“C’mon, Sarah, let’s go.”
“Be right there. Just reading one more post.”
“Argh. Fine. But at least try to make it quick.”
“No problem. Two minutes.”
“Pfft. Right. I’ll give you five and you still won’t be done.”
“I will. Promise.”
“Not likely. Hey, let’s make this interesting. Care to wager a bet?”
“Sure. You can even time me on your stupid ‘smart’ phone app thing.”
“Already started.”
“Almost done.”
“Tick. Tock. Will you look at the clock. Tsk. Four minutes and she’s still on the laptop.”
“Uh…”
“Oh no. Five minutes! Ha! I win.”
“Uh… So did I.”
Dialogue-only, 99-word flash. That’s what that is up there. Also, it’s a post about my recent win at the Carrot Ranch Rodeo.
The challenge, as you can guess, was to write a 99-word flash with only dialogue. Yikes. And, for added torture fun, the judge, Geoff Le Pard, gave us a picture prompt: 🐢
I somehow managed to pull off a win (actually, two wins since the judging was blind and they had no idea who wrote which story). Yeah, I know. It’s kind of shocking. Also, kind of cool.
The 2nd place flash is slightly darker (and a bit sad) as I’m wont to write. 1st place is slightly humorous (and a bit fun) as I’m less wont to write. 🙂 Here they are for your dining pleasure:
AT THE ZOO
“Mr. Le Pard?”
“He’s not here.”
“Isn’t that him?”
“Yes. It is.”
“Okay. Well I need to deliver—”
“He’s not here at the moment.”
“But he’s right there. You just said.”
“He’s probably at the park…maybe the zoo.”
“Excuse me?”
“You must be new.”
“Well, yes. Today’s my first day. I’m Susan. I told him that earlier but he called me Shelley.”
“Ah, the zoo it is then. He’s off visiting his friend, Shelley, the tortoise. No telling when he’ll be back. Just leave the lunch tray, Susan. One of the nurses can bring his meds back later.”
LET ME SPELL IT OUT FOR YOU
“Mommy, that man’s kissing the tortoise.”
“He’s not kiss…oh, dear God. Zookeeper!”
“What seems to be the problem, Ma’am?”
“The turtle—”
“Ah, yes. Sad state of affairs, that is. And it’s a tortoise.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
“Not much I can do, you understand.”
“I do NOT understand.”
“Can’t just magically change the situation, now can I?”
“You must do something. The turtle—”
“Tortoise.”
“Whatever! Stop giggling, Jenny.”
“Don’t worry, Ma’am. We’ve hired a witch to reverse the spell. Should be here next week. He’ll have his wife back then. Enjoy your day.”
yep you are officially cool and brilliant and I’ve told you so so many times that you didn’t need to go and prove it quite so obviously. Tssk! Any way loved them both (obvs) and glad you went both up and down beat. I am not worthy….
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks, Geoff. This was such a fun (challenging) challenge. I had so many ideas then saw that photo and almost didn’t enter. Glad I did. 😉 Thank you!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Congratulations, Sarah. Both stories are brilliant and it’s very cool that you won both first and second prizes. Well done. You blitzed it! Deservedly so! Your story about winning should win too. You could go on winning forever. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, Norah. 💖 🙂 Much appreciated on all counts. You’re a fantastic cheerleader, you know that?
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’ve got the moves? 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
These are great, Sarah! It’s hard to write just dialogue. Congratulations on your wins!
LikeLiked by 2 people
It really is a challenge but fun to try. 🙂 Thank you!
LikeLiked by 2 people
These are tons of fun, Sarah, and great job sticking with dialog only. Congrats on the wins!
LikeLiked by 2 people
It was fun, actually. 🙂 Thanks, Diana!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, a very worthy win. And you almost didn’t enter? Shame on you!
Guess what? While I loved both your winning entries, I actually preferred the darker version. Who knew, hey? But I loved the third flash introducing this post – perhaps you’re about to win on memoir?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I had a bit of a rough month so didn’t get to enter any other of the contests so no more wins for me.
Thanks, Anne.Yeah, I almost didn’t enter (see above) but glad I did this one. Congratulations to you on your win, as well. (I’m not surprised one bit to learn you liked the darker flash.) 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, sorry you had a shit month, hope things are better now.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Er, well, since it’s a public blog here, I guess I could fib. Nah. The shit is here to stay. At least for a bit. It’s a bit of shit. 🙂 Thank you for the comment, though. Always nice to have those. ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, and big congrats on the memoir win!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks. I doubt I’m the only one surprised that..
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, I know what you mean about it being memoir (I think that’s what you mean, at least) but I’m not at all surprised about the win, Anne. Not at all. Love your writing. (And am looking forward to your collection, btw!)
LikeLiked by 1 person