Fifties by the Fire — a fifty-word, prompt-based writing challenge. Feel free to share your response below, or read and comment to join in on the fun.
Prompt: Write a fifty-word story (fiction, poem, or work of CNF) that somehow incorporates the accompanying image.
Here are the other guidelines:
Make sure your piece is exactly fifty words. Feel free to use Word Counter or the word processor you use.
Write a title with the genre in the first line. (Example: Worlds Away, Fiction)
The title does not factor into the word count.
Good luck and have fun. Happy writing!
Special thanks to John Lightle for providing “Abalone” for our writing prompt.
John Lightle is a Texas writer, poet, and photographer who spends many hours sitting on his woodpile contemplating. When away from his frame shop, he schleps his artwork among area art shows. The job takes him across the countryside, occasionally overseas, photographing the quiet resolve found within the golden hours.
Ha, my reaction was the same as Tara’s: Oooo. Damn! A ruthless story, and I loved every word. What an excellent take on the prompt. Thanks for sharing, Jon!
This is breathtaking, Meg. What an absolute gem of a poem! It amazes me that you’re able to guide us on such a colorful and epic journey in such a small space.
🤣 Love this! Maybe Justin will use "Press it to your eye, dummy" as a future prompt. Everyone use this line somewhere. You'll have a head start. Got my attention right away!
Whoa, love this sci-fi/dystopian take on the prompt, Brian. It’s certainly not a future I want to be a part of! There are some Lois Lowry/The Giver vibes here! Thanks so much for sharing your story and for the re-stack! 🙏
Jul 21, 2023·edited Jul 21, 2023Liked by Justin Deming
Love this! My first idea also had to do with a sci-fi scenario and limited sight, so this makes perfect sense to me. (I thought I carried off a silly one better than my creepy one.) 🙈
The photo is breathtaking, isn’t it?! John gets all the credit here. He’s so much fun to collaborate with, and he has an extensive archive of photographs to work with.
I love the poem and the speaker’s strength and confidence. The structure is fun, too, and makes those final words carry more weight. Excellent stuff as always, Sharron. Thank you for sharing!
Love it! Yes, I see the dying fire now that you say so, and I do hope she is right about her angle of repose, so there is No More Sliding! I am rooting for her.
You're invited to select the link above and read About this Story. Feel free to also Like and leave a Comment over there (helps me with the algorithms).
Justin, thank you for reminding me about today! Grateful to have a new story.
Chris, this gave me chills. I was reminded of the great Edgar Allan Poe and his poetry. There’s evil afoot, something sinister about that sea cavern...haunting and chilling. Loved every word!
Thanks Justin, and apologies if I appear to have fallen out of the 19th century there- must have got too much sun on vacation! :D
Your comment is very perceptive- while I was not at all meaning to imitate Poe, or even thinking of him, he is an important writer for me, but more for his stories. As I have not written a poem for many years, perhaps he 'helped me out' from the chill beyond in the 10 minutes or so I put in piecing this together.
I have no idea what it means. I was just playing with sounds and rhythms.
Once again, thanks for taking the time to show up for the 50s series- something about the format and informality of it makes me write something completely different each time... which is great, as my hope at least, is to not write the same thing twice. I am sure your planned book will be a success.
Ha, oh my gosh, I loved it for that reason. I have no idea why I felt that way, but it left a big impact. Maybe the repetition and rhyming/cadence? The poem shows off your skill set as a writer. It’s exceptional!
I agree regarding Poe. I was always much more drawn to his stories, too, but how funny that he was a major influence on you!
Thanks for the kind words regarding the 50s series. I love the community here and the informality, too. No contests, no anything like that, just a chance to read and write and share. It’s been a fun way connecting with other writers, and I’m grateful you’ve taken part!
And thanks regarding the book, as well! I’ve got fifty tiny tales lined up, but now I’m doing some rearranging to see if other stories might make the cut. It will be an incredibly slim volume, but perhaps it can draw others to the joy and challenge of the form/genre.
