Oolite Bulletins

The comp ran via Twitter for two weeks prior to last night's 2-hour short-listing and voting.

It had to be a complete story, themed (loosely) on "Soul" - the tweet had to contain the hashtag #flf13, which, with a space as a separator, left 133 characters to write the story.

Flash Lit Fiction, as part of the Brighton Digital Festival, short-listed from all entries submitted and basically went "The short-list is up" go vote - there were well over 200 entries over the two weeks, so I was quite pleased one of mine got short-listed - so manage gee-up enough votes to come 2nd was most pleasing.

Thanks for the information, DH.

(Although I have to admit that with the full knowledge I probably would have voted for entry C, not for yours. )

Ha! Thank-you for your honesty - I really liked C too!

Turns out I entered 16 times! Here they all are for your delectation... (I have my favourite and it's not the one that got short-listed!)

The comp ran from September 8th to 26th - I learned about it on the 14th.

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FLF13

16. When they told me mother had died & gone to Heaven I wept, not for the loss, but because we were witches who worshipped only Nature.

15. The Fool: She appeared as a beautiful woman to steal my heart, but over time, her demonic nature revealed, as she also stole my soul.

14. The Tarot Reader looked nervous very early on. When The Devil card caught fire as she laid it down, she ran screaming from the room.

13. God threw down the XBox controller in disgust. Satan punched the air. "We go back to chess for deciding who gets a Soul," said God.

12. The sign where he joined the queue to the Pearly Gates read "Waiting time from here: Eternity". If he wasn't British, this'd be hell.

11. I had offered a way into my soul via my blog, although I didn't know it at 1st. Now I'm cracked open, I haemorrhage into the aether.

10. He really knew how to get a soul into Heaven. Followers paid for his equipment, but when he died, his Earthly desires were forgotten.

9. The angel had the wings, but not the voice:"I find your lack of faith disturbing" it said. I'd fallen asleep watching Star Wars again

8. Dying: I wonder if the weight of the bad things I did to get my money will drag me down, or the good I did once I got it, lift me up.

7. I didn't go to grandpa's funeral. My parents thought "closure" is what happened to shipyards. So I never saw grandpa go down to hell.

6. As I tumble away from the space station, severed umbilical spewing frozen air, I ask: did my ancestors really look up & see heaven?

5. We tried to explain that Jess was born the day my wife died. Now we ignore the whispers about what an 18yo girl sees in a 50yo man.

4. The Undertaker had done a magnificent job. Dad looked so peaceful and therefore not like dad at all. The monster had fled this shell.

3. "Publish and be damned" they said. Tricky, those fallen angels. I print their dirty work and they gain one more soul for their fire.

2. "Your CV states: Blood-sucking, without heart or soul. Are you a lawyer or a vampire?" The man smiled, his wicked canines glinted.

1. I'm a technological killing machine on the battlefield. I wish they had not programmed me to think. I worry that I will I go to Hell.

Some good ones there!

May I offer my personal rating?

I like 1, 6, 8, 11, 12, 15 and 16, but my favourite is 4. (The shortlisted one is not among them, I notice.)

The weakest for me is 2, because the lawyer-vampire metaphor is a little tired. And wouldn't "Publish and perish" be a tad more poignant in 3?

4, 12 and 16 are my own personal favourites - and you can blame the Pratchett influence for the Lawyer/Vampire thing!

Glad you found some to take your fancy.

Commander McLane wrote:

the lawyer-vampire metaphor is a little tired

Personally I prefer likening them to bottom-feeders..