Spooktoberfest Flash Fiction - Soothed

It’s that time of year again - the 5^th Annual Spooktoberfest is here with your hosts from Cover Girls!

Between Monday Oct 24^th thru Friday, Oct. 28^th

You can join the linky list here and submit your flash fiction at any time during this week. Your flash fiction piece can be ANY form of writing as long as it's under 400 words and includes the 5 mandatory words...

Black

Machete

Magic

Skull

Tombstone

It's not too late!!!! It's never too late.

And don't forget... Prizes!!

This year I have opted for a poem which is not my forte, but I figured, why not? 

Soothed

Black machete,

Magic skull.

A tombstone has risen,

And now shall fall.

The caskets laid,

And earths been moved.

My soul is at rest,

And has been soothed.

Wham bam, thank you ma'am! Hope you guys have an awesome week and thanks for stopping by.

Spooktoberfest Entry - It's Not Too Late To Join

It's officially Spooktoberfest time, Oct. 24 - Oct. 28. It's never to late to join as long as your entry is entered during the dates.

To find out more about Spooktoberfest and Scattagories themed challenge, go here!

Here is my entry (for the fun of it of course)

The town bat, Lucifer, flew over our swimming hole, Lake of Fire looking for criminals to bust. Millie the mermaid watched on, downing a pile of sardines and sporting her new vintage corset. Her grandmother gifted her an antique garnet pendent which she twirled around her index finger, her tail flipped in and out of her small pool of water, splashing Talus, the town’s mayor, who floated by on his hovercraft, hoping to catch his daily glimpse of Millie.

Talus wasn’t watching where he was going and flew right into the only park bench in town, causing his whiskers to snap. Talus stood up but couldn’t quite steady himself. He spun in a circle, stepped on his coat tails, and crashed miserably to the pavement. Unfortunately for him, being a cat and all, he needed those whiskers for balance.

“Mr. Mayor!” Millie yelled. She waddled to his side, carrying her first aid kit and medical tape. “Here,” she huffed.

“Oh Miss Millie, you shouldn’t have. I’m quite alright.” He stood again, leaning against the bench. He tried to come off tough a manly but his knees buckled when Millie brush her delicate finger against his check.

She giggled, “Talus, would you like to come over. I’m having my daily snack right now. It’s sardines.”

“I prefer milk and cookies, but I’d be happy to sit with you awhile.” He blushed.



Go ahead, challenge yourself and see what brilliant flash fiction piece you can come up with. It might look daunting but it was SUPER EASY to fit all of the 13 topics.

4th Annual Spooktoberfest

Welcome to the 4^th Annual SPOOKTOBERFEST !!!

This year we are switching things up, Scattergories style!



Copy & post badge on your page, Twitter, FB, etc. Thanks!

Requirements:

1. Copy and post badge on your page!

2. Follow this blog, Cover Girls and on Twitter: @covergirlsdj, if you don’t already. We do follow back.
          You can also find and follow our individual accounts: @jackiefel & @danibertrand

3. Your Flash Fiction piece must be 400 words or less.
 
4. You must use all 13 Scattergory topics in FF piece. Please highlight or underline them in your story, so we know where to find them. (See the mandatory 13 topics below)
 

5. Post your Flash Fiction piece any day from Saturday, Oct 24^th thru Wednesday, Oct. 28^th.
 
6. It’s a blog hop, so… hop around to other participating blogs and leave them some awesome comments (also part of the challenge – everyone deserves some comment love).
 
7. Have fun. Your flash fiction piece can be whatever you like, just be creative! You can use pictures to set the scene and/or a song to set the mood.
 

WINNERS & Runner-Ups will be posted on HALLOWEEN!

We will each choose a winner. That’s right – two winners!
And as an added bonus, we will also be selecting 2 runner-ups this year.
That’s a total of 4 prizes! AWESOME!!
 

PRIZES:

Winners - $20 Giftcards each

Runner-Ups – Either,   1.) a book from our bookshelves

                           OR    2.) a critique (first 10 pages)

 

Oh, and yes, this blogfest is international. So what are you ghouls waiting for? Sign up using the Link below and please, help spread the word (Twitter, Facebook, Blogger, etc).

