Many of you seem to be having a lot of fun rising to the 79 Word Challenge set by Author Andrew Joyce :D

For anyone who doesn’t know what this is all about, click HERE to check out HIS story and challenge, then HERE to see the first seven great entries, followed by HERE to see the second post with ten stories 😀

NOW READ TWELVE NEW ENTRIES BELOW:

(To visit the writers blogs, click on their names or photos)

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Them by Zoe the Fabulous Feline

I have only myself to blame.

This is a story of regret; that is not quite strong enough, but it will do.

It was a crisp autumn night. I was bored and said to myself, Self – you need an adventure.

Strolling about, blending in with the blackest of nights, I had not a care in the world. Until I saw them.

Scary black, white—even red—things!

I hid behind a bush. What is going on?

Trick or treat!!

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Lilith’s Decision by Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene

Deliberating, Lilith watched the newcomer sleep.

“So strange,” the calico thought, “human shaped but garden scented.”

Lilith inhaled deeply and continued pondering.

“And too newly made to be good or evil. So do I like you or not?”

Lilith sniffed the female’s long green hair and she stirred and put a delicate hand to the cat’s silky fur, but didn’t wake.

Lovely aromatic catnip suddenly grew from between the planks of the wood floor.

That made up Lilith’s mind.

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The Awakening by Jon Stubbington

My body was spread out beneath me; wild eyes and wild hair.

Sleep is clearly not kind to me.

I stared down at myself, as a coldness crawled across my skin.

I looked so scared lying alone on the sheets.

So this is what it is like, an out of body experience.

Morning’s light limps across the room.

It warms me and I wonder why.

Realisation dawns with the rising sun.

Who puts a mirror on a bedroom ceiling?

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Blue Lava by Joelle LeGendre

In the year 1973, this was one secretary’s resourceful answer to sexual harassment…

The new guy spotted her in a mini-skirt and said, “Bend down so I can see what’s under there.”

Eyes blazing blue lava she replied, “I hate you.”

“My kind of woman,” he said. “Marry me. I’ll show you the world.”

“Sure,” She said with a wry smile.

Two children, a million dollar insurance policy, and ten years later, diabetes took his life…

…Or did it?

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Lonesome Star by Tina Frisco

“But no one has ever made it and returned!” The vocal cacophony ricocheted off branches, piercing her and instilling a familiar unrestrained determination.

Her feet kept pace with the distant thundering hooves.

As vultures grew in number, so did her resolve.

Fierce hunter and warrior, she would prove herself and become Chief.

Days passed.

The trees fell away suddenly; she caught her step just in time.

There, it loomed before her.

The gaping abyss.

Her journey would now begin…

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Letting Go by Emily Gmitter

No shame in letting go. The freedom of the fall was stronger than her sister’s hand.

They were having a passionate discussion.

A decade separated the sisters.

Their differences, strengthened over every day of each of those years, became more apparent as the discussion threatened to explode.

The younger sister stood firm against the fire of her older sister’s fears.

She knew it came from love, as surely as she knew she would survive the freedom of letting go.

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The following Five stories are all by Gigi Sedlmayer

Talon

‘Mum, I can’t jump. That’s way too steep.’

‘Don’t tell me you’re afraid. You’re a bird, Talon. You’re ready to fly.’

Mum opened one of his wings with her beak. ‘They’re long and strong. You can do it. Set your mind to it.’

Talon pressed himself as close as possible at the cliff wall behind him, closing his eyes.

Mum pushed him.

Going over the edge, he tumbled over and over until he opened his wings.

‘I can fly.’

One day

The sun peeked over the rugged mountains.

She rose up and up until she stood high at her zenith.

But oh, she fell down on the other side and disappeared, gone.

First the world was bathed in her light. But as she went down, the world became dark and creepy. It was as if the world stood still for a few minutes.

But oh, what was that? Another light?

A pale ball crept up.

The world began to breath.

Life

Becoming conscious as I woke up, I remembered something very important my mum had taught me before she laid me down.

Life.

I was an egg before I hatched.

I ate and ate, never stopped eating and became fat. In between I slept.

Fat as I was, I had the urge to rest, to hang on a leaf.

What joy it was to be born again.

I flew. I was free. I laid eggs myself.

I fell. I died.

Game of life

Maxine visited her Indian friend Moya for the first time in the jungle of Peru.

Moya picked her up from the airport and as they walked to her hut, Max asked, ‘How is life here? I mean with the wild and dangerous animals around.’

‘Which one?’ Moya asked.

‘Well, spiders, pumas.’

‘Oh those. Don’t worry. We live with them. If we don’t disturb them, they don’t bother us.’

‘What was that rustling?’

They turned and faced a jumping puma.

Blood Red Roses

Laying lazily on my bad, dreaming of the amazing things to come, I heard a knock at the door.

Excited I got up and opened it.

A huge bouquet of blood red roses was held towards me when I opened the door.

The rich fragrance filled my nostrils and mind.

A hand extended and handed me a note.

Stunned, I took both items and went inside.

I opened the note. ‘To my everlasting love,’ stood in it.

Nothing more.

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The Door by Chris Graham

“It’s the only way to find out what happens behind that door”

“It sounds risky to me and only one of us can go in”

“I still think the short straw draw was rigged”

“Shaddup and go in, you’ll be back out in no time”

“Well – what happened?”

“I don’t know.”

“Whaddya mean?”

“I was scared, so I kept my eyes closed.”

“You idiot – now we still don’t know if the light goes off when the refrigerator door closes!”

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If YOU (Author or Blogger) would like to join in the fun, or submit further entries and have YOUR 79 word story posted, along with your photo and blog/website link email your entry to me at:

tsraauthorarticles (AT) gmail (DOT) com,

Subject: 79 WORDS