Thanks Justin- re. the 'incredibly slim volume,' have you ever thought of having at least a limited edition first run done via old-school letterpress printing with handmade illustrations?
That is my ultimate goal in my writing life, but when I spoke with a conference of people who own such publishing ventures some years ago, I found that my works were too long- their fondness for setting press seems to expire after a certain amount of letters. Maybe I'd be better of with poems :D
So as for Poe, I have been actually working on my own detective series for the last two years or so, and since he is sort of the forefather of that genre, have learned a lot about him and the general genre. I may have to write something on it at some point, but the interesting facts abut where he got his infleunces and how he was actually given new life in Europe (due to the translations of his Dupin stories into French, by the poet Baudelaire after his death), actually seems to have steered the development of the genre in French and thereafter in English, which is perhaps why the masters of the moern English genre give such pride of place to French or French speaking detectives (ie Poirot)... and yet it began with Poe.. So many small coincidences and events had to happen to make everything shake out as it did.
Chris, that’s so very interesting regarding Poe! I never knew. It’s amazing how one’s work can have such a wide reach and influence. Everything must have fallen into place or been seen by the right people at the right time. You should write about that sometime. It would make for a great read!
I’ve thought of doing something like that. I know one or two artists who would consider helping me, but I’m not prepared to ask someone for that much work. From a time and cost perspective it might get to be pricey. With that said, I might look around to see if someone might be interested in creating some digital art/images for the stories.
Thanks sir! I will think about it- there are whole societies about Poe and real experts out there in academia. I would have to take the time to read some of their work before jumping in and acting as if I've made some great discovery. But (maybe since he died way back in 1849 at age 40), people tend to forget how singular a figure Poe was. he was like the Tesla of American literature, in the sense that he had such a strong formative role on completely different genres like detective stories, horror stories and other spec fic, as well as his poems and literary criticisms. There are only a small handful of American writers of such importance, I think.
Sounds good about your book and the options you are considering- I am well aware of the price and supply chain issues, but at least being based in the US, you have access to a certain amount of producers/companies that actually do this stuff. My main thought (even before but especially since joining Substack) is: how can writers best add value/collector's value to their work between print and digital incarnations?
This is why I have had the idea of a limited edition letterpress first run that would gain value over time, not be that expensive to make, and entice people to get somethng 'real' on their bookshelves in a world of endless simulations and print on demand.
He flew in specially, his Mexican retreat prepared by long-suffering staff. Two were fired instantly, disdain in his voice. The terrace overlooked the port where bidding was fierce. He outbid them; he always did. His chef prepared the abalone nervously. Hallucinatory effects swamped the unloved billionaire. Revenge, best served chilled.
I feel for the workers and individuals who have to work for this individual. You’ve captured and created a truly villainous character. Great stuff! I wonder if you might be able to include him in a longer work someday? I think this “fifty” could launch into a grander and even darker tale!
Jul 23, 2023·edited Jul 23, 2023Liked by Justin Deming
It's funny you say that, Justin ... I often think of the short tales as testing grounds for characters and plot lines. I have a woman called Dolores who lives on the street who emerged from a short story ... I feel a longer tale needs to be told about her. I have a friend who is convinced all the characters will join up in one bumper story!
I had to look that up but I love the idea of 22 short stories wrapped up into one overall narrative. I wrote a piece about a single event seen from 9 different perspectives https://justwriteright.substack.com/p/nine-lives so perhaps
I think it’s fair to say mission accomplished, Stephen! John’s photo is brilliant, isn’t it?
John and I have finalized our next prompt and I think it’s going to be another fun one with a wide variety of responses. It’ll post in two weeks! Happy to hear you’re enjoying the fifty-word format and challenges! Have a great weekend.
So many fantastic stories here, Justin. My attempt follows:
The Witches Brew
“Hee hee”, cackled the witch as she stirred the caldron. Inside the pot was abalone shells, stardust, and a few other ingredients, perfect for Love potion #13.
“When he drinks this” she croaked, “he will be mine for all of eternity!”