Jackie and I will also be participating for the fun of it!!

 

Spooktoberfest - Gifted Ward

Welcome to the 3rd annual Spooktoberfest hosted by Cover Girls!

Today is the first day and it's running until Tuesday, Oct. 28th.

This is my attempt to bring a little bit of mild horror to brighten your Halloween drama!

Written in a matter of two hours - give or take a few minutes.

Gifted Ward
by Dani B.
Word Count: 300

“But I don’t want to go!” Walter said vehemently.

“Walter, please. This isn’t easy for me either. I can’t have you around Frankie and Beatrice after all the commotion you caused with your father yesterday,” she whispered, “The crotch of his trousers didn’t catch on fire by itself!” Mother held Walters hand as tight as she could through the halls of the, Gifted Ward, as she called it.

“I didn’t mean to Mama, you have to believe me. I didn’t mean to!” Walter yelled.

“I know,” Mother patted his hand, “you came out cursed. Fourteen years later I thought you would’ve grown out of it.” Mother wondered the hallway looking for the room number Doc told her. “Come on now, W–”, Mother paused as she spotted a little girl looking out a window.

The girl with long braids and a blue gown stood entranced in her picture window.  Mother’s attention, though, was on the little girls feet hovering several inches off the ground. The sight sent chills through Mother’s body like a virus. “Freaks,” Mother spitted under her breath.

When they finally arrived at room 991, Mother saw something even stranger than the little girl in room 987. A boy about Walters’s age squeezed through a thin slit in what looked like a cocoon suspended from the ceiling.

“Hello.” The boy bent into a flamboyant bow, tiny ripples fluttered up his back until a pair of wings unhitched and cascaded down his back, peaking out the bottom of his shirt, “I’m Markim,” he said when he stood.

Mother ignored it, turned, and left Walter standing there.

“So,” said Markim, “what brings you here?”

A black feeling weld up inside of Walter, “My father has been doing bad things to my little sister so I scorched him where it mattered.”



It's definitely not too late to participate in this! Go over to Cover Girls and sign up now!!

3rd Annual Spooktoberfest Hosted by Cover Girls

Are you feeling spookerific?

It’s baaaaack! 

 

Welcome to the 3^rd annual  SPOOKTOBERFEST hosted by Cover Girls!

This year we are doing a bit of a rewind and using the original Spooktoberfest requirements.

 
Requirements:

1. Follow Cover Girls blog if you don’t already. It will be reciprocated!
          And on Twitter: @covergirlsdj
You can also follow our individual accounts: @jackiefel & @danibertrand
If you have a Twitter account, please feel free to use the hashtag #spooktoberfest14

2. Your Flash Fiction piece cannot be any longer than 300 words. Sorry… that’s part of the challenge.

3. You must use the MANDATORY 5 words listed below…
      (You may use any variation of these words as you like.)

            chill
            cocoon
            commotion
            curse
            virus

4. Post your Flash Fiction piece any day from Friday Oct 24^th thru Tuesday, Oct. 28^th.

5. It’s a blog hop, so… hop around to other participating blogs and leave them some awesome comments.

6. Have fun.

Your flash fiction piece can be scary, comical, romantic, or whatever you choose, just be creative! You can use pictures to set the scene and/or a song to set the mood.

The winners will be posted on HALLOWEEN, Oct. 31st!

Jackie and I will each choose a winner. That’s right – two winners!

 

PRIZES: This year I will be giving away a $25 giftcard of your choice! Check out Jackie's page to see what she's giving away!

 

Oh, and yes, this blogfest is international. So what are you ghouls waiting for? Sign up using the Linkie Thing below and please, help spread the word!

 

Spooktoberfest is Here

Jackie and I are so excited and we can't wait to read what you all have come up with! YAY!!

If you are late to party - don't worry you can check out the deets here or just click on the Page Tab button labeled SPOOKTOBERFEST. It's that simple. And once you have decided to participate; please sign up using the Linky Thingy and submit your piece no later than Midnight Oct. 29th.

Now I normally Flash Fiction scarier pieces but I wrote this last week when I was the carrier of a super sludge bug that didn't want to let go. So I wrote a more relaxed, humorous slice.

