81 Words Flash Fiction Writing Challenge – Stories Page 9

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An attempt to set a World Record for the most contributing authors published in an anthology

Full details about the 81 word writing challenge and the world record attempt can be found on the main 81words writing challenge page.

81 Word Stories – 801 to 900

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. The book was published by Victorina Press.

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.

81 Words Flash Fiction Writing Challenge – Ninth 100 Contributing Author Names

Here is a list of the ninth pen of 100 contributing authors, listed in the order their stories appear in the book:

  1. Ros Masterson
  2. Louise Goulding
  3. Sihaam Osman
  4. Kudakwashe Chirapa
  5. Benjamin Noel
  6. Charles Murphy
  7. Robbie Brown
  8. Seth Turner-Higgins
  9. Grace Turner-Higgins
  10. Eileen Baldwin
  11. Isabel Flynn
  12. Jeni Lawes
  13. David Viner
  14. Glo Curl
  15. Dr. Sriharsha Sripathi
  16. Joseph Mould
  17. Pappo Nindo
  18. Dianne D. Pingalo
  19. Iris & Phil Hatchard
  20. Joe Brothers
  21. Charles Lee
  22. Sreedevi Ganti Mahapatra
  23. Helen Aitchison
  24. Mohit Dass
  25. Matthew Gooch
  26. Jimmy Doom
  27. Hannah Cole
  28. Ripunjoy Borgohain
  29. Matthew Dawson
  30. Tonia Nem
  31. Pam Knapp
  32. Paula Lacey
  33. Vishnu Nandan
  34. Richard Stanley
  35. Manda Riehl
  36. Caiden Lang
  37. Michael Hardy
  38. Lyndsay Lomax
  39. Medeia Sharif
  40. Emily Knight
  41. CL Wearne
  42. Debbie Rolls
  43. Gwynne Weir
  44. Jan Courtney
  45. Aerin Bernstein
  46. Karen Bevan
  47. Gemma Bevan
  48. John Bevan
  49. Adam Bevan
  50. Rebecca Hubbard
  51. Joseph Lancaster
  52. Campbell Hinshelwood
  53. Brittany Holmes
  54. Karen Western
  55. Sharon Pinner
  56. Jacek Wilkos
  57. R. J. Kinnarney
  58. Tim Warren
  59. A. A. Rubin
  60. Michelle Weaver
  61. Diana Senechal
  62. Kathryn Smith
  63. Kate Leimer
  64. Emma Robertson
  65. David Don
  66. Eleanor Dickenson
  67. Alicia Yau
  68. Rosalind Adam
  69. David S Mitchell
  70. Andrew Carter
  71. Lauren M Foster
  72. Karen Rust
  73. Thomas Belmar
  74. Ella Wilson
  75. Katerina Hellam
  76. Betty J Burton
  77. Boaksey
  78. Jonathan Hunter
  79. Swi Neo Mary Yap
  80. Michael J. Lowis
  81. Tanya Hill
  82. Meghan O'Brien
  83. Klaus Gehling
  84. Patrick Moorhouse
  85. Yvonne Mastaglio
  86. Clara Baird
  87. Tom Gaunt
  88. Ashley Kim
  89. Michael Farmer
  90. Geoff Freedman
  91. Alistair Forsyth
  92. Richard H. Argent
  93. James Crerar
  94. Elaine Carlyle
  95. Rosalind Newton
  96. John Vandore
  97. Veronica Crerar
  98. Sean Tobias May
  99. John D Lary
  100. Ashleigh Whittle

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