Thanks, Kim! I know, right?! They’re all so good. And so is yours! The abalone shell is a perfect love potion ingredient. I’m sending the recipient all my best, hoping he is able to work his way out of this one.
Thank you so much reading the stories and for sharing your own!
Lost Soul, Fiction
He finds the fabled pool— the ancient abalone.
“Please,” the man begs. “I wish for a better life.”
In an instant, he’s compressed, morphed, and blown away in the wind. He lands, joins brothers and sisters—fellow lost souls.
A sapling begins to grow near the edge of a forest.
I know you struggled with this, Justin, and you and your 50-word tiny found each other!
The ending...poignant! The next time I see a lone sapling near the edge of our forests I'll think of "Lost Soul".
This hasn’t happened to me in a while, but the idea arrived in the middle of the night. I had to quickly jot it down before I fell back to sleep, ha!
Thank you, Jenise. I really appreciate it!
Such a moving last line. A gorgeous piece, Justin.
Thank you, Sharron!
Ah, you have me at "fabled pool"! :-) Thank goodness for magic.
I couldn’t resist going the fantasy/magical route, ha! Thanks, Tara. 😊
A Meal for the Family – Crime Fiction
‘Man, that was great ravioli.’
‘An extra special reward. You had trouble with the shipment, eh? Had to waste a cop?’
‘Shit happens. I like the fancy cutlery.’
‘Abalone handles. They match the ingredients.’
‘The fuck? I have a shellfish allergy…’
‘And my sister had a cop for a son.’
Ha, my reaction was the same as Tara’s: Oooo. Damn! A ruthless story, and I loved every word. What an excellent take on the prompt. Thanks for sharing, Jon!
Spoken in your best Brando, I hope.
Oh, you bet :)
Oooo - you packed a lot in 50 words! Sinister, and well fed! Well done.
Awesomeness.
Sea Glass – Poetry
jagged shards of empty vice
scattered over shoals
stolen by the moon’s servant
to be pulled and rolled and rocked and lulled into blue lavender luminescence
reclaimed by the sand
the shards become precious
glowing gems to the curious eyes and
outstretched hands of children
held up to the sun
This is breathtaking, Meg. What an absolute gem of a poem! It amazes me that you’re able to guide us on such a colorful and epic journey in such a small space.
Thanks for this! 🙏
I want to live inside this poem. Nicely done, Meg!
Meg Oolders.
Landlady of poems.
Meg Oolders.
Mother of dragons. Breaker of chains. Landlady of poems.
Justin Deming.
Booster of egos.
Haha! I’ll take it. 😄
🙌
The Games People Play, Fiction
"Press it to your eye, dummy."
"Wow! What is this thing?”
“A kaleidoscope,” I said, laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing,” I smiled, shaking my head.
I could hear his mother calling, took the kaleidoscope and told him I’d see him tomorrow—wondering if the black circle would still be there.
Ha! What a fun take on the prompt. There’s nothing like a good old-fashioned prank.
🤣 Love this! Maybe Justin will use "Press it to your eye, dummy" as a future prompt. Everyone use this line somewhere. You'll have a head start. Got my attention right away!
Haha! Hmm...now that you mention it...
"Abalone Man", Science Fiction
—
"Take the pill," he says.
So, I do. Doctor's orders.
"Obey the master," she says.
So, I do. The pill makes it easy.
"Follow the rules," they say.
So, I do. I only see the approved colors.
Take the pill, obey the master, and become the shell of a man.
Whoa, love this sci-fi/dystopian take on the prompt, Brian. It’s certainly not a future I want to be a part of! There are some Lois Lowry/The Giver vibes here! Thanks so much for sharing your story and for the re-stack! 🙏
Thanks again for hosting! I'm so happy to finally participate again. It helps to do it beforehand and have it at the ready.
Yeah, I agree. I think I’ll be done with the pop-ups. It’s much easier for everyone when they receive the prompt in advance!
