2023 February Flash Fiction Challenge: Day 14
Write a piece of flash fiction each day of February with the February Flash Fiction Challenge, led by Managing Editor Moriah Richard. Each day, receive a prompt, example story, and write your own. Today’s prompt is to write based on a random quote generator.
HALFWAY THERE!
How are you feeling about your work so far? Even if you haven't been able to write every single day (or maybe your story didn't quite come out how you wanted it to, or you know it has to be longer than a flash fiction story to do it justice), even writing one story is a big accomplishment.
And I hope you're having as much fun as I am!
For today’s prompt, write based on a random quote generator. You can use the one I linked or find your own—whatever works!
The quote the generator gave me was from W.E.B. Du Bois's The Souls of Black Folk: "It is a hard thing to live haunted by the ghost of an untrue dream; to see the wide vision of empire fade into real ashes and dirt.”
Remember: These prompts are just starting points; you have the freedom to go wherever your flash of inspiration takes you.
(Note: If you happen to run into any issues posting, please just send me an e-mail at mrichard@aimmedia.com with the subject line: Flash Fiction Challenge Commenting Issue. Fingers crossed there are no tech hiccups!)
Here’s my attempt at a story based on a random quote generator:
The Haunting
I am rising to do the work of a human being. Before me, my day will be filled with the muscle memory of chewing and blinking and breathing. Listening. Listening. Talking and being talked over. I will walk the dog and smile at the neighbors and hope it does not look like a wound freshly opened. When my mother calls to check in with me, I will breeze past her judgment and paranoia with an ease born of practice.
When I lie in bed at night, I will wonder if I’m a ghost in my own life. Haunting; being haunted.
Since obtaining her MFA in fiction, Moriah Richard has worked with over 100 authors to help them achieve their publication dreams. As the managing editor of Writer’s Digest magazine, she spearheads the world-building column Building Better Worlds, a 2023 Eddie & Ozzie Award winner. She also runs the Flash Fiction February Challenge on the WD blog, encouraging writers to pen one microstory a day over the course of the month and share their work with other participants. As a reader, Moriah is most interested in horror, fantasy, and romance, although she will read just about anything with a great hook.
Learn more about Moriah on her personal website.
