55 Word Challenge
Week Forty-Two
The challenge begins at noon Eastern time every Wednesday and ends at noon Thursday. The story is based on one of three photo prompts and can be written in any genre you choose. My only request is no porn. I don't want to hear graphic details. If it is erotic, make it titillating, not obscene. I know that can be done and done well.
The story is to be posted in the comment section below, along with your twitter handle or email address, so I can contact you if you are the winner. If you don't want to list your email address, send it to me at jezri@writing.com. I promise I won't distribute it, but if you are the winner I need a way to notify you and to send you your prize.
And what does the winner get? This purty badge for one. For two, a gift card for $5.00 from Amazon. This is usually sent to your email within one to two weeks after winning. If anyone is interested in contributing a prize, a book, cover art, whatever you want, let me know and we will work something out.
Welcome back to #55WordChallenge. We are going on a tour today... and visiting my hometown. That's right, we are visiting Bean Town. Yes... that is a giant lima bean.
For those that are uninitiated, the 55 Word Challenge
is a contest to write a story in 55 words or less. Not an easy task, but fun and
I have been blown away by some of the entries. See for yourself, all the past
contests can be found here.
The challenge begins at noon Eastern time every Wednesday and ends at noon Thursday. The story is based on one of three photo prompts and can be written in any genre you choose. My only request is no porn. I don't want to hear graphic details. If it is erotic, make it titillating, not obscene. I know that can be done and done well.
The story is to be posted in the comment section below, along with your twitter handle or email address, so I can contact you if you are the winner. If you don't want to list your email address, send it to me at jezri@writing.com. I promise I won't distribute it, but if you are the winner I need a way to notify you and to send you your prize.
And what does the winner get? This purty badge for one. For two, a gift card for $5.00 from Amazon. This is usually sent to your email within one to two weeks after winning. If anyone is interested in contributing a prize, a book, cover art, whatever you want, let me know and we will work something out.
If you are an artist that would like to have your
work featured, let me know!
Photo
Prompt:
Lima was once a train town in its hayday.
The oil refinery lights us the sky at night. You should see the flame.
And of course our river walk. You will need to hold your breath and don't even think about going for a swim. Your skin may never recover.
Amy is only seven when the alarms sound and her world is changed forever. Alone in a bomb shelter beneath her home, she spends weeks isolated, with only her toy rabbit for company. Then she is rescued. But sometimes monsters exist, even in the light. The war has changed people and the new world has become more dangerous than ever before.
Shameless Plug:
Jezri’s Nightmares: A Year of Horror is a collection of 5 books, containing a total of 70 short stories. Included are all four volumes of Jezri's Nightmares: Flashes From the Grave, Tales of Terror, Psychotic Mumblings and Night Terrors, as well as MONSTERS!
Available on Kindle, Nook, Kobo and Smashwords.
And coming soon:
Fallout
Amy is only seven when the alarms sound and her world is changed forever. Alone in a bomb shelter beneath her home, she spends weeks isolated, with only her toy rabbit for company. Then she is rescued. But sometimes monsters exist, even in the light. The war has changed people and the new world has become more dangerous than ever before.
Empty
ReplyDeleteSomething didn’t smell right. It wasn’t that there was a bad smell; there was no smell at all. 2:17am and eerily dark. Only the moon shone. The hue of lights from the refinery was gone. I opened my window; nothing. I’d lived in this town for forty-eight years and never once has it gone dark.
55 words (title excluded of course)
@DRyanLeask
D.RyanLeask@gmail.com
Travelling
ReplyDeleteIn our travels, we stopped in Lima, Ohio, to see the sights. Michael is crazy for trains, so our first stop was the old rail yard. Even though its heyday had passed, there were still cars parked on the rusting rails, and I imagined I heard ghostly voices calling to one another as their worked.
55 words {without title}
@Angelique_Rider
Corrected entry - Sheesh
DeleteTravelling
In our travels, we stopped in Lima, Ohio, to see the sights. Michael is crazy for trains, so our first stop was the old rail yard. Even though its heyday had passed, there were still cars parked on the rusting rails, and I imagined I heard ghostly voices calling to one another as they worked.
55 words (without title)
@Angelique_Rider
"You're sure?"
ReplyDeleteThe tears she couldn't brush away shone in the midnight gold lights of the refinery.
"I'm sure."
His voice was cold, his breath visible even inside the shelter of his car.
"I'm leaving Ohio. Tonight."
She choked on one last sob before he continued softly:
"And so are you."
@LovelyBrutal
RESPITE
ReplyDeleteVirginia Autumn leaned against the cool aluminum railing, careful not to breathe in too deeply. The river tunnel to the woods was the nicest spot in Haven, but still toxically close to the industrial district choking the air and burning the water.
As police chief, she had much worse than chemical sludge to clean up.
55 words
@DavidALudwig
How could he have known? The water seemed clear enough and it was sweltering outside. A dip couldn’t hurt, right?
ReplyDeleteGreen scales appeared first, spreading across his skin. Next, his body swelled and his shadow grew. Before he knew it, he had destroyed the refinery and rampaged through the old train yard, an unstoppable monster.
55 words
@HLPauff
Jimmy jumped off the train, just another bindlestiff, but one with a plan. He squatted by the river until he found a fella had a suit worth stealing. Spruced up, he made as how he knew some about oil and men. 125 years later, he’s remembered as Honest Jim, best general manager in refinery history.
ReplyDelete55 words
@RRKovar
The Emperor butterfly pointed to the screen, “This is a recreation of a human oil refinery.” The other butterflies were silent, staring at the image. The refinery was a nightmare of lights, wires, pipes, building, and towers pointing skyward, belching fire. “We now believe their civilization died out because it ignored the laws of nature.”
ReplyDelete55 Words.
@LurchMunster
I chose the second photo.
ReplyDelete55 words
gmail is cmstewartwrite
We finally got our solar-powered cities,
transatlantic undersea high speed rail,
and permanent space stations.
Beautiful.
I even got a spandex jacket. Keeps me warm at night.
You rocketed to the Moon. Less smog, I know.
But I miss you.
I look up, imagine you’re waving at me.
In spandex I can finally wave back.
The Refinery churned black smoke into the air day and night until it lay like a gloomy cloud over what remained of the city. When it rained, the urchins would come home stained in black from the soot that remained in the air. The place was the only way the city survived. So they say.
ReplyDelete55 words
@solimond
Take a photograph, and the oil refinery is captured revealing thousands of lights shimmering and sparkling under a darkening blue sky.
ReplyDeleteA picture to fire the imagination with images of steampunk inventiveness, and charm.
But photographs lie.
Those living under the refinery’s shadow witness the truth as the monster belches flame and devours the stars.
55 words
@tollykit