I enjoyed that. Gave me a chance to draft two and pick the one I liked best. :-)
Yikes. I am not sure what you have in mind, Brian, but "I only see the approved colors" sounds big-time ominous to me.
Definitely ominous. Not a future I would want to live in, but sometimes that's where the story arrives. 😁
Yes! Sometimes the story takes its own course. Loved where it went!
Love this! My first idea also had to do with a sci-fi scenario and limited sight, so this makes perfect sense to me. (I thought I carried off a silly one better than my creepy one.) 🙈
Great minds think alike, Tara!
Brian, let's "blame" Justin and his Note for introducing me to you and your works. Very glad he promoted you!
Fantastic tiny story. It resonates with my personal world view. Love the ending; well done.
I don’t promote it enough! Brian’s a class act and is doing incredible work for the fiction community at large.
Thank you, Jenise! I'm so happy to hear that and to be making these connections through Justin's Substack.
And thanks to @Meg Oolders for sending me to you with my entry for The Lunar Awards. You both sparkle! And I am glad to have met you.
🤩
You're welcome. I'm "surfing" your publication today.
In addition to my "Jenise Cook's Creative Journey", feel free to visit my other publication:
Night Owl Christian
https://nightowlchristian.substack.com
~J
Oh, that's a great angle. Lovely rhythm to the words as well.
Thank you, Forkbeard Jon!
(Amazing photo, John and Justin. Looks like a dying fire to me)
ANGLE OF REPOSE, poem
She dropped his letter into the fire
and watched it blacken and curl.
Nothing was left but embers,
and blue smoke.
She’d made her decision.
There would be no re-deciding
this time.
She had finally found her own
angle of repose,
and she knew she would never
slide
back
down.
The photo is breathtaking, isn’t it?! John gets all the credit here. He’s so much fun to collaborate with, and he has an extensive archive of photographs to work with.
I love the poem and the speaker’s strength and confidence. The structure is fun, too, and makes those final words carry more weight. Excellent stuff as always, Sharron. Thank you for sharing!
Oh, Sharron! She made the best choice for her by burning whatever he wrote to try and get her back. Love this "new journey" story!
Love it! Yes, I see the dying fire now that you say so, and I do hope she is right about her angle of repose, so there is No More Sliding! I am rooting for her.
His Final Adventure, Fiction
~~~~~
Steve picked up the abalone shell and marveled at the colors: violet, cerulean blue, rose, and mother-of-pearl.
He paddled out on his kayak toward calm waters. He opened a bottle, poured his father's ashes into the shell, then watched it float toward the sunset.
"'Bye, Dad. Thanks for the adventures."
~~~~~
https://jenisecook.substack.com/p/his-final-adventure
You're invited to select the link above and read About this Story. Feel free to also Like and leave a Comment over there (helps me with the algorithms).
Justin, thank you for reminding me about today! Grateful to have a new story.
So beautiful and vivid, Jenise! This is a perfect final adventure. Thanks so much for sharing!
A small boat carrying the ashes out to sea... very Viking-like. Lovely thought, Jenise.
Suddenly Small, fiction
.
“Ow!” Kate yelped, rubbing her temples. “Warn me before you use the shrink ray!”
“Sorry,” answered Suzanne.
“Where are we?” Colors swam and swirled. Suzanne smiled.
Kate looked again. “My nail polish colors!” She slid down against a bottle to the mirrored tray. “You can make us big again, right?”
Oh man! This is so much fun, Tara. Those darn shrink rays. I hope they’re able to work their way out of the predicament! 😄
Thank you for sharing with us!
I hope so too! Maybe we'll find out if the right picture comes along. 😂
🤣🤣
I wonder.... could that shrink ray be used just around my midsection? If so, i'm in! Great post!
Hah! 😂 There are OSHA, NIH, CIA, OPEC, and State of California warnings plastered all over the thing. I guess I'm willing to try if you are..... 😳
Oh, I sure hope she can, Tara!
What a fun tale, thank you.
Love those nail polish colors suggested by John's image. Great colors for the toe nails in summer.
