A Very Similar Spot

Steve and Hannah stepped off the cliff together.

"Do you remember the time--" Steve interrupted her before she could finish.

"Of course I do."

They had met at a similar spot. It had been the threat of death that had first brought them together, the romance of knowing their lives literally hung in the balance that had caused them to fall in love, the thought that overcoming danger together was the perfect way to start a relationship.

Hannah looked at her husband as the ground fast approached and sighed at the memory.

"I never realized irony could be so deadly."

The Daily Theme from Figment for Jan. 11, 2012(Because today's theme was completely inappropriate for a 100 word story.)

Frame story: Two people are in the midst of an intense moment—a break-in, a breakup, a breakdown. At the height of the dramatic action, one person illustrates a point by offering an anecdote about a similar situation. Delve briefly but deeply into that example, giving it as much richness as the framing narrative. Then return to your original story about the two characters. Don’t worry about neatly resolving their tale, but explore if the anecdote has changed the pair…

Contemplation And Cowardice

On an exceptionally hot evening early in July a young man came out of the garret in which he lodged in S. Place and walked slowly, as though in hesitation, towards K. bridge.

He had successfully avoided meeting his landlady on the staircase. He owed her money, and the thought of seeing the old crone--whose heavenly recommendations on judgement day will not take up much of her inquisitor's time--and hearing her bleat about the rent was enough to make him contemplate murder.

But as with most things in life, the thought was never more than a pleasant diversion.

The Daily Theme from Figment for Jan. 18, 2012Courtesy of Lev Grossman

T.S. Eliot wrote: “Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.” It’s just as true of novelists as it is of poets. Try stealing something from a writer you like: a style that works for you, or a character you love, or a situation or a moment that really floored you. See if you can work it into your own plot. Often you’ll find that by the time you’re done, you’ve made the style or the character or the situation your own, and what started out as theft has turned into inspiration.

I stole the first two sentences from Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, and did my best to make it my own. Obviously, Dostoevsky had a lot more space to play around with his characters.

A Prompt A Day

For the rest of the month and on into February (until whenever I get tired of it) we'll be posting a story based on a prompt from the good people over at Figment. They are featuring a prompt a day from a variety of authors in order to help stimulate your writing.

I'll be including the prompt at the bottom, so feel free to send in your own stories based on your prompt, and we'll post the best ones.

Happy Spring Festival!

A Mystery Unraveled

Gordon Seckenheim dedicated his post-doctoral research to insect behavior. Specifically, he wanted to learn why moths are attracted to a flame.

His work determined that the moths killed in this way are suicidal. As corroborating evidence, he cited the global human suicide rate of .0074 percent. When you figure there are an estimated 200 trillion moths and butterflies, it makes sense that millions would kill themselves every night. It's simple mathematics.

It was accounted a strange coincidence when Dr. Seckenheim himself committed suicide after his marriage ended.

Or it may have been that his emotional state somehow clouded his analysis.

Simon And The Magic Beans

Simon skipped home with a proud smile. He'd traded his family's last gold piece for three magic beans. He was so looking forward to seeing his mother's face.

His mother's rage was unlike anything Simon had ever seen. She tossed the beans out the window and nearly skinned him alive. She lamented how Simon had brought the family to ruin.

The ruin extended beyond just the family. After the first heavy rain, the beans came alive and began eating all the villagers. Simon insisted the old witch had promised they were vegan beans, but no one had time to listen.

The Boss Man

"The Boss Man is coming!"

The shout was uttered every morning--though later than was expected of the rest of them--tinctured with fear and disdain. They all hated the man, but there was no hope of escaping.

He was a modern day tyrant, controlling his domain as surely as Alexander controlled the Dardanelles. His employees learned quickly to fear him. Those who did not were generally shot in the head and left for dead on the sidewalk down below.

In this economy, no one dared to quit. Everyone acknowledged it was better to get executed than to risk unemployment.

Carver's Law

Moore's law describes a long-term trend in the history of computing hardware: the number of transistors that can be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit doubles approximately every two years.

The law really should be called Carver's law, because George Washington Carver first hypothesized the same for peanuts. I remember my grandfather telling me that when he was a boy, peanuts were as large as a cantaloupe. These days you can fit about ten peanuts on a ritz cracker, and I can envision a future where we'll all be talking about nanopeanuts. I pray I live to see that day.

The Holy Grail

Percival's search for the Grail is the embodiment of commitment and perseverance. His quest has endured for centuries, taking him to all corners of the globe and even off planet. His heroic deeds, though not well known, will forever be equated with righteousness and purity of motive.

The irony, of course, has not been lost on anyone, least of all God. Jesus never actually drank from a cup at the last supper. The story was meant as a metaphor. Percival's search, while admirable, will always be in vain.

When God told him the truth, Percival decried him as an idolater.

Grand Theft

The Cadillac hurtled through traffic like the driver was at the controls of a video game. He sideswiped several sedans and ran one SUV off the road entirely as he jumped the median and exited the highway from the on-ramp. When he crashed into the guard rail, he brandished a semi-automatic weapon, shot several innocent bystanders, and carjacked a new vehicle. The carnage continued for several hours.

News blogs later reported that seventeen motorists died, including four prostitutes. Journalists speculated on the driver's motive. No one guessed that he was actually a video game developer who had forgotten his medication.

The Toy Chest

Brian wasn't sure how it happened, whether it was the Christmas wish just before his father's death, or the aftereffects of some magical spell uttered generations before in his attic, but every night, when his mother wasn't around, his toys came alive.

The stuffed bears and jungle cats. The toy soldiers. The plastic dinosaurs and the racing cars.

His life was now a living hell. He didn't mind the work itself, but the beatings and tongue-lashings were, to his mind, excessive. If only the toys would tell him what they wanted in a calm manner, he'd finish everything without complaint.