Sunday, September 30, 2018

Janet Flash: Down In Flames

by Michael Seese

Writers should always write. Case in point...

A few months back I was walking the dog early one Saturday morning, and came up with an idea for a flash fiction story about a fighter pilot. I wrote about 75 words, including the "kicker" ending. Fast forward to Friday. Janet Reid's latest flash fiction asked us to incorporate the following five words:

fall
plummet
tip
slant
list



in a 100-word flash.

To be honest, I had forgotten about the fighter pilot piece. But serendipity intervened (seriously) as someone I accidentally opened the "short story snippets" file. And there is was. "Plummet" and "fall" seemed like obvious words to work in. I managed to get in the rest, of course. The result is "Down In Flames."

The World War I flying ace cradled the controls, fighting to maintain the dance. His trusty Sopwith Camel spat black blood as she slanted earthward. Pulling hard, he regained altitude. But hope exploded with the engine, and the Camel plummeted, her graceless fall ending in a ball of flame.

Outside the fourth wall, the bespectacled man chewed his pencil, its once-sharp tip a nub, then breathed a sigh of mixed relief.

That’s how we end it.”

God had seen enough.

“Listen, Chuck, I totally get the ‘My creation’ thing. But I’m exercising My right to veto. You can’t kill Snoopy.”


What was the last thing YOU wrote, just because? Save it. You never know., 

No comments:

Post a Comment