I hope she can too! Those *are* great colors. :-) Thank you, Jenise.
Title: The Sea-God's Embrace (poem)
Abandoned long before your time,
In ice-blue grip of Devil's claw.
Alone so long, you knew not why
Or how a soul could grasp
Its situation, so perilous, so vast
In ice-blue grip of Devil's claw.
But now to that sea cavern, retire all
In ice-blue grip of Devil's claw.
Chris, this gave me chills. I was reminded of the great Edgar Allan Poe and his poetry. There’s evil afoot, something sinister about that sea cavern...haunting and chilling. Loved every word!
Thanks Justin, and apologies if I appear to have fallen out of the 19th century there- must have got too much sun on vacation! :D
Your comment is very perceptive- while I was not at all meaning to imitate Poe, or even thinking of him, he is an important writer for me, but more for his stories. As I have not written a poem for many years, perhaps he 'helped me out' from the chill beyond in the 10 minutes or so I put in piecing this together.
I have no idea what it means. I was just playing with sounds and rhythms.
Once again, thanks for taking the time to show up for the 50s series- something about the format and informality of it makes me write something completely different each time... which is great, as my hope at least, is to not write the same thing twice. I am sure your planned book will be a success.
Have a nice weekend, all!
Ha, oh my gosh, I loved it for that reason. I have no idea why I felt that way, but it left a big impact. Maybe the repetition and rhyming/cadence? The poem shows off your skill set as a writer. It’s exceptional!
I agree regarding Poe. I was always much more drawn to his stories, too, but how funny that he was a major influence on you!
Thanks for the kind words regarding the 50s series. I love the community here and the informality, too. No contests, no anything like that, just a chance to read and write and share. It’s been a fun way connecting with other writers, and I’m grateful you’ve taken part!
And thanks regarding the book, as well! I’ve got fifty tiny tales lined up, but now I’m doing some rearranging to see if other stories might make the cut. It will be an incredibly slim volume, but perhaps it can draw others to the joy and challenge of the form/genre.
I hope you have a great weekend!
Thanks Justin- re. the 'incredibly slim volume,' have you ever thought of having at least a limited edition first run done via old-school letterpress printing with handmade illustrations?
That is my ultimate goal in my writing life, but when I spoke with a conference of people who own such publishing ventures some years ago, I found that my works were too long- their fondness for setting press seems to expire after a certain amount of letters. Maybe I'd be better of with poems :D
So as for Poe, I have been actually working on my own detective series for the last two years or so, and since he is sort of the forefather of that genre, have learned a lot about him and the general genre. I may have to write something on it at some point, but the interesting facts abut where he got his infleunces and how he was actually given new life in Europe (due to the translations of his Dupin stories into French, by the poet Baudelaire after his death), actually seems to have steered the development of the genre in French and thereafter in English, which is perhaps why the masters of the moern English genre give such pride of place to French or French speaking detectives (ie Poirot)... and yet it began with Poe.. So many small coincidences and events had to happen to make everything shake out as it did.
Chris, that’s so very interesting regarding Poe! I never knew. It’s amazing how one’s work can have such a wide reach and influence. Everything must have fallen into place or been seen by the right people at the right time. You should write about that sometime. It would make for a great read!
I’ve thought of doing something like that. I know one or two artists who would consider helping me, but I’m not prepared to ask someone for that much work. From a time and cost perspective it might get to be pricey. With that said, I might look around to see if someone might be interested in creating some digital art/images for the stories.
Figuring this thing out day by day!
Thanks sir! I will think about it- there are whole societies about Poe and real experts out there in academia. I would have to take the time to read some of their work before jumping in and acting as if I've made some great discovery. But (maybe since he died way back in 1849 at age 40), people tend to forget how singular a figure Poe was. he was like the Tesla of American literature, in the sense that he had such a strong formative role on completely different genres like detective stories, horror stories and other spec fic, as well as his poems and literary criticisms. There are only a small handful of American writers of such importance, I think.
