The leaves rustled behind me, almost as if someone was following my every step. It was silly, foolish really, but I got spooked. I began to alter my pace speed up, slow down. The rustling seemed to keep pace. Finally, unable to take it anymore, I turned around. I screamed.

Brians are short works of fiction exactly 50 words long. Sort of the hiku of prose. Wrote this one to sort of help get in the Halloween spirit. (Bad pun!) Be glad to see some others here. Why not add a Halloween Brian of your own? jon

Whilst flat sitting one stormy night, I heard a scraping in the kitchen. I rose from the settee and crept thru' the dark hallway into the kitchen, flicking on the light switch I saw a battered, bloody and rotting body, my nostrils caught the foul stench just as I fainted.

Creeping fingers touch my shoulder. I turn to see nothing. Around me the cold chill whispers, breaking through my peace of mind. I can't stay still, rubbing my arms for comfort. Around me the wind starts screaming. A voice like death follows. I really can't stay anymore. So I run. --------------------- That was lots of fun, lol. Thanks for posting this! ~Jade

I haven't tried this in a long time. Here's one from me. Her fanged smile seemed less than friendly but I smiled back. Her clawed hand tore my skin. I allowed her fearful intimacy, waiting until she closed her red eyes, confident of her success. And then I plunged the stake into her unbeating heart. And she became dust on my shoes.

Its not the sound of his throat being crushed that annoys him.
Nor is it the brutal tear being made in his borrowed suit.
What offends him is that the werewolf came out of nowhere, without warning.
Not like the movies at all he thinks.
No howling. No posturing.
No

Great fun! What a challenge to decide which words to keep and which to put back in the cold, dark attic next to the 5th grade Civics lessons.<

Message edited on: 10/21/2004 12:53

I sat in the dim studying images on the monitor. The shapes and images cast light into lands and times far away.Ghostly images created by other hands were real, yet they weren't. I rose, turning the monitor off.In that second they were gone and only the darkness remained.

Message edited on: 10/21/2004 23:04

Not just fun to write, but fun reading as well... note - this is Not a Brian.. ;)

"The darkness was extreme. It was then I realised that I wasnt alone. I tried not to feel anything but the goal ahead. I would have screamed at the clawed hand on my shoulder but at this point I had no throat to scream with."

(Not exactly 50 words but I just had to join in the fun. We should do this more often. I think if there are word count restrictions you become very inventive. I love this sort of thing. Thanks for bringing this to the forums jstro. regards shemia)

Message edited on: 10/22/2004 12:23

That's the spirit. :-) Nice entries, all. There used to be a contest for Brians (also known as Mini Sagas), but I cannot seem to find it anywhere on the web. But I did find this reference to it: "...these are 50 word essays - not 49 or 51 words, they must be exactly 50 words. This takes the idea of short stories a stage further. This was the brainwave of Brian Aldiss, the well-known science fiction writer... The rules are simple, the stories must be exactly 50 words long and the title must be no more than 15 words long. (I did not know that about the title - now I can start using them!) The stories are judged by a panel and the best stories are published. ... This competition runs every two years. Consequently, there is plenty of time for you to practice before submitting your own story next time." From http://www.booksunderreview.com/Arts/Literature/Short_Stories/Short_Stories_35.html If anyone should stumble across the contest, if it is still extant, please post a link to it. Also of interest, an article on 10 Reasons to Write Flash Fiction at http://www.kporterfield.com/writes/Creative_Writes_40.html to help explain why anyone would even want to do this sort of thing. Besides, as noted in the other posts, it's fun. jon

Looking down a hallway not seeing anything, yet hearing something, smelling something and feeling something, I licked the wall and tasted something too, what it was I did not know. It gave me the creeps, so I closed my eyes. For that moment, blind I was yet I could see.

I want to know how many of you actually counted each submission above to see if there were actually fifty words? For the record, I did not count even one written work. I did not even remember to count my own submission. "FRIGHTENING", huh! (Ok, I did count mine - WINK).

Tallpockets:
(per Microsoft Word)

Word Count

Statistics:

Pages 1
Words 50
Characters (no spaces) 219
Characters (with spaces) 264
Paragraphs 6
Lines 6

the very anal-retentive,
garblesnix ;^)

Pages 1 Words 50 Characters (no spaces) 227 Characters (with spaces) 276 Paragraph 1 Lines 4 It's not that hard to do when you use the Properties function on your word processing program. I'm not anal retentive, but I am analytical on Tuesdays.

It's Tuesday???? Man, am I late for work. 8^0 (exits partially dressed, underfed, and forgetting it's his day off) :^I

Garblesnix - wow, your 'inner child' must be a busy bee. WINK. - Dialyn said, "It's not that hard to do when you use the Properties function on your word processing program." - Well now - there's a 'properties' function on my works word processing program? Now that's a halloween 'brian'! WINK.

Properties works for me. But I only counted my own. If this were an actual competition or official challenge then I'd have to count them all before I would feel qualified to judge or vote. If you have the band width for a big download, I always reccomend OpenOffice as a very good free alternative to Microsoft Word. It has a document Properties tool too. Funny thing about modern word processors and Properties is that most publisher's submissions guidelines still seem to think they don't exist. Most publisher guidelines I've checked out still tell you to use some convoluted formaula to determine word count. Something like choose ten random pages and count the words on each then multiply by the number of pages, while standing on one foot and reciting Beowulf. Go figure. jon

Well, the word count does have a flaw. It counts everything if you're not careful. When we do the writing contests, I do make sure the stories and poems are under 1,000 words, but I also am careful not to count things like titles and author's comments. Still and all, I think you're right, jon....publishers do seem to be retro about some aspects of their business. But then I deal with a State Agency that has computer forms you have to type on because they are so computer unfriendly. Go figure.

Try as hard as I could, it was too irresistable. I turned to walk away, yet that familiar urge brought me back. The desire for more was too overwhelming. The anticipation of the sweet morsel passing my lips, more than I could bear. I gave in to the candy corn.

:)

Netsia. I VOTE for your entry. WINK. (If you'll ''share'' your candy corn)- JSTRO - great topic/post - thanks - beowulf? brings me back to college prep english days many moons ago. As for 'bandwiths'. I live in rural farm country, middle america. No cable, no DSL, no nothing. Nada, zip. End of the phone line so I lose more 'data' than most. Dial up. 21.6 kpbs! Grrrr. Dialyn - hello - I voted for Nestia cuz' she might share her candy corn with me. Your submission scared this old geezer too much. WINK. lol.

garblesnix - you seem very witty and astute (not at all like TallPockets). Would love to see you write something intelligent for the folks here instead of being constantly subject to the crapola of TallPockets. WINK.

TP....just call 1800CANDY*CORN ;) I am in West bumble fink about 28 miles above Kansas City no DSL, I do have 56k though :D

Netsia. Yeah, right. I've heard that story a million times. Trick or treat? WINK. lol.

LOL....what is your costume?

I was one of 'nine' kids. We were so poor I couldn't afford one. My dad just told me on halloween to ''go out and play in the streets'' WINK. J/K!

A pirate, a cowboy, a magician or Indian Chief. Which will I be? No store bought costume, gimme something that's free. I'll use my imagination and be what I want. Find me a pillowcase and 'where's the flashlight?'. Here's Dad's old shirt....look and see. Look who I am....ME! :)