Sonsawitches

“What the hell just happened?” I asked, pulling cobwebs out of my hair.

“Those jerks locked us out,” Jackie huffed.

“Sonsabitches! This is the last time I’m going Trick-or-Treatin’ for them.”

“I have a key, hold on.” She tucked the broom under her arm and sat her cauldron full of candy, on the steps, next to my feet. “Let me dig in here,” she murmured, fumbling with her witch’s gown. “Got it!”

“Ouch! Watch it!” I covered my eye.

“What?” She glanced over her shoulder, causing me to back up so her broom didn’t knock me in the head again - to no avail.

“Ouch! Stop moving your broom! It's stuck in my hair now.”

She tugged anyways.

“Jeezus! Stop! The ends feel like razor blades.”

“Don’t be a baby. I got this! Just hold still.” She leaned in to get a better look.

“Jackie. Don’t. Move.”

Her eyes grew big with panic. “What? Why? Is something behind me?”

“No. My foot is stuck in your candy bucket.”

“What! Oh Lord, the kids are gonna kill you.” She giggled through clenched teeth. “Hold on let me get your foot unstuck first, then I’ll get my broom loose.

While she fiddled with that forsaken cauldron, I decided to mess with the broom instead of waiting. In my triumph I held the broom above my head shouting, “It’s OUT,” despite knocking down a ghost hanging from the tree above us.

“Ouch! Shit! What was that?” Jackie berated.

“Umm,” I held back laughter.

She backed away rubbing her head. “You've got to be kidding me!"

“Jackie watch out–”

CRUNCH

“Crap!" She exhaled.

I tried to warn her. Little did she know, my jack-o-lantern, full of candy, had its mouth open, waiting for her foot.

“Correction. The kids are gonna kill us both.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

IT'S YOUR TURN!

Make sure you read all the requirements:
Your Flash Fiction piece cannot be any longer than 300 words.
You must use the MANDATORY 5 words listed below…
            cobweb(s)
            jack-o-lantern(s)
            ghost(s)
            cauldron(s)
            razor(s)
Make sure you are followers.
Hop around leaving comments.
Have fun!

Side note - Not required: If you have a TWITTER account and have the extra time - go ahead and send out a tweet letting us know you have posted your submittion. Below is our @ accounts and the hashtag.
@jackiefel
@danibertrand

#Spooktoberfest

The winners will be posted on HALLOWEEN! Wednesday, Oct. 31^st. Jackie and I will each choose a winner. These two winners will be gifted with...
... PRIZES: A grab bag of spookified items and bag of their fave candy.

What Are You Waiting For Blogfest

300 words or less, write about a character you are writing about (or make one up) who faces a choice... and have him/her flip a coin to make a decision.

Post your entry on your blog on Wednesday 9/26 and leave a message in Fairbetty's World comments so she doesn't overlook you! If you don't already know, She is starting an editing business called Writing Refinery. Two lucky entrants will receive a free critique of the first 30 pages of your manuscript!

“Dieter! Dieter! How are you my friend?” His German was rusty but better than my Polish.

“I’m good, Jerak, and you?”

His face beamed a smile as bright as the sun but he spoke a hollow, “Better.”

He did look better. Not so scraggy. My fingers nervously roll a bread ball I had hidden in my breeches. If mother knew food had been stolen from her table she’d tan my hide.

“What do you have their?” Jerak’s eyes envied the golden brown sphere I now trolled.

Carefully I placed the ball between the holes in the fence.

“Hey you there!”

I jumped, dropping the ball onto the ground.

“What are you doing here boy?” The soldier hissed, his gun pointed towards the ground.

Nervously I saluted, “Hail Hitler!”

Jerak winced.

The soldier smirked.

“I said what are you doing her boy?”

“I’m – I’m visiting my friend sir,” I tried to sound strong but it came out as a whimper.

“You’re friend?”

“Yes sir. Before – we attended school together sir. I only wanted to bring him bread. Please don’t tell my papa!”

“I’ll make you deal.” He flashed a coin, flipping it through the air. “Heads I let you stay, tails you leave and I tell. Deal?”

