquest looked so familiar. Mum’s best friend’s son really has grown into a hottie. But now I know he lives across the road from his mother—directly across the road—and if his bad morning breath wasn’t a deal breaker, this totally is. 
“Martha! I don’t believe it.” Mum’s completely scandalised. “Why are you— How— Where is your shoe?” 
Fitting, really, that today is October 31st. Halloween has never been scarier.

26 comments:

  1. What a terrific piece! I loved it, especially the second paragraph. Great voice!

    Thanks for participating in Spooktoberfest!

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  2. Ha ha! Very good. It would definitely be scary to have your mother catch you like that. Cheers!

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  3. Excellent use of all the words in a so not typical way!

    Loved it!

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  4. Love how you built the words in. Good job!

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  5. Oh funny, but NOT. That is a nightmare. :) Great job!

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  6. What a horrid experience, not only to wake up in the cold light of day and feel ashamed, but to have your mother catch you! What horror! Great piece!

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  7. Funny and terrible all at the same time. And what is it with the lost shoe? I'm always seeing one shoe on the side of the road and wondering where the other one is.

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  8. Very good use of words. I especially like this sentence: "I hobble gingerly along a weedy garden path to the front gate and push through it, crying out in pain as a stray bit of wire digs its razor-blade sharpness into my right love handle."

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  9. HA! I love it! I like that you got all the words in without it being specifically a Halloween story... I mean the date, yes, but that's all. Great job!

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  10. Love this. Fun use of words. Fabulous read!

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  11. Wonderful!! I love how you wove the words into the story. Very nice.

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  12. More fitting might be Friday the 13, lol. Way cool that the words have other meanings than expected. And the walk of shame - in mum's neighborhood - that was priceless. Fabulous character and scene.

    ......dhole

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  13. Hi Trisha
    How horrid to discover you're right at your mother's door, so to speak. A truly scary Halloween tale.
    Nancy

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  14. Oh Lord this would be horrifying! Great voice. Very charming humor! Loved this!

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  15. The horror...the horror....:P

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  16. This is great, I love your use of the mandatory words :)

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  17. haha...I love it. I'm pretty sure this is the scariest story I've read in the bloghop. ;)

    I'm a new follower btw. It's nice to meet you! Great job on this.

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  18. Thanks everyone for your comments, glad you enjoyed my little story :)

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  19. Now there's an "oh crap" moment. What fun!

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  20. Oh my gosh! Love this story, Trish. I like that it's not a traditional Halloween story but in some ways even scarier than most. Well done!

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  21. I'm with Leslie Rose on this one. Great story.

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  22. Cool :-D

    I love reading other people's flash fiction, but all of mine turn into novels, lol. I... can't... stop... lol

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    Replies
    1. I know this feeling very well - when I was doing those 52 short stories last year, a lot of them had novel potential ;)

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Thanks for your words, me hearties! and don't forget to leave a link to your blog somewhere I can find it!