Welcome to Week 13 of the Friday Fiction Writing Challenge! Here’s a complete list of all the posts so far. Feel free to join in.
This week’s random word is: Texture
Last week I changed the challenge rules, thinking it would make it a bit more fun. Yeah, thanks Susan of the past. Wow, was it tough.
The tough part wasn’t so much coming up with something for the word, it was the trying to keep it under 250 words.
But, I did manage to get it there. Maybe I had to cut a hundred words here and there to make it fit. Maybe I tore my hair out just a little bit. But I did get there.
So, here’s my response to the challenge (basic editing):
Abby crouched on the dusty floor of the crude subterranean chamber and delicately brushed away the debris on the slab before her. It was magnificent. The history, the artistry, the beauty.
Sir Laurence-Bett’s cane clicked as he paced behind her, his impatience echoing around the chamber. “You’ll authenticate it?”
She traced her fingers along the edge of the ancient stone tablet. “I need to inspect it, then there’s carbon dating…” There was something off with it, the texture was all wrong. Coarse where it should be smooth, crisp carvings where they should be worn. The stone was ancient, but the working of it wasn’t.
Alarm bells sounded in her head. The tablet was a fake—a damn good one—and she’d been too eager to see it before anyone else. So eager, she hadn’t bothered to tell Jason about it.
“You’ll authenticate it now,” he said from behind her, causing her to jump. It wasn’t a question.
Abby forced her breathing back under control. Panicking wasn’t going to help her. She needed to get out of there. Think, think, think. If she could just get past him, she had a chance to lose him in the maze of tunnels leading to the surface. She surreptitiously scooped up some dust from the floor and stood. “I’ll sign whatever you want.”
The man smiled at her. “Good girl.”
Abby steeled herself then threw the dust into his eyes. She sprinted down the nearest tunnel.
“Bitch!” The word echoed behind her.
Thanks for reading! And feel free to join in. Have a great weekend.
HOW IT WORKS
- Don’t think too hard on the word; just write about it for a maximum of twenty-five minutes or 250 words.
- Once you complete your sprint, give it some basic editing.
- Be courageous and post your results to your blog.
RULES
- Complete the challenge on your blog before 1700 UTC of the following Friday.
- Link to the original prompt post and make sure to use the tag Genre Scribes so that we can see all the posts together in WP Reader.
- Your text must be fiction (preferably one you publish in (or plan to).
- No real-life stories.
- The text can be dialogue, an interior monologue, a scene, flash fiction, anything… so long as it’s fiction.
Full information is on the Genre Scribes: Friday Fiction Writing Challenge page.