I nodded. By now Jerak had half eaten the bread ball. Fear gave way to starvation every time.

By the time I looked back, the coin was resting, covered, on the back of the soldier’s hand. “Ready?”

I nodded again.

“Tails!” He boasted. Time to go home, Dieter. Let’s try again tomorrow.”

We knew tomorrow wouldn’t come. Tears ran down my face as Jerak’s screams were muffled followed by POP, POP.

The thought of my situation made my stomach hitch. My hide is sure to be tanned, for that soldier is my brother.

Flash Fiction Blogfest

Here are the rules:
1. Entries must begin with the two words: Lightning flashed.
2. Entries must be 300 words or less and be in prose. I'm not versed enough in poetry verse to judge it properly.
3. Entries must be posted on your blog between May 21 - 23.
4. You must sign up in the linky to have your entry be counted.
If you want to join in, the host of the blogfest is located here: Cherie Reich's blog.

Here's my entry; the mind of a thirteen year old boy; from Unsurvive

Lightning flashed across the countryside, bringing to life the unstill night. A pod of creepers move from one house to the next in the distance, I'm assuming, scavenging for whatever living creature roams in their path.

Down on the road a few stragglers shuffle by. They’re grotesque but I can’t help but stare from the second story window.

Nahlani stirs in the large bed, probably searching for me but I can’t sleep. She hasn’t cried out for mom yet but it’ll happen. A day hasn’t gone by without her crying for her.

Alexis’ arms cocoon Kylar in the smaller bed we stole for the room across the hall. Both are snoring.

We haven’t slept in real beds for – how many days now? I can’t remember. The days run together. If mom was still around I’m sure she’d know what day it was.

How could she have left us? I don’t understand. She said she would be right back. She promised.

I told her to take her gun but she wouldn’t. It’s all her fault; leaving me in charge. I’m not even old enough to take care of myself.

At least I kept my promise and left our house if she wasn’t back within twenty-four hours. Unfortunately I lost the piece of paper she gave me with the directions to Nanny and Papa’s house.

Now we're in some stranger’s house.

We finished barring up the windows and doors to keep the passing creepers out. The previous owner started but something bad must have happened.

We think the creeper, Alexis killed in the barn, must have been him.

The horses we took from the barn are sleeping in the living room for now. Horses in the living room – mom would not approve. But then again she’s not here is she.

I'm Hearing Voices Blogfest - Flash Fiction

February 10th - Friday - Emotion Flash Fiction

Thanks to Cassie Mae and Angie - I'm Hearing Voice Character Blogfest as been an absolute riot to do. It helped me explore my characters more and meet some great new bloggers. I want to thank everyone for taking the time to read my entries and commenting. The feedback has been encouraging and kind.

Without further ado - here is my Flash Fiction between my protagonist, Reese, and her her sister, Rena - in 250 words (which BTW was very difficult).

“Rena! Stop!” Stephen demands, stepping closer.

            Rena raises her hands out to me. Sparks swirl from them, engulfing me. Sufficating. Blue streaks race around my body, forming a paralyzing cocoon, suspending me in mid-air.

            “I’m sick of always being in the dark,” I say, but not meaning to or knowing why. “If Sigyn wants her dead, then I will help her.” I realize the words flowing out of my mouth, are not mine, but Rena’s. Our energy, so powerful together, it links us in every way.

            “Rena, put her down!” Two voices, my mother and aunts, command.

            Balling her hands into fists, “Squeeze,” Rena sang.

My  sheath obeyed.

            Levona and my mother surround Rena. Mom pulling a slender baton from her boot, as Aunt Lev hoists her staff, pointing it to the ground, a red, electric current, burns a trail behind their every stride, chanting “To be protected from you, This magic ring we will do, With these words we bind thee, For you to let her be, To be protected from your harm, we now seal you with this charm.”

Stephen, Tarrick, Cain, and Amos join in, each one wielding a different color of magic. The glowing ring hovers above the ground at Rena’s waist.

I softly whisper the spell with them. I figure if I’m going to die, why not with my pride attached.

The ring, withers, melting into Rena’s skin. She screams out in agony, wrapping her arms around her stomach. “What did you do?”