Re: Discussion October SEVENTY-FIVE WORD WRITING CHALLENGE
RSliwinski – I think that any story that centres on a child’s unsettled and recurring nightmares is a good start, there is something primal in such a thing that really reaches to the core. But to have the all clear given only to find the real cause might actually be parents – well, that is a horrific concept, monstrous parents takes it to just another level.
anhalo – the world of this entry seemed to come across as cold and sterile, clinical in the extreme, a nightmarish society that was controlled and listless in the extreme. Dehumanised, identity erased so that even name’s become numbers. And the final twist that something bad happens when the person is no longer useful. Just looking in on the world is bad enough. I would not want to live there.
mosaix - almost a cyclical feel to this one, by introducing the coffin in the opening line we get the connection between Life support Pod and coffin, but the story cleverly twists back on itself with someone trapped in the pod, with nothing but a horrific period of entrapment before death. A true nightmare, and nicely constructed. (Note: Coffins are not as comfy as they look!
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TDZ – A real cracker, this one (ahem), a different look at the nightmare theme again, in some ways it felt slightly askew, just like a real dream, but at the same time the underlying real part of the story made it somewhat unnerving. It’s easy to get worked up about an upcoming event so it intrudes upon your dreams and there’s always that relief at waking and finding that is all that it is... The Ho ho ho! nails it.
Mike1366 – It’s amazing how many people can come up with a different interpretation of the month’s theme and this is another excellent idea. A message coming in from a distant outpost, sounding horrific, with little or no hope. There is little you can do except listen and wait for the bitter end. How nightmarish is that? Great idea.
Ursa – As always well thought out and a great idea, not sure if there were puns this time around, if so they went over my head. Really liked the idea though, someone suffering nightmares, is actually not. Rather a long slow possession, that can only end with exorcism, leaving the spirit or whatever to jump to another victim, and the cycle starts again. But what really seemed to work for me was the feel that the possessor finds it just as much a trauma as his victim.
TJ – Ahhhhhh! This one put a shiver down my spine. I wonder where it was going, thinking it was getting a bit... naughty, then we got to the uhh climax and everything went south. Expecially for the young lady. Oh it was delicious, and I hope she was...
Teresa –And a nice little bit of verse to finish the month off. In this instance not only is the person in the nightmare hunted by something nasty, but is hunted by the dream itself, recurring night after night. It made me wonder just how long the protagonist could hold off the impending assault, sooner or later, one night that sword arm might fail....
Now to start whittling down the consistently superb entries in an attempt to come up with a vote.
and thanks to Mike1366 for the vote. Most humbly accepted.
