99-Word Fiction | But I Smile Anyway...

March 25: Flash Fiction Challenge

26 Mar 2021 22 Comments

by Ritu in #CarrotRanch Tags: 99-Word Fiction, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Carrot Ranch, The Great Escape

Charli’s Carrot Ranch Prompt:

March 25 2021, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write an escape. It can be daring or subtle. Who is escaping from what and why? Go where the prompt leads!

The Great Escape

I gingerly opened the cage to add the birdseed into the pot. Heer sat there, staring at me with her beady eyes.

She had a tendency to peck, so the faster I could get my hand in and out the better.

Having deposited what I needed to, into the pot, I slammed the door shut, and breathed a sigh of relief and turned to see the cat watching me, or rather watching something behind me.

Somehow the cage door had bounced open again, and Heer had hopped out of the cage!

That great escape was going to end badly!

https://carrotranch.com/2021/03/25/march-25-flash-fiction-challenge-2/

March 18: Flash Fiction Challenge – One Year Later

19 Mar 2021 22 Comments

by Ritu in #CarrotRanch Tags: 99-Word Fiction, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Carrot Ranch, Flash Fiction, One Year Later

Charalie’s Carrot Ranch 99-word fiction prompt:

March 18, 2021, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story that takes place a year later. It can be any year. Explore the past year or another significant passing of time to a character. Go where the prompt leads!

I crack my eyes open and reach over to switch off the alarm.

Sitting up, I rub the sleep from my eyes, and instinctively pick up my phone to check my messages.

The first thing I notice is the date.

A year. It’s been a whole year, since you went.

A whole year since you last told me off for grabbing my phone, first thing every morning.

A year I’ve cried myself to sleep.

I smooth my hand over your side of the bed, an indent no longer obvious.

But the indent in my heart.

That will never fill.

March 18: Flash Fiction Challenge

March 11 Flash Fiction Challenge – Deep Wishes

12 Mar 2021 22 Comments

by Ritu in #CarrotRanch Tags: 99-Word Fiction, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Carrot Ranch, Deep Wishes, Flasah Fiction

Charli Mill’s Carrot Ranch Flash Fiction Prompt this week:

March 11, 2021, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about deep wishes. Where is the deep — in the sky, the ground, or outer space? What kind of wishes reside there for whom and why? Go where the prompt leads!

Deep Wishes

I’m tired.

Tired of pleasing everyone else, all the time, and never doing anything for myself.

She noticed my mood.

She notices everything.

Approaching me with a cup of my favourite tea, she settled me on a chair, told me to calm down, before handing me the cup.

“Breathe, Nina. Let it out. You know you’re doing a fantastic job, but you can’t forget your dreams. I remember what you were like when you started here, filled with ambition and amazing ideas. Come on, dig deep. What were your wishes, then? It’s time for you to think about yourself.”

March 11 Flash Fiction Challenge

February 25: Flash Fiction Challenge – Frozen

26 Feb 2021 49 Comments

by Ritu in #CarrotRanch Tags: 99-Word Fiction, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Carrot Ranch, Flash Fiction, Frozen

Charli’s Carrot Ranch Flash Fiction Challenge, this week:

February 25 2021, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story using the word frozen. It can be descriptive, character focused, action driven. Go out onto the ice and find a frozen story. Go where the prompt leads!

Frozen

All I could hear were titters, whispering, and the odd lewd comment, and there was nothing I could do about it.

Well, of course I was telling them to ignore the unignorable, and continue to listen to me, as I explained the importance of probability.

My words fell on deaf ears. I could imagine the screen shots, and subsequent memes flooding WhatsApp.

My face, frozen on screen, with my mouth wide open, eyes closed, as if I was in the midst of something much more pleasurable than teaching maths.

Dang remote learning, unstable internet connections, and bloody live lessons!

February 25: Flash Fiction Challenge

February 18: Flash Fiction Challenge – Purpose

19 Feb 2021 43 Comments

by Ritu in #CarrotRanch Tags: 99-Word Fiction, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Carrot Ranch, Flash Fiction

The Carrot Ranch Flash Fiction Challenge:

February 18, 2021, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story where a character is in the right place at the right time. It may be cause for celebration! Go where the prompt leads!

We All Have A Purpose

Walking home, shoulders slumped, I wondered what my purpose was.

No one really needed me. What use was I?

Might as well just keep walking, until I walked off a cliff. No one would miss me.

A sound caught my ear.

A whimper.

I looked around. No one.

Another little yelp brought me closer to a box.

The flap was open, and inside I found him. The runt of the litter, left, abandoned.

He looked up at me with those eyes, and it was in that moment I realised that I did have someone to live for, after all.

February 18: Flash Fiction Challenge