I’m so glad that many of you seem to be having so much fun rising to the 79 Word Challenge set by Author Andrew Joyce.

The high standard and number of entries submitted has been remarkable, ensuring that there are stories to suit almost everyone. 😀

For anyone who still 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

HERE to see the second post with ten more stories

HERE to see the third post with twelve more stories 😀

NOW READ SIX GREAT NEW ENTRIES BELOW:

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

The Secret by Diana Wallace Peach

Slayer’s sword splits the night, lightning sharp, severing the troll’s head.

Other monsters flee the blaze, bloodied and dying.

They howl in terror, dragging the corpses of their fallen.

Silk hair swirling, blade singing, Slayer spins.

He strikes, lean, beautiful, black eyes afire in the crimson light.

“The truth!” he cries. “I shall know my secret, beast!”

The trolls break before him, scrabble for the shadows and cower. “Alas, the truth is revealed,” one wails.

“You are the monster.”

〜〜〜〜〜

New Beginnings by Wendy Anne Darling

Carmen heard the muted whisperings, but kept her eyes tightly closed.

They had told her that when she awoke there wouldn’t be any pain, yet this was almost too good to be true.

If she’d known how wonderful she’d feel, she would have done this months ago.

Having expected to remember nothing, her mind felt clearer than she’d ever believed possible.

Opening her eyes in joy, she smiled on those gathered below her and tested out her new wings.

〜〜〜〜〜

Salute the Black Dog by Vanessa Wright

It waited in the corner, darker than night, blacker than a shadow.

She warded it with spells and prescribed pills.

Motivated herself, saw psychiatrists and healers, but it never went away; merely growled louder.

The day inevitably dawned when hope died and she relented, bowed her head; fell to her knees.

It pounced on her with snapping jaws, crunching bone.

All that was left, was her red high heeled feet, kicking spasmodically and her blood dripping to the ground

〜〜〜〜〜

The Wisdom of Old Buster by B.B. Free

Buster ran through town screaming, “They’re coming! They’re coming now!”

Everyone laughed. After all, Old Buster sat day after day outside the abandoned gas station mumbling stories about faceless creatures that roamed the forests.

Only children were spooked by the tales.

This time, they didn’t even notice that Old Buster kept on running, or the low chanting coming from the tree tops.

To their misfortune, they didn’t notice the hordes of cloaked figures that descended upon their sleepy town.

〜〜〜〜〜

Vengeance by Aurora Jean Alexander

It was a nightmare to enter the salon.

But accepting an order from this family would catapult her business right into the top-ten companies within the state!

And still, Amanda didn’t like being in the house that resembled a mausoleum.

And worse: She would meet with Rohan; the man who had once been holding her bleeding heart in his hand and crushed it.

That day she had died.

Rohan was a monster.

And today she’d repay what he did.

〜〜〜〜〜

The Hunger by Chris Graham

They all surrounded and stared at him in his small glass cage.

Their eyes reflecting the hunger and need within their bodies for him.

He could do nothing to avoid them, not even move out of their sight.

Then suddenly, as if on a secret signal, they all surged towards him.

He felt powerless to escape from the certain carnage that would result from their fighting.

After all, he was nothing except.

The Last Straw in the Milk-Shake Bar.

〜〜〜〜〜

Authors and Bloggers

I don’t know how long you’d like the challenge to remain open, with NaNoWriMo coming up and your current WIP’s calling you.

But, if you would still like to join in the fun, or continue submitting further entries and have YOUR 79 word story posted, along with your photo and blog/website link, I’d be delighted to receive them; just email your entry to me and I’ll post them periodically:

tsraauthorarticles (AT) gmail (DOT) com,

Subject: 79 WORDS