Tag Archives: #nycmidnight #microfiction

NYC Midnight 100-word microfiction

Posted on by under Contests, ghost stories, microfiction, NYC Midnight

One hundred words is a very small number of words with which to form a complete story. I re-remember this every time I get a prompt to do a 100-word microfiction entry in 24 hours. My prompts this time: genre – ghost story, action – picking up a coin, word – spark

The Ballad of Grey Sadie

You’ve never heard of Grey Sadie? Jilted bride, threw herself in the river, lures unsuspecting men to their deaths?

You bend down to pick up a stray coin and static sparks. With that touch, she has you. You’ll walk straight off the riverbank, your thoughts crowded out by her fury. That current is faster than it looks. And the weeds will pull you down. 

It’s just a story. Put that quarter in your pocket and listen to the river rush by. 

I’ll fall in and you’ll swim after me. It’s nice to try something different after a century or two.

NYC Midnight Round Two

Posted on by under Contests, fairy tale, microfiction, NYC Midnight

In the second round of the 250-word micro fiction contest, I drew genre – fairy tale, action – collecting water in a bucket, word – decline

The Price of Magic

A charmed village sat in the shadow of a mountain. But when its fortunes declined, Council consulted their books. It was past time to refresh the well with water from the magic spring. A child was chosen to make the climb and warned of the monster who lived there. Jill walked all morning. She filled her bucket from the spring, then heard bone-chilling shrieks. Was it the monster? Or someone needing help?

She followed the cries to a cottage, its door wide open. An ancient woman shifted on a narrow bed. “Thirsty,” she croaked.

Jill found a mug and dipped it into the bucket. As the woman drank, years disappeared from her face. She jumped out of bed. “Wait, you’re my age! Who are you?”

“I’m Jacqueline. Five hundred years ago, Council protected the village with a spell. The spring flows only while I’m trapped here, but a drink from it frees me.”

“They just abandoned you here? A child?”

“They said it was for the greater good. Every hundred years, someone comes for water, but my cries scare them away. You came for me.” She hugged Jill.

“Will you come with me back to the village?”

“Never! I shall see what’s down the other side of the mountain. You may join me if you’d like. I’ve been alone so long.”

“They told me there was a monster here.”

“They are the monsters.”

Jill grabbed Jacqueline’s hand and they skipped away, the bucket forgotten.

The village awaited its fate.