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WRITER'S DIGEST "Your Story #54" Competition entry

Prompt: Write the opening sentence (25 words or fewer) to a story based on the photo above.

Your whisper slayed me and you did as you promised, leaving her at the altar -- so I waited for you till the tide came in.

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WRITER'S DIGEST "Your Story #52" Competition entry

Prompt: Write the opening sentence (25 words or fewer) to a story based on the photo above.

"With their eyes on the prize, he fingered the axe knowing he had a choice to make: The best Christmas tree, or they disappear forever..."

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WRITERS DIGEST "Your Story Competition #51.

Prompt: Write a short story, of 750 words or fewer, that begins with the following line of dialogue: “Heads, we get married; tails, we break up.”

*****

“Heads, we get married; tails, we break up.”

Bill observed the silver dollar through rheumy eyes. The 1899 Lady L stared blankly off to his left, betraying none of her feelings. The only hint, her lips - slightly taciturn, maybe disapproving. Still, she didn't argue or object. A stoic, unwilling to face him. A face that would decide Bill's fate, whether she cared or not.

The skirt across the table from him was much more lively. Practically dancing in anticipation of the answer. A betting soul, sure to win.

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NPR Three-Minute Fiction 50 Word Challenge: "Memorial Day"

She sips her juice box while her father faces the wall. Her hand holds a black crayon and slightly crumpled rubbing. 

The man traces the 'R' of a name the little girl has never known. A name Gommy hasn't used in 40 years. He stays. They head for the statue.

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[Prompt: Write the opening sentence (25 words or fewer) to a story based on the photo above...]

"His depth perception was failing, or the sky was literally falling - either way he wanted answers and he wanted them NOW..."

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Bending, submitting
Falls to a breaking, shattering
Hope crushed, mingled with a serpent's blood

A gaping maw devours
Gnashing, hellish teeth throw sparks
A sea of black smooths over the hole

A rain of darkness descends
A reign of darkness ascends
And those left above the sea are drowning

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[Prompt: Write the opening sentence (25 words or fewer) to a story based on the photo above...]

"Ripples of Scarlet and alabaster shimmered before him as he lowered the gun slowly to his waist."

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Writer's Digest Short Story Contest Entry, 2013

The man froze in his tracks. His weren’t the only ones pressed into the fresh fall of snow. A scuffling trail of sneakers - a child’s sized 7 - led from his front door, between his own, turning left down the sidewalk.

He panicked, dropping the shopping bag, splitting the milk jug and soaking the newspaper and paper bag of fresh-ground coffee. The cherry twizzler hung limp from his lips, an indecisive weathervane in the still air.

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2013 "Beat the Clock" Contest Entry - Bookrix.com

Slats.

Lucy reached forward to poke her finger through, thinking that maybe she could see better. Jimmy yanked his four year old sister’s hand away from the door.

“Don’t do that!” he hissed. “Be quiet - and still.”

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The challenge: Create a new genre - "Cozy Apocalypse Mysteries"

Take One...

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