Stealing an idea from Lenore Diane’s Thoughts Exactly flash fiction entry of January 12th, I wrote my version. I’m always a day late and several dollars short. This was supposed to be a Thursday challenge, therefore, I’m not officially competing here, just stealing the writing prompt to force me into fiction. The challenge here was to write no less than 100 words, no more than 250 words, and to include the text “sure you are, tough guy.” So here’s my attempt:
We five had a standing date; each Thursday morning we met at the coffee shop at the base of the hill where we drew twigs for who’d buy the coffee, then drew again for who’d be driving the rest of the way to the ski area.
We were aging physicians with private practices and with wives or exes, kids and/or grandkids, and the need for a weekly injection of adrenaline to restore our youthful manliness.
There was already a line of cars heading up the hill for first tracks in eighteen inches of fresh powder. The ski report claimed the road had been freshly plowed and sanded. The sky was cerulean blue, the sun was creeping over the horizon and Jack had drawn the short twig for driving. We loaded his Suburban and headed off, nursing our hot mugs of coffee.
Five mile up the road, the ice on the road reflected the blinding sun. We met the snowplow on a blind curve. Jack swerved instinctively and the car spun a perfect 360, coming to rest with a sickening thud on the back blade of the plow.
After a moment of deadly silence, we began appraising each other. Jack, groaned. “That was a close call. I’m okay, how about you guys?”
“Sure you are, tough guy,” I said, reaching across the bucket seat to remove a shard of glass that protruded from the back of Jack’s neck, unleashing a gush of blood that steamed down the back of his collar.
Lenore Diane said:
OH MY STARS!!!! Linda, this is incredible! Ding dangity, now I have to work even harder (as if I didn’t know that fact ahead of time). Holy smokes, Linda. Wow. Just wow. (Oh, and glad you played.) …. dang that was good. frickin’ frackin’ competition….
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rangewriter said:
Gee, thanks, Lenore. I love these little flash fiction challenges you post. I’m just always so way behind that I don’t find them till way after the fact. LOL. Keep up the good work.
Linda
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Glenda Hornig said:
very good!! See you are a fiction writer whether you want to be or not!!!
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rangewriter said:
Hell, I’m just a “flash” in the pan…;-)
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norell208 said:
Wow! I didn’t expect that ending!
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John said:
Oh my!
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souldipper said:
Who cares what day it is, Linda, this was great writing. You even dared to write as a male and as one of the good ol’ boys. Yowsers…you did an excellent job.
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rangewriter said:
Awe, Thanks, Amy!
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Priya said:
Where were you hiding?! This is well-written and nicely goosebump-y, Linda! Way to go!
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rangewriter said:
Thanks! Such encouragement from a real fiction writer makes me smile. 🙂
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Laurie said:
Great piece! I’ve tried flash fiction once. I agree, it is a lot of fun. I’ve never worked with a prompt though – something I should try. Fun read Linda! I like the title too – catchy.
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rangewriter said:
Thanks, Laurie. I find that prompts really help me. They sort of point me in a direction.
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writingfeemail said:
Well, that’s a gem Range Writer. You rock!
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rangewriter said:
Why, thank you! You made my day.
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Dia said:
I love it! You’ve got a knack for suspense, Linda. This made me flashback to the piece you wrote about the protagonist riding a horse through the growing cold to check on the neighbor…makes me think I know what happened to the neighbor now. Impaled on an icicle no doubt.
One question though: Did the doctor pulling the shard out mean to try and kill him? Isn’t it usually advisable NOT to pull a foreign object out to prevent a risk of bleed out? Or have I just watched too many TV shows? 🙂
BTW, I found some information for you concerning your particular question about advance directives. It’s in a reply to your comment. Let me know what you find out okay? I’m really curious to know just how complicated this process can get.
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rangewriter said:
Ach, Dia! Trust you to find the bleeding hole in my fiction! You’re probably right. I should have made them a car full of letter carriers…those guys wouldn’t know any better.
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dinkerson said:
I’ve given you the versatile blogger award. I would imagine you’ve had a few of these so…Feel free to hate me later 😉
You’re the best!
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Sandra Parsons said:
What is it with you and cliffhangers, Linda? You just like to let us hang there, don’t you?
But then I suppose it’s part of the appeal of your pieces. Well done. Don’t let anyone tell you you’re not a fiction writer. Including yourself.
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rangewriter said:
Teehee. Actually, I was almost out of words. 😉 Thanks for the encouragement, Sandra.
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Val said:
Excellent!
I find flash fiction difficult for the simple reason that I write and talk too much! 😉
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rangewriter said:
Hey, no kidding. My comments are often as long as most people’s posts! I’m wondering when WP will shut me out completely for excessiver verbosity. I think that’s what I find challenging and intrigueing about the word limit excercises. Plus, they force me to relinquish control and simply let the words follow each other. I think I fear fiction because I am a control freak.
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Sybil said:
Never heard of “flash fiction”, but like it. Next time, don’t pull the shard out, OK ?
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rangewriter said:
Good advice, Sybil! 😉
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