A Flash Fiction contest by D. Avery
Co Judges: Bonnie Sheila and the Amazing Educator

THE CONTEST

Sometimes fear, respect, and awe are the braids of one rope. Sometimes that one rope is all a buckaroo has to hang onto. Your flash should never let go of that rope.

Think of a dangerous situation that people willingly engage in. It need not be heroic with a heroic outcome for it is ill-advised to sit down on a bull or to run with them charging down the same narrow street. But people do. Why? Explore the motivation for the character; how did they come to be in this situation?

A high scoring bull rider stays on an athletic bucking spinning bull for eight seconds after exploding out of the chute. They are dance partners, with a grace that is gritty and brutal. The rider holds that braided rope for dear life, knowing the only thing worse than being on a bull’s back is to be at its mercy on the ground. The fascination with danger or the tension of being in a dangerous situation should permeate your story.

A high scoring writer will maximize that eternal eight seconds, letting the reader know what that dangerous situation smelled like, tasted like, sounded like, felt like, looked like. Put the reader on that bull’s back. Give the reader the sound and the fury of a dangerous situation.

These tracks from Marty Stuart’s Way Out West album may set the tone for this prompt. Enjoy and have a good ride.

The rules:

1. Every entry must be 99 words, no more, no less. You can have a title outside that limit.
2. Write a story that shows the sound and the fury of an intense and dangerous situation that the main character willingly chose.
3. There are two dance partners; show the fury of the danger, be it a bucking bull or some other dangerous liaison.
4. The sound; use sensory details to put the reader in the main character’s dance shoes.
5. Bonus points for revealing the character’s motivation/fascination for dancing with danger.
6. Use the form provided below to enter (open this post if you are reading it in an email). If you do not receive a confirmation email, notify wordsforpeople@gmail.com.
7. Entries must be received by November 7, 2018, at 11:59 p.m. (EST). Contest winner, second and third place entries announced here December 14, 2018
8. Go where the prompt leads.
9. Have fun.

For word count, use Microsoft Word or wordcounter.net. Be aware that punctuation and word-hyphens can change your word count so run it through one of those two counters.

Judges for this event are D. Avery, Bonnie Sheila, and the Amazing Educator.

D. Avery, Rough Writer spinner of Ranch Yarns, shares prose and poetry at ShiftnShake. She has published two books of poetry, Chicken Shift and For the Girls. Her third book, After Ever, little stories for grown children, is evidence of her shift to fiction writing. You might find her funny, except when she’s serious, but you can certainly find her at Twitter and Amazon.

Bonnie Sheila is a crafty woman who lives by the sea and who has taken up quilling to keep herself off the streets. Her art can be viewed at Crescents and Coils. She has many talents, but fishing is not one of them.

The Amazing Educator has fiercely and fearlessly championed children for thirty years. Hundreds of people read, write, and even spell well because of her. She is a voracious reader and fearless leader of book groups who has also worked as an editor. When tooling about in her Jeep, Dog is her copilot.

In judging we will apply the following criteria:

1. Word count: 99
2. Use of the prompt.
3. Dance moves; there is a respect and grace between the danger and the endangered.
4. Imagery; a compelling use of sensory details makes the reader feel the music behind the dance, illustrates the fascination with the danger.
5. The story brings understanding as to why a person would engage in a high-risk situation.

Thank you for entering! The contest is now closed. Winners announced December 14, 2018, at Carrot Ranch.