I haven’t published much flash fiction this month, because one of the two forums (fori?) where I participate in flash fiction linkups, Carrot Ranch Literary Community, has been holding a Flash Fiction Rodeo, eight contests throughout October. I’ve entered most of the contests, but judging is to be blind, so I can’t publish the entries until after judging is complete. So I’ve been writing, just not publishing.
Except for this entry, and at least one more that I’m working on–we’ll see how inspired I get before the deadline. This contest has a fun and different structure for flash fiction: Write a story in 99 words, consisting of 11 sentences of 9 words each, tweeted over Twitter. It’s #Twitterflash! It’s hard to judge blindly when it has to be tweeted, so I can go ahead and publish this one. Finally!
The note about trolling is a confession that I now must make. In the event you decide to follow me on Twitter (@99_Monkees), be aware that I troll our dumpster fire of a presidency. (#ImpeachTrump) Normally I do not like Internet trolls, just there to stir up trouble and throw negative crap everywhere. But with Emperor Hirocheeto, I find it therapeutic. It could be argued that I’m crazy for even following President Looney Tunes* on social media in the first place, but I’m one of those drivers that likes to lag behind you a bit, because I can keep an eye on your idiot ass from back here. Stay informed. Keep your friends close but your enemies closer. I confess to occasionally finding old boyfriends on the Internet to see how miserable they are these days, which might qualify as Internet stalking if I did it more often than I do. What can I say; I’m a Scorpio. In any event, I don’t say anything truly terrible; mostly I tell him he sounds like he’s 7 (which he does) or remind him it’s his bedtime now, or bug him again about what in the hell he intends to do about our fellow Americans who lost everything to Hurricane Maria and who have been living without power and clean water and basic infrastructure for more than a month now. (#PuertoRico) I may have also called him a baboon. I find all of it cathartic. I love living in a country where I have the right to free speech, the freedom to go on social media and say “fuck you” to the President of the United States; so very very much less do I love that I am inspired to do just that on almost a daily basis lately. I have feet, knee and hip problems that make it hard to march, so I use what I have. I troll. And I vote. (#resist)
Mostly, though, I tweet relatively harmlessly from this blog, so that’s another way to follow 99 Monkeys if you want to.
On to my first entry in the Carrot Ranch #Twitterflash contest:
Title Tweet: Into the Great Wide Open (thanks for the great title and RIP, Tom Petty). #FFRodeo #Twitterflash
— Deborah Lee (@99_Monkees) October 27, 2017
1/11 Leaving your life behind is easier than it sounds. #FFRodeo #Twitterflash
— Deborah Lee (@99_Monkees) October 27, 2017
2/11 It was so easy, she’d done it by accident. #FFRodeo #Twitterflash
— Deborah Lee (@99_Monkees) October 27, 2017
3/11 When she walked away, she’d only wanted a cigarette. #FFRodeo #Twitterflash
— Deborah Lee (@99_Monkees) October 27, 2017
4/11 She sat on a handy sidewalk bench, blissfully smoking. #FFRodeo #Twitterflash
— Deborah Lee (@99_Monkees) October 27, 2017
5/11 Then a bus pulled up, so she got on. #FFRodeo #Twitterflash
— Deborah Lee (@99_Monkees) October 27, 2017
6/11 The bus driver had looked at her so expectantly. #FFRodeo #Twitterflash
— Deborah Lee (@99_Monkees) October 27, 2017
7/11 She rode around, no idea where she was going. #FFRodeo #Twitterflash
— Deborah Lee (@99_Monkees) October 27, 2017
8/11 When she saw the airport, she realized her destination. #FFRodeo #Twitterflash
— Deborah Lee (@99_Monkees) October 27, 2017
9/11 She scanned the departures board for the best place. #FFRodeo #Twitterflash
— Deborah Lee (@99_Monkees) October 27, 2017
10/11 Her only hesitation was when asked for her name. #FFRodeo #Twitterflash
— Deborah Lee (@99_Monkees) October 27, 2017
11/11 Airborne, her options were as endless as the horizon. #FFRodeo #Twitterflash
— Deborah Lee (@99_Monkees) October 27, 2017
#TheEnd #funwithhashtags
*Please note that you will never see me use the words “president” and “trump” adjacently, because I do not want to give the impression that I consider those two words to comprise a valid title. #NotMyPresident
99 Monkeys 