Flash Club April Flash Club Contest

[Emily]

Here we are again, another month older and wiser, gentle Litopians...

For April, we are going to return to a Progressive Story... rules are a little different from normal, so please familiarise yourself with them below before posting

RULES:

-no more than 25 words (or less) per entry.

-Only one entry at a time (For those rascals who may try to bend The Rules by using many words/many entries one after the other: I’ll be patrolling with my wooden spoon).

-Your entry must advance the story in a meaningful way.

-Twists have to make sense.

-Please make your entry anonymous by clicking the anonymous button, but if you forget, don't worry, that's okay too. (Note: Guardians can see who posts.)

VOTING:

There will be NO VOTING until the final week of April: the story will end on the 22nd and voting will start on the 23rd.

-The entry with the most votes will be the winner of an extraordinary hand-crafted (!!) virtual trophy. And, more importantly: some of our very prized, and internationally-renowned, virtual Litopi-cake.



The competition is open to all members. Feel free to enter more than once (but please read Rule No. 2 above).

-The main rule here: we ask you not to critique.

 

[Emily]

STARTING POINT:

She looked at the shopping list and sighed. She’d made a promise to herself that this would be the last time. She was done.

 

[Anonymous]

But the problem with drug addicts is that they lie. They lie to their friends and their loved ones. But mostly they lie to themselves.

 

[Anonymous]

She would buy it one more time. Just one more time. Nothing wrong with buying it one more time. THE last time. Underpants for men.

 

[Anonymous]

Gucci underpants. Fake, but she’d resale them for a hundred quid online. It was a dangerous game, but no one had caught her. Yet.

 

[Anonymous]

Ted hit >escape >exit to desktop. He’d had enough danger for one evening. She’d be right where he'd left her next time he logged in.

 

[Anonymous]

Ted sighed, a satisfied sigh. He was very, very close to nailing her now. He snapped his laptop shut and headed out to the pub.

 

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, there was a loud, terrible band on. A Coldplay tribute act. Shudder. Ted headed back out onto the rain washed street.

 

[Anonymous]

A man in faded trousers and an old U2 shirt stood a few meters away. “Got a light?” he asked Ted.

 

[Anonymous]

“That was yesterday’s password, Joss. Where’ve you been, mate?” Ted whispered. “I say, ‘beggars can’t be choosers’, and you say––”

 

[Anonymous]

"What do we need passwords for, Ted? We both know each other, for Chris-sake."

 

[Anonymous]

Ted clenched his fists. Why did Joss have to be so goddam flippant all the time? There were protocols to be followed, after all.

 

[Anonymous]

‘Let’s go back inside the pub,’ Joss said. ‘I’m cold. And soaked.’

Ted eyed his companion.

‘That’ll teach you to go undercover without a coat.’

 

[Anonymous]

Back inside, Ted got the beers in, despite himself. As they cheersed he whispered, 'I've almost got the Gucci underpants. In the game, you know?'

 

[Anonymous]

Joss looked blank.
Something wasn’t right.
“So what was today’s password anyway?” Ted asked casually.

 

[Anonymous]

Joss blinked once. A long blink. Then, taking a sip of his beer, he said, “You’ve always been fond of Joss. It’s made you sloppy.”

 

[Anonymous]

"Not so." He pressed the knife-point in, his arm round Joss’s shoulders as he slumped.

 

[Anonymous]

As he pressed Joss' dying body back in his chair, Ted stared out of the window. A woman hurried past. Unmistakable. It was her.

 

[Anonymous]

When Ted reached the door, the whole pub heard the barmaid scream as she dropped the tray of empty, dirty glasses at Joss’s table.

 

[Anonymous]

Ted eased the flick-knife out, closing it behind Joss.

“Drinking on pills... I’ll fetch the car.” Shaking his head, he headed out into the night.

 

[Anonymous]

Ted eased the flick-knife out, closing it behind Joss.
“Drinking on pills... I’ll fetch the car.” Shaking his head, he headed out into the night.

Sorry about that – these two crossed in preparation somehow.

 

[Anonymous]

He turned left: the woman's direction of hurry. Left again and there she was, back slouched against a wall, doc martin'd foot tapping her impatience.

 

[Anonymous]

"You took your time!"

"Bit of a hold-up."Ted snatched the package she held out and hurried out of the alley...

WHO-OMPH! A massive explosion.

 

[Anonymous]

Karina hit >escape >exit to desktop. She was in no mood for explosions, and this VR tech was so real it actually hurt.

 

[Anonymous]

She hung her headset on the stand, stretched, then opened an email entitled, Got a Light?
It read: Karina, Thanks for the package. Ted.
'What?'

 

[Anonymous]

She was still staring at it, more chilled than surprised, when the knocking began at the front door. A knocking which rapidly became a hammering.

 

[Anonymous]

The hammering stopped. Silence. Then a whir. Clunk. High pinched shrieking, grinding sound. Oh my god! Someone cutting their way in... with a chainsaw.

 

[Anonymous]

Dammit! Jaik gazed at the words hovering in the space before him. Then he flicked a sentence away and watched it disintegrate against a wall.

 

[Anonymous]

The Controller sighed on receiving the desk alert. They were at it again. Writing another collective story on the software. Well, he'd warned them.

 

[Anonymous]

The Controller punched his desk in frustration. Unfortunately, he hit the SELF DESTRUCT button... "THOOM!"
Entire office, gone.
Meanwhile, back to the dusty figure...