Thursday, February 23, 2012

Campaign Challenge 1 #writecampaign

Purrsonal Thursdays will continue next month, but as a campaigner from Rachael Harrie's Fourth Platform-Building Campaign, we have these nifty little challenges, so here's mine.

The Challenge is: Write a short story/flash fiction story in 200 words or less, excluding the title. It can be in any format, including a poem. Begin the story with the words, “Shadows crept across the wall”. These five words will be included in the word count.

If you want to give yourself an added challenge (optional), do one or more of these:

Done! · end the story with the words: "everything faded." (also included in the word count)

Done! · include the word "orange" in the story

Done! (This is a sneak peek from Fighting Gravity, book two of the Gravity series) · write in the same genre you normally write

Done! · make your story 200 words exactly!





Crash and Burn

Shadows crept across the wall. Orange flames smoldered through the metal. She would bake in this intergalactic oven. Acrid smoke coated her tongue with bitter ash. The soft ticking from earlier crescendoed into a pounding beat rivaling her heart’s.

Would the spaceship explode?

Marissa had to leave. Now.

Her footsteps tinned against the floor as she neared the cockpit. A little farther, she would be outside. Sweat collected on her upper lip and seeped into her hair. She blinked her eyelids to clear her cloudy vision.

“Ow!” Her arm knocked against the wall.

Crrraaack!

The spacecraft rocked and pitched forward. Marissa lost her balance and fell. The breath whooshed out of her. Stars flashed before her eyes. She stumbled toward the instrument panel. Broken glass shredded her palms and knees, but she fought to escape.

She tumbled from the window. Fire lapped against the dried leaves. Another crack echoed throughout the forest. Run, her mind urged, but her body begged for sleep. She staggered toward freedom.

Whatever happened to the alien inside?

That last thought struck her as the spaceship exploded. The blast flung her into the air, and she crashed to the ground. Her eyes closed as everything faded.

I'm #165, so if you like this, please go to Rachael's blog here and click "like" at my name. Thank you!

29 comments:

Christine Rains said...

Awesome! That was fast, sharp, and intense. I want to know what happens next. Well done.

Miranda Hardy said...

Very suspenseful. Nicely done. What did happen to the alien inside?

Jess said...

Very cool!! I wish I knew more of the story!! Great job!!

I'm entry #19

Rusty Carl said...

Well done, very surreal.

Unknown said...

Cool! Very vivid! I wondered if this was from one of your Gravity stories, and then I scrolled up and saw that it is.

digillette said...

Nice work! Very intense!

Jay Noel said...

Wow! Love it. I'm thinking the alien was the saboteur!

MISH said...

Edgy... fast-paced... action-packed!
Great job.

Ann Cory said...

Wow! Enjoyed the vivid imagery and action. Great job on pacing! Nice :)

David P. King said...

Yes! Some Sci-Fi action! Reminds me of an alien ship crash I described in my first novel. Man, that was a while ago. Nice one! :)

akoss said...

Fast paced and intense. Oh and with the threat of an alien? double win!!! :D

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

Great sci-fi expose but you killed her off! Eeep.

Melissa said...

Wow! Very good. Intense and action-packed. You definitely get a vote.

Melissa Maygrove
Campaign Entry #149

Mark said...

Looks cool, neat challenge! I'm not very good at flash fiction, but I like the blog:)

Cherie Reich said...

@Christine Rains - Thank you! And you will soon know what happens next, since you're my CP.

@digillette - Thank you!

@MISH - Thank you!

@Ann Cory - Thank you!

@David P. King - That's neat it reminds you of your first novel. :)

@akoss - Thank you!

@Melissa - Aww, thank you! :)

@Mark Noce - Thank you! Flash fiction can be difficult to write, but with practice it gets much easier.

@Susan from My Withershins - Thank you! And soon (May 1st) FIGHTING GRAVITY will be out and everyone could find out what happened to the alien. :D

Golden Eagle said...

I like the short, brisk pace of the sentences!

Voted for your entry.

Misha Gerrick said...

Very well written! I'm really curious about what caused the explosion and who the Alien was. :-)

Brenna said...

Very nice. What did happen? Such a question!

Neil Vogler said...

I like this. Good stuff.

Unknown said...

Gah, you left us all hanging! I wanna know more ._.

#109

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

HA! A great piece! Very exciting.

Deniz Bevan said...

Ooh, I'd love to know what happened. And what's going to come next!

Unknown said...

I loved the action in this right out of the starting gate. Tell me, tell, what happens next? Excellent job!

Carrie-Anne said...

Very intense story, and great imagery! Sci-fi is my favorite genre after historical.

#123

Jamie Dement (LadyJai) said...

I love how good flash fiction always leaves you with questions and possibilities of expansion!

Hope you like mine #189

Sarah Tokeley said...

As exciting and full of questions as ever :-)

Unknown said...

This is so intriguing! It would be a great beginning to a story, I think! It just draws you in!

Unknown said...

I loved this. I'm here for the Platform Building Campaign and look forward to getting to know you and your work. ~Cheers

Unknown said...

Nice si-fi piece! I enjoyed reading it!