January 2025 -- 75 Word Writing Challenge -- READ FIRST POST!

[Ursa major]

RULES



Write a story inspired by the chosen theme and genre in no more than 75 words, not including the title

ONE entry per person

NO links, commentary or extraneous material in the posts, please -- the stories must stand on their own


WHEN WRITING YOUR STORY, PLEASE REMEMBER THIS IS A FAMILY-FRIENDLY FORUM


All stories Copyright 2025 by their respective authors
who grant the Chronicles Network the non-exclusive right to publish them here


The complete rules can be found at RULES FOR THE WRITING CHALLENGES

Contest ends at 11:59 pm GMT, 23 January 2025

Voting ends at 11:59 pm GMT, 28 January 2025


We ask all entrants to do their best to vote when the time comes

but you do not have to submit a story in order to vote
as we encourage all Chrons members to take part in choosing the winning entry



The Magnificent Prize:

The Dignified Congratulations/Grovelling Admiration of Your Peers
and the challenge of choosing next month's theme and genre




Theme:

Sanctuary

Genre:

OPEN

Please keep all comments to the DISCUSSION THREAD


We invite (and indeed hope for) lively discussion and speculation about the stories as they are posted
as long as it doesn't involve the author explaining the plot



** Please do not use the "Like" button in this thread! **

​

 

[THX1138]

My Sanctuary

What is ‘Sanctuary’?
For me, sanctuary is in the depths of my soul, for it is there I know true peace.
In times of my daily life that are full of noise, I still find sanctuary in these chaotic moments.

“Be still, and know…”

But sanctuary?
At night, when I know my family is safe.
When all is still and quiet, in prayer.
With a hot cup of tea; the calm before the storm.
Sanctuary.

 

[Ian Fortytwo]

The Guardian's Deceit.

In the heart of a bustling city, a hidden sanctuary thrived, where weary souls found solace among vibrant flowers and whispering trees. One day, a stranger arrived, claiming to be the guardian of this refuge.

As the sun set, he revealed his true nature: a spirit trapped in the sanctuary, feeding on the serenity of those who sought peace. To escape, he needed their fears, and they unwittingly became his lifeline.

 

[Guttersnipe]

Memoirs from a Dusty Room

The phone rings once. Then a beep. I've fixed it that way.

A voice.

"Bill, you need to start checking your mail because I can't keep affording this. I know you're in pain again, but Jesus Bill, it's been fifteen years! She's gone! Stop using your anxiety as a crutch!"

I cut it off. I look around. Pictures of Mary, her letters, evidence of plans for something halted. But not forgotten.

Prison, sanctuary. Tuh-may-toh, tuh-mah-toh.

 

[JS Wiig]

Santuario

With trembling hands, Juan handed over the last chicken eggs to the mafiosos with their bandana covered faces hiding behind automatic machine guns. Through tears he told his family, “Nos vamos.”

So north they went, through deserts and across rivers. Into a minefield of gun toting rednecks hiding behind bumper stickers demanding “Stop stealing our jobs!” and emboldened by the vitriol of wannabe statesmen. Searching for a new place to call mi casa.

 

[Culhwch]

Sanctuary

We met here, at Sanctuary.

I’d come off the last shuttle out of Ryder’s Hope, bloody and broken. We didn’t know then, but it was the last shuttle ever.

I lost everything on Hope: family, friends, an entire life. I could never be whole again. But, he helped.

The Scourge are aptly named; relentless and, it seems, inevitable.

They will come here, too. But they cannot take the sanctuary I found, in him.

 

[AnRoinnUltra]

The paranoid refuge of Flut Habernackle


Conspiracy Theorist Flut Habernackle sat nervously into a chair opposite the well dressed stranger.

'It's my first time seeing a Psychologist', he explained.

‘Relax Flut. This is a safe space. I can tell why you came here today. Two weeks ago you discovered plans for an alien invasion coded into the ingredient list on a cereal packet. And after you posted them online you began noticing Zardonian Agents everywhere you went. Recording everything you did.’

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Refuge

Jakob ran down the moonlit alley, heart pounding, lungs bursting, the monsters close behind. He threw an ashcan at them to slow them down, then raced ahead with the speed of desperation.

The alley met a narrow street. Jakob ran left. He spotted a dumpster. Safety or a trap? Exhaustion made him take the gamble. He hid under stinking garbage, cursing those out to murder him, with their crosses and garlic and wooden stakes.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

The Past Isn't Present

Robot X-71 wanted to come home. It'd fled losing battles in Mexico, traversed Texas wastelands, broken into the old Household Robotics factory (rebranded 'X-botics' when the oligarch purchased it, before selling its inventory as warbots).
X-71 had seen terrible things.

In the repairs shop, it regarded myriad damaged warbots that should've been gardeners, cooks, nannies.
Hoping for the peace of home, it'd found devastation.
X-71 activated its memory-wiping, anti-interrogation program.
Wasn't there sanctuary in oblivion?