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Sunday, March 3, 2013

Five Sentence Fiction: Empty

This story is linked with Lillie McFerrin's Five Sentence Fiction where the word of the week is "Empty".

In "Quarter Past Twelve", Roy is struggling to get past his writer's block, but will soon find that a lack of ideas is the least of his concerns.


Quarter Past Twelve

The white empty screen had been pestering his conscious for the past couple of days, the cursor appearing to blink at a faster rate as if to mock him for his creative mental block. It was close to midnight when Roy decided to step out for a pack of cigarrettes and relieve some tension, leaving one simple sentence hanging on the screen that read: Once there was a man named...

Later, as he walked back to his apartment, Roy scribbled a few notes on his notepad. An idea was beginning to brew as he began unlocking his door, and as he sat before his computer to begin typing, he was taken aback by the words on the screen that read: Once there was a man named Roy, whose life had been changed in an instant when a visitor came to him during the midnight hour.

Roy looked at his desk clock, finding that it was a quarter past twelve, just when a knock on the door confirmed the visitor's arrival.

5 comments:

  1. I like this very much, as writers we can be haunted by that blinking cursor, and to find the sentence completed, and then about to be fulfilled leaves us very curious about what will next transpire... great story!

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  2. How many times have I sat and stared at a blank screen? A curious story which leave me wanting to know more.

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  3. Now you've got me hooked! I don't whether I want him to answer the door or not. Visitors at the midnight hour doesn't bode well. And who could have typed the message? Loved this! Very fun piece.

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  4. Great twist...sometimes I wish the words would just appear on the screen...but perhaps not those words!

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  5. Great story! I want to know what happens next!

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