Fifties by the Fire — a fifty-word, prompt-based writing challenge. Feel free to share your response below…or simply read/comment to join in on the fun.
Prompt: For our second challenge of the month, use the word “haunt” (or any form of the word) in a fifty-word story, poem, or work of CNF. 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: King for a Change, Fiction)
The title does not factor into the word count.
Good luck and have fun. Happy writing!
Special thanks to John Lightle for providing his photo, “Lost Pines,” 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.
“Place is haunted,” he sputtered, taking in mouthfuls of river water. The more he thrashed, the more the island seemed to pull him back. Fatigued, he tried to return, but the island wouldn’t allow it.
I sent the message on a rainy day, when all I wanted was my friend back. A few hours later, the rain had stopped, but the message remained unanswered. The next day it said it was read, and that was how it stayed. Unanswered.
The mansion sitting on top of the hill in Sandy”s neighborhood had bee rumored to be haunted for years. Sandy thought it would be a great place to celebrate Halloween, but had no idea if it could be rented out. She used the gargoyle door knocker and held her breath.
I laughed at Marcus's t-shirt bearing a demented image of his awful cat, Spook, who hated me, along with the words "I'm going to haunt you when I die."
I never understood those words were meant for me. Spook's ghost haunts my days, a constant reminder that cats hold grudges.
In the darkening glow of afterlife, Toby haunted the studio where his father’s drawings hung. He lived in the sketches. Angles and lines. The tree he once climbed; his boyhood dog, Patch; a bag of marbles. Measured in Peter Pan moments, he became a boy again, immersed in youth’s irresponsibility.
Oct 28, 2022·edited Oct 28, 2022Liked by Justin Deming
HAUNTED, fiction
He doesn’t believe in spirits or the afterlife. It’s all just superstitious nonsense to him. And yet, he is often visited by his long departed mother. She haunts him, awake or asleep, tells him to stop whining. You don’t need me now, honey. You’re all grown up. Pull yourself together.
Oct 28, 2022·edited Oct 28, 2022Liked by Justin Deming
DIVE BAR , fiction
We’re in our seventies now, but still go to that dodgy neighborhood haunt from time to time, just to be amid the youthful exuberance, the ambient testosterone. Our favorite night out. We ladies stay out of trouble though. You remember what trouble is, don’t you, Thelma? Nope. Nah, me neither.
The silk red dress skims my ankles as I float across the lake towards his house. He doesn’t know I’m coming tonight. The red dress haunted his fantasies, he’d said, as he’d pushed my head under the salty water.
The Island - Fiction
Caleb Crowne tried swimming to the far bank.
“Place is haunted,” he sputtered, taking in mouthfuls of river water. The more he thrashed, the more the island seemed to pull him back. Fatigued, he tried to return, but the island wouldn’t allow it.
The black, desolate depths became his home.
The Road Ahead - Fiction
"Stop looking behind you,” my therapist said. “You're not going that way."
I trained myself. I focused my attention on the future and, in time, my regrets fell away like a dead leaf in autumn - gently, easily.
Then the future started to haunt me. And I can’t look away.
Ghosted - CNF
I sent the message on a rainy day, when all I wanted was my friend back. A few hours later, the rain had stopped, but the message remained unanswered. The next day it said it was read, and that was how it stayed. Unanswered.
It haunts me to this day.
An Uncertain Outcome
The mansion sitting on top of the hill in Sandy”s neighborhood had bee rumored to be haunted for years. Sandy thought it would be a great place to celebrate Halloween, but had no idea if it could be rented out. She used the gargoyle door knocker and held her breath.
The Last Journal Entry of Declan Doyle - Fiction
The memories of massive tentacles and the shrieks of an ancient beast rising above the deep, dark waters, haunt the dreams of the survivors.
A willing sacrifice keeps the creature at bay, so the prophecy says.
Why then, do I look upon a city in ruins and ponder my mortality.
Cats Never Forgive, Horror/Fiction
I laughed at Marcus's t-shirt bearing a demented image of his awful cat, Spook, who hated me, along with the words "I'm going to haunt you when I die."
I never understood those words were meant for me. Spook's ghost haunts my days, a constant reminder that cats hold grudges.
Illusion/Fiction
In the darkening glow of afterlife, Toby haunted the studio where his father’s drawings hung. He lived in the sketches. Angles and lines. The tree he once climbed; his boyhood dog, Patch; a bag of marbles. Measured in Peter Pan moments, he became a boy again, immersed in youth’s irresponsibility.
HAUNTED, fiction
He doesn’t believe in spirits or the afterlife. It’s all just superstitious nonsense to him. And yet, he is often visited by his long departed mother. She haunts him, awake or asleep, tells him to stop whining. You don’t need me now, honey. You’re all grown up. Pull yourself together.
DIVE BAR , fiction
We’re in our seventies now, but still go to that dodgy neighborhood haunt from time to time, just to be amid the youthful exuberance, the ambient testosterone. Our favorite night out. We ladies stay out of trouble though. You remember what trouble is, don’t you, Thelma? Nope. Nah, me neither.
See Red, fiction
The silk red dress skims my ankles as I float across the lake towards his house. He doesn’t know I’m coming tonight. The red dress haunted his fantasies, he’d said, as he’d pushed my head under the salty water.
Now then, let’s see how he likes it tonight.