Ferryman
Raggedy doll, found.
He finished his cigarette,
lifting yellow tape.
----
A mixture of Noir, Horror, Horrible Noir, and a dash of dirty
Drabble challenge April 2024: ARISE
Spring has sprung and it's the Easter season. (Yeah, yeah, it was in March, but just go with it, eh?) This month's drabble challenge is THE UNDEAD. Give me a 100 word prose story, using standard English and punctuation, that tells a tale of the restless dead, arisen from their eternal slumber. Zombies, Vampires, Wights, Revanants, you pick it. I'll pick the winner sometime around the first of May.
Ends May 1, 2024 • 10 Entries • Created by Ferryman in Horror & Thriller
$2.00
March '24 Drabble: Lucky Duck
Write me a prose story in exactly 100 words, using standard spelling and punctuation, on this topic: Luck. Good luck, bad luck, no luck, hard luck, whatever. It's supposed to be the month celebrating the Luck of the Irish, but anybody who has studied history can tell ya...luck is really, really subjective. I'll pick the winner in early April, unless I forget until mid April.
Ended April 1, 2024 • 11 Entries • Created by Ferryman in Flash Fiction
$2.00
February Drabble Challenge: "Love and Hate"
Well, it's Valentine's Day time, so let's get cliche. Write me a prose story in exactly 100 words tying into the theme of love or hate or Valentine's Day. Any genre, but horror has a special place in my heart. Winner gets a pair of George Washingtons, baby. Wanna win? Stick to prose using standard rules of grammar, spelling, and punctuation. I'll choose the winner in early March.
Ended March 1, 2024 • 20 Entries • Created by Ferryman in Flash Fiction
$2.00
January Drabble: "Some would say your life was sad,
but you lived it anyway" lyrics challenge
Incorporating lyrics from the song, "Far Behind" by Candlebox, tell me a story in exactly 100 words. Stick enough of the lyrics in your drabble to make it obvious you're following the challenge goals, but you don't have to copy/paste big chunks. I'm curious to see what y'all can do with prose on a song lyric challenge; my last lyrical prompt generated some STELLAR stuff. Get after it! Winner selected by me sometime in early Feb, entries need to be written as prose following conventional spelling, punctuation, and grammar to be considered eligible for a win or honorable mention. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHi8bwGsaKE
Ended January 31, 2024 • 10 Entries • Created by Ferryman in Flash Fiction
$2.00
December Drabble Challenge: The best gift
Write a drabble (a story of exactly 100 words) with the theme of "The Best Gift." Was it something you received? Something you gave? A state of being? Use your imagination, spin a flash fiction yarn. Please stick with prose using standard punctuation, spelling, and grammar. Winner gets a whopping TWO DOLLARS to spend on a GIFT OF THEIR CHOICE! I'll pick a winner sometime in early January.
Ended December 31, 2023 • 17 Entries • Created by Ferryman in Flash Fiction
$2.00
As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti
Using lyrics from the classic song by Toto, "Africa," give me a short story of less than 1000 words. You aint gotta use ALL the lyrics, but somewhere in the prose, slide in some recognizable references. Any topic. Go with prose using standard accepted spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Poetry will be mocked and set afire.
$2.00
November Drabble: NO THANK YOU
It's now Thanksgiving season, but let's mix this up a little. Give me a drabble incorporating the phrase "No thank you" in some way. Break it up. Use it all at once. Whatever. Just put "No" "Thank" and "You" in there somewhere. Wanna win? Here are the rules: Exactly 100 words using conventional spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Prose only. Poetry will be mocked, cussed, and set afire. I'll pick a winner sometime around December 2.
Ended December 1, 2023 • 26 Entries • Created by Ferryman in Flash Fiction
$2.00
October drabble challenge: OH, THE HORROR!
Spooky season celebration! Give me exactly 100 words of HORROR fiction. Please use standard punctuation, spelling, and grammar to craft a prose tale of exactly 100 words. Gimme something that reads like a scary story to send chills down my spine. I'll pick the winner and read all the entries somewhere near Nov 1.
Ended November 1, 2023 • 36 Entries • Created by Ferryman
$2.00
September Drabble Challenge: Heroic
Tell us a 100 word PROSE story (using standard grammar, punctuation, and spelling) about something heroic. Super hero? Sure. Real life hero? Okay. Fictional heroic act? Right on. Tie it in to the theme "hero" in some way. Winner will be decided by me in early October
Ended October 1, 2023 • 10 Entries • Created by Ferryman in Flash Fiction
$2.00
August Drabble Challenge: MURDER!
Tell me a story using good, solid prose in exactly 100 words. This month, tie it in to MURDER. Not necessarily the act itself, but that'll be fine, too; use your imagination. I want a super short story somehow related to doin' murder. No need to tag me, I'll read all the entries in September and select a winner.
Ended September 1, 2023 • 41 Entries • Created by Ferryman
$2.00
July Drabble Challenge: MURRICA
Tell me a story tied to the USA in exactly 100 words. Winning entry will be selected by me and will be a prose, not poetry, submission. Wow me with your lean, mean, American tale in honor of the Fourth of July. Take it in a patriotic direction, an ironic spin, tell a war story, or examine the modern United States with a critical eye (or all of the above). Tie in to the theme in any creative storytelling way you can. I'll read and judge the entries in early August.
Ended August 1, 2023 • 20 Entries • Created by Ferryman in Flash Fiction
$2.00
June Drabble Challenge
Write a tale in exactly 100 words. For this challenge, I'll use a thematic prompt, and the winner has to tie in to it somehow. THE PROMPT: write a drabble that somehow, someway connects to Pride Month or coming out. Get creative, just stick to 100 words of prose. I'll post the winner sometime in July.
Ended July 1, 2023 • 15 Entries • Created by Ferryman in Flash Fiction
$2.00
Write a drabble (a story of exactly 100 words).
In Prose only, 100 words exactly, tell me a story. Fiction or fact, fantastical or realistic, just make it lean, mean, and punchy. No theme assigned this time, let's see what you can do without guidance. I'll choose the winner in June.
"You'd want to keep me. I'd want to be kept. What a disaster that would be."
Use the above as a direct quote, or as an inspiration for your piece. Feel free to generate any kind of writing you choose, but know this: I probably won't choose poetry as the winner. I'm not a huge fan of the stuff.
Ended August 12, 2017 • 28 Entries • Created by Ferryman
$1.00
Up In Smoke: Craft a shortstory, drabble, vignette, or poem that features, includes, or describes the act of smoking.
As a literary device, I love cigarettes. As a real-world item, I hate them. They stink. They're expensive. They're addictive.
In film or a piece of writing, though, they're silent characters with souls of their own. I love the smoky exhalation, the expectant inhale. I'm amazed at those white tendrils, reaching skyward, or the plume expelled into a face by an antagonist.
I love the words and images surrounding smoking.
We can twist the act any way we want. Build suspense. Create tension, or relieve it. Even find humor in the weakness of the addiction.
Let me see your spin on it.
$3.00