What is Furious Fiction?
Furious Fiction is a writing competition on the first Friday of the month, from the Australian Writers’ Centre.
55 hours. 500 words. 500 dollars.
On the first weekend of every month, you are invited to put your storytelling skills to the test in the ultimate writer-takes-all short story competition. Armed only with our simple brief, your job is to race the clock to come up with your best 500 words-or-fewer story and be in to win a tasty $500 – every single month.
It’s fast, it’s fun and it’s free… Welcome to Furious Fiction!
This is my first ever entry to Furious Fiction.
Furious Fiction November 2020
- 500 words (or less)
- Location: Hotel
- Object/prop: Photograph
- Words to include: collar, gloomy, police, rhythm, sapphire
The Photograph
Craig, known as Gloomy to his mates, was feeling a bit hot under the collar. It was muggy and rivers of sweat ran down his well-muscled back. His shaved head glistened in the hot afternoon sunshine.
As he stepped through the foyer of the hotel, the coolness of the air-conditioning gently caressed him. His sapphire blue eyes raked over the crowd inside.
He’d had a text message giving him the details of the meeting place and had arrived a bit earlier to get the lay of the land and to suss out any potential problems. The last thing he needed was an undercover police operation!
The singer in the corner was pumping out some tunes, but without any real rhythm or enthusiasm in his honest opinion. He stood for a few minutes and watched the crowd, which was a mixture of youngsters and tradie types, enjoying an early start to the weekend.
The photograph he’d carried around for years was now burning a hole in his wallet. Would he get some answers soon?
He made himself comfortable with a cold beer and waited.
Life hadn’t been all that kind to him so far, but he felt that his luck was due to change. His contact was due any minute now and he silently prepared himself for the meeting. He took a few deep breaths, in out, in out.
With a shock he looked at the man who had just walked through the door, he was older than he’d imagined but looked good for his age. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise but for some reason it did.
Their eyes met across the room and they both smiled. Similar smiles, familiar smiles. The sapphire blue eyes another sign they were related.
Gloomy was surprised at his reaction, he’d always known this moment would come one day. But he felt something akin to joy, which given his nickname, was an unusual emotion for him!
He held out his hand and they shook their greeting, taking in as much of each other as they could in those first few minutes. They didn’t have much time, and both knew the risks they were taking.
Time travel was still illegal, and they were risking a lot by meeting up. He felt it was worth it.
He was meeting his future self when all was said and done, and funnily enough, the photograph hadn’t lied.
While I didn’t get shortlisted (or win) I was very pleased with my little story. You can read the winning story and see the shortlisted entries here. There were over 1100 entries from all over the world! Congratulations to everyone who submitted a story!
The next Furious Fiction starts on Friday 4 December at 5pm – I’d encourage you to join in! This is the link https://www.writerscentre.com.au/furious-fiction/
I usually do a ‘Wordless Wednesday’ post but I’m mixing it up by adding a ‘Wordy Wednesday’ post every now and again. It doesn’t hurt to change things up a bit does it?
I can’t go without sharing a photo that made me smile – just for the sheer joy of the pop of colour, on a somewhat less than joyful day. Hope you smile too.
Let me know your thoughts on my short story, I appreciate hearing from you.
Deb 🙂
You can also find Deb’s World in lots of other places – stay in touch by clicking any of the buttons below.
Everyone has a story to tell! Deb is a young-at-heart & active 60+ blogger/retiree, after being made redundant from her 22-year career managing education programs in a men’s correctional centre (jail). She now spends her time reading, blogging, riding her ebike and travelling. Deb was awarded a Bravery Award from the Queen when she was 17 after a tragic accident – a definite life changing moment! She is married with 3 grown-up daughters & has 4 grandchildren. She never imagined being Granny Debs would bring so much joy to her life! You can read more of Deb’s story here
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Deb's World 
This is fun! Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks Carol, I had fun!
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Nickname and Gloomy made me smile, Deb. Goosebumps since I was not expecting time travel. I initially thought possibly a twin brother, adopted and so on. Fun and a good story! 🙂
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It’s funny Erica, my son in law in England is called Gloomy (his real name is Craig) so when I saw the word gloomy I just started writing and this is how my story came about! Glad you enjoyed it!
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Nice work, Deb! Good use of descriptive language.
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Yes I may have gone overboard but I couldn’t resist it! Thanks for reading 🙂
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I enjoyed reading your story, Debbie. It was told in a way that even I could understand what was happening. Being dyslexic, that’s not always possible. At first, I thought Gloomy was meeting a date. Then I changed my mind to him meeting his long-lost father. The sci-fi element was a complete twist that I never saw coming. I don’t think I’ve ever read a time-travel adventure where the traveller meets their younger/older self. I’ve always read it has dire consequences, but you’ve proved that wrong.
Well done for having a go at the competition.
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Thanks Hugh, your comment is much appreciated as I consider you to be the king of twists and turns! My son in law in England is Craig and his nickname is Gloomy so I immediately had my character, then I just wove the rest of it. I really enjoyed the story writing process and was happy with my efforts. I’ll give it a go another time I’m sure.
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Yes, keep trying, Debbie, and do check out the winning entries. By checking them out, we often then know what the judges are looking for. Don’t be put off because your story did not win this time. In the six and half years I’ve been blogging, I’ve only had one win so far in a flash fiction competition. But, as the saying goes, you gotta be in it to win it.
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A nice surprise ending. Well done.
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Thanks Chris, I wanted it to be a surprise!
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Oh clever ending! I enjoyed the story very much Deb. Well done!
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Oh thanks Sue, that’s lovely of you to say! I had fun writing it too.
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Deb, I loved this! Had me immersed from start to finish. Well done. 😊
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I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed it Miriam!
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I was thinking ‘Father’ and definitely not time travel. Well done!
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Glad you enjoyed it Suzanne, it was fun to write.
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I thought it would be his dad too Deb – nice twist in the tail ending x
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Thanks Leanne, I wanted to keep everyone guessing. I’m a huge Doctor Who fan so may have been influenced by the years of watching time travel!
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I was definitely not expecting a future self. Great build-up. Really a fun read! Wonder where he got the photo. I’m sorry you didn’t win, but winning contests is so hard. Everything is so subjective. I took a writing class from AWC. I didn’t get great reviews from my instructor, but I learned a lot.
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Thanks Marsha, I loved writing this story and the ending just popped into my head as I was going. The AWC courses have been very informative and enjoyable, during this year in particular!
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