Sounds good about your book and the options you are considering- I am well aware of the price and supply chain issues, but at least being based in the US, you have access to a certain amount of producers/companies that actually do this stuff. My main thought (even before but especially since joining Substack) is: how can writers best add value/collector's value to their work between print and digital incarnations?
This is why I have had the idea of a limited edition letterpress first run that would gain value over time, not be that expensive to make, and entice people to get somethng 'real' on their bookshelves in a world of endless simulations and print on demand.
You have a nice Sunday there,
CD
Brrr. It got drafty in here for July. Where'd that chill come from? Nice repetitions to build the atmosphere. :-)
Thanks Tara! I appreciate that.
Fun challenge. Here's what I came up with:
Stars Collide and Kingdom’s Totter by H. W. Taylor - fiction
———
I told her it was dangerous for us to be lovers. "It can't go on like this."
She shook her head. "We are made beautiful by love."
I opened my shirt to show her the polychromatic bruises.
She took me by the throat. “Glory be to God for dappled things.”
The first line and final line are both awesome! I love how they connect the story and bring it together. Very clever piece. Killer title, too!
Thanks for sharing!
Entitled, fiction
He flew in specially, his Mexican retreat prepared by long-suffering staff. Two were fired instantly, disdain in his voice. The terrace overlooked the port where bidding was fierce. He outbid them; he always did. His chef prepared the abalone nervously. Hallucinatory effects swamped the unloved billionaire. Revenge, best served chilled.
I feel for the workers and individuals who have to work for this individual. You’ve captured and created a truly villainous character. Great stuff! I wonder if you might be able to include him in a longer work someday? I think this “fifty” could launch into a grander and even darker tale!
Thank you for sharing!
It's funny you say that, Justin ... I often think of the short tales as testing grounds for characters and plot lines. I have a woman called Dolores who lives on the street who emerged from a short story ... I feel a longer tale needs to be told about her. I have a friend who is convinced all the characters will join up in one bumper story!
Thanks so much for the encouragement
I love that perspective on these tiny tales we write. And how cool! What a wonderful idea. Maybe in Winesburg, Ohio fashion?
I had to look that up but I love the idea of 22 short stories wrapped up into one overall narrative. I wrote a piece about a single event seen from 9 different perspectives https://justwriteright.substack.com/p/nine-lives so perhaps
Thank you for sharing! Love the concept. I’m going to come back to your story and give it a read soon.
The Abalone’s Behest | Poem
That shell adorning your neck:
Countless layers of mother-of-pearl
A lifetime’s work.
A shimmering kaleidoscope
Translucent psychedelica
An immersive iridescent pool.
An impenetrable shield
Drawing healing energies from the universe
Engulfing you in tranquility
Granting you prosperity
And happiness.
As it once did for me
When it was my home.
Wow, Stephen, what an incredible poem! I love how it comes full circle. Excellent stuff. Thanks so much for sharing!
Thanks for prompting. And to John for his mesmerising photo.
I wanted to take your challenge to heart and focus more on the image than the word.
Another fun one - I’m hooked!
I think it’s fair to say mission accomplished, Stephen! John’s photo is brilliant, isn’t it?
John and I have finalized our next prompt and I think it’s going to be another fun one with a wide variety of responses. It’ll post in two weeks! Happy to hear you’re enjoying the fifty-word format and challenges! Have a great weekend.
So many fantastic stories here, Justin. My attempt follows:
The Witches Brew
“Hee hee”, cackled the witch as she stirred the caldron. Inside the pot was abalone shells, stardust, and a few other ingredients, perfect for Love potion #13.
“When he drinks this” she croaked, “he will be mine for all of eternity!”
The sisters giggled with rolled eyes.
Thanks, Kim! I know, right?! They’re all so good. And so is yours! The abalone shell is a perfect love potion ingredient. I’m sending the recipient all my best, hoping he is able to work his way out of this one.
Thank you so much reading the stories and for sharing your own!
Thanks, Justin, it was a silly but fun one to write.