Writing Challenges:
Full details about the 81 word writing challenge and the world record attempt can be found on the main 81words writing challenge page.
Most of the ninth collection of 100 stories (stories 801 to 900) received via the 81 words writing challenge was removed from this website on 28th May 2021. I have left all the contributing author names on this page - you can see a list below.
I have also left a few of the stories on the page for you to enjoy. I hope they will encourage you to purchase the anthology :-) Every book sold generates money for a very worthy charitable cause.
You can learn more about the 81 Words Flash Fiction Anthology here.
Story 801:
THEY MET BY MOONLIGHT
by Ros Masterson
“Did you hear that?”
“What?”
“A sort of scratchy sound.”
“Scratchy like an itch?”
“No, scratchy like a shut-out cat.”
He listens. “No.”
The moon goes behind a cloud.
“There it is again. You must have heard it. There’s a really big fox round here.” She clutches his arm.
“Don’t be scared, if it’s only a fox.”
She swings round. “It’s behind me. Not scratchy, swishier than that; like a knife cutting through silk.”
“Oh, that was me – is it silk?”
Story 827:
THE SEASIDE CARAVAN
by Hannah Cole
Liz could barely lug the wheelchair up the steps, or carry Jack through the narrow doorways.
Emily talked about last year, next year, “we always…”, but this would definitely be the last time.
Leaving Emily cocooned in her sandy towel, Liz carried Jack to the water.
He laughed, trying to kick.
As Liz heaved him higher on her hip, a wave knocked them sideways.
Jack spluttered, choked.
Liz screamed, “Towel, Em.”
But Emily was far down the beach. Walking with someone.
Story 868:
THE LIVING STATUE
by Rosalind Adam
With his gilded hat and death-mask smirk, he assumes the pose. His heartbeat slows. He tunes out the lad who yells in his ear. He braces against the drunks who push and cajole.
Neither cheek-muscle twitch nor cramping leg betray the illusion until a passer-by offers a coin. He stirs, sucks air into DVT-prone lungs and morphs into a brief jerk-jive routine. Then, with slowing breath, his blood pressure returns to near-death low, taking street art to the limits of life.
Story 870:
DIVE IN
by Andrew Carter
We jumped into a life raft just before our trawler went down.
We watched it sink – booms, nets and catch.
The boat sank, leaving a white box afloat.
The ocean was terribly rough.
We were very afraid.
We were hungry.
We were so cold.
A raging sea calmed.
A white box floated near us.
I reached towards the box with a paddle.
I managed to bring it in, and what was inside?
Wet matches, toothpicks, floss, diving helmet and dive tables.
Story 887:
WHAT’S THE TIME GRANDAD?
by Tom Gaunt
“Don’t touch that clock,” Grandad had said.
Me being me, I touched it, first having noticed that the time on his clock was wrong: 19:18 the digital display had read.
I looked at my watch, saw it was 15:20 and altered the clock display to the correct time.
I pressed the button on the top and suddenly felt like I was dropping down a very large hole.
Here I am, with my grandad. Two time travellers. The year is now 1520.
Story 896:
LEARNING ENGLISH
by John Vandore
Little Johnny was learning English, thinking one day, when he grew up, he’d know it all. But every time he thought he was getting a grasp of the language, along came something new.
He already knew about subjects and objects, verbs and adjectives and pronouns. He knew about adverbs, but then along came ‘adverbial’, and even an ‘adverbially challenged anthology’. Whatever next?
Little Johnny was so exasperated that he resorted to intensifiers and nearly found out about negators and expletives too…
Story 900:
SHOELACES AND SHEEP
by Ashleigh Whittle
She tripped on her shoelace and dropped the bag. A panicked inhale echoed across the meadow. Sleeping sheep lifted lazy noses to smell the intruders.
“Quickly, Cheryl.”
“I can’t see anything.”
“Shush now.”
The dark blue sky was closing in quickly. “Ouch.” Cheryl opened her eyes and closed them, opened them… Stars swirled in the sky…
“Cheryl, if you drop that bag again – Cheryl?”
Terry turned and saw her lying on her back. A hoof peeked out of the sprawling bag.
Here is a list of the ninth pen of 100 contributing authors, listed in the order their stories appear in the book:
Eileen B
Really enjoyed this challenge. Had to concentrate. The counting and putting in words, taking others out. Thank you for the chance.
Chris Fielden
No problem, thank you Eileen :-)
Bharathi GM
Wonderful, each story was meaningful and conveyed the feeling of the authors.
Chris Fielden
Thank you Bharathi :-)
Michael H
I submitted my entry about 24 hours ago. How long is it from submission until they appear here?
Chris Fielden
Hi Michael, thanks for your message.
I replied to both your 81 word submission and your preposition challenge submission. If you haven't seen my replies, please check your spam folder.
You need to supply a biography, as per the rules. Then your story will be published.
Aerin B
Hi, Christopher! I pretty much have the same question as Micheal H. I submitted my story 24 hours ago, and I'm just wondering when it'll be put up. I supplied my bio and my title, so I'm pretty sure I for have the same problem as Micheal. Basically, when do you think my story will be up?
Thanks!
Chris Fielden
Hi Aerin. Thank you for your message.
I've received your submission, thank you. I try and deal with submissions as quickly as possible and will publish your story soon.
To anyone else with the same question, please allow 7 days for me to publish your story.
I receive a lot of emails / submissions and cannot always publish stories immediately :-)
David D
Chris, thank you for the challenge of writing to a specific word count. So many varied stories for all to enjoy.
Chris Fielden
No problem, David.
Thank you for submitting :-)
Andrew C
Hi Chris, it really was challenging to write such a short story and I found myself moulding each sentence, until it was like the shape of a dive flag. Looking forward to more. Thanks for facilitating so many stories.
Chris Fielden
That's great, thanks Andrew. And thank you for submitting :-)
Michael L
Thanks for including my story, Chris. I see you have only changed a semi-colon to a comma in your editing. I am amazed at the creativity of the other stories with the constraint of such a short word count.
Chris Fielden
No problem, thanks Mike - much appreciated :-)
Sean M
Oops - submitted yesterday, made aware of the challenge by a friend. Who then (when I shared my submission) pointed out the evils of exclamation marks... (6 in 81 words - OMG#)... I would like to renounce, remove, delete and destroy all of them and am now forever 'bang' apostate - soz. Still love my abbrieves, acros and ellipsis though...
Chris Fielden
Hi Sean. No worries. I've edited your story and replied to your submission.
I'm allergic to exclamation marks, so have happily deleted them :)
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