Category: Flash Fiction February

Day 20: Dream

The internet has long been my vision board. This is how I picture retirement, some day after the kids have all graduated.

#FlashFicFeb although this is only “fiction” because I’m not presently experiencing this reality in a purely physical sense.

Day 20: Dream #FlashFicFeb

Photo by Taryn Elliott on Pexels.com

I intend to live in a cabin; near a lake; in the woods; with a view of the mountains; where I can sit in a hand built wooden chair next to a stone fire pit where I cook many delicious meals. I will befriend as many animals as I can. I will walk around the lake at least once per day.

I want to be within an hour’s walking distance of a small town. Other than electrical and water, my cabin will be mostly off the grid. I only need to go into town to use the WiFi occasionally and buy supplies. I might get one of those fancy recumbent tricycles if I get tired of walking. My car is going to be parked and probably covered most of the time.

I want to enjoy fresh air at night outdoors as often as possible. I want to watch the sun rise and set next to the lake. I’ll watch the geese and the ducks come and go. With some luck I’ll even get to see the deer occasionally, and maybe a raccoon. I don’t hunt or fish anymore, so they have nothing to fear from me.

I might become more of a vegetarian than I am now. I plan to make pizza, chili, maybe some eggs now and then. I’ll roast corn, zucchini, potatoes, and onions over the fire pit. I’ll pop popcorn in a pan. I can’t go fully vegan because I love cheese, eggs, and butter too much.

My days will be filled with writing roleplaying games and novels. My weekends will be filled with conventions for roleplaying games or Ufology. I’ll never need to go on a spiritual retreat because the cabin will be far enough from traffic that I can rest and meditate without noise from traffic or other nearby houses.

I want to be able to fall asleep occasionally in my chair next to the fire pit with a blanket over my legs for added warmth. I’ll meditate regularly in almost any weather. My cabin will have a solid roof and a wood stove for cold, rainy nights.

I might get a cat for company. Otherwise, I don’t really need or even want a lot of companionship. I’ll still upload my blog. I’ll e-publish most of my stuff, anyway. It’s not that I don’t like being around people, I just want as much peace and quiet as possible.

Don’t pinch me. I don’t want to wake up. This is real for me.

Photo by Spencer Selover on Pexels.com

Updates

Today’s excerpt is:
Three shaggy, long-bearded men sat around the campfire after another long day of trekking through the woods in search of a legendary dragon and its treasure. It was that time of night, after dinner but before bed when tales of daring and epic deeds would be told. Each man, starting with Ulric will tell one thing that makes him more noteworthy than other men.

#FlashFicFeb is going well. Other things- 😬

Day 4: Legend. I had fun with this one. I want to do much longer stories based around some of these. It’s too much fun. Really.

Today’s excerpt is:
Three shaggy, long-bearded men sat around the campfire after another long day of trekking through the woods in search of a legendary dragon and its treasure. It was that time of night, after dinner but before bed when tales of daring and epic deeds would be told. Each man, starting with Ulric will tell one thing that makes him more noteworthy than other men.

I’m only putting up mostly excerpts for now until I decide which one will be submitted for publication. I’ll drop a folder with all of the finished stories on the site at the end of the month. One will be submitted to the Storytelling Collective for publication on DriveThruFiction as part of a compilation.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

In other news…

I’m emailing my poor editor later to explain why I’m still woefully behind on a couple of D&D adventures. I might be overthinking things? Two weeks of Covid rampaging through the house didn’t help matters. I’ve also been having fun with unemployment issues and my own health. It might sound stupid, but sometimes being unemployed and home all day; doing housework is more taxing than working part time or even full time? Sounds crazy to me, but it’s how things have been.

I have lots of cool campaign ideas and plans for games floating around in my head, in my docs, and in my notebook. Lots more in the weeks to come. Also an update on my Power Rangers RPG campaign that I’m building for here at home. It’s gonna be fun for my family, at least. I’ve got lots of other stuff in the works as soon as this D&D project is finished, some of which I can’t even discuss yet.

So, please stay tuned. Have a lovely weekend. See you soon. 😃

#FlashFicFeb

Flash Fiction February is upon us! Let the good times begin!

I’m having fun with this one.

We’re already on Day 2. I’m amazed at how easy coming up with short short stories has been so far. I kind of like writing vignettes for RPG stuff and this is sort of what it’s like. Speaking of- I have lots of RPG stuff in the mix right now. I’m shamefully past deadline on one project. (I have not forgotten.)

The Day 2:

Focus

#FlashFicFeb Day 2

Charlie kept thinking to himself, “Gotta keep punchin. Gotta keep swingin. Gotta get my guard back up.”

Then there was a loud thump on his left ear. Was that a foot? Is this MMA? Is that the ceiling?

Charlie thought back to his first ever day of boxing. It was a private lesson in his dad’s buddy’s basement gym. He did a little weight training and learned about cardio. He never even strapped the gloves on the first day. Dad’s pal Jim was an expert trainer, though. Charlie remembered thinking about all the trophies on the wall.

“Speed. Power. Focus.” Jim’s words echoed in Charlie’s head from a later lesson.

Wait. Focus? Where are we? Oh, Jeez! That’s the ref. Gotta get up. Gotta stay focused.

Charlie struggled to his feet and shook off some of the many cobwebs. “Gotta stay focused,” he thought.

He answered the ref’s request to continue with a big nod, trying to appear as coherent as possible. For whatever reason, the ref was convinced Charlie was okay to continue. Although the ref did politely remind Charlie that one more of those and he was going to call it.

Charlie’s opponent was a big dude named Downtown Brown. The guy had a wicked right hook. In fairness, the guy had a wicked everything. Charlie was puzzled how this guy wasn’t considered a heavyweight.

Charlie came back out swinging. This time he could hear his trainer, Jim’s oldest son, yelling “Stick and move! Don’t try to stand your ground or this guy’s gonna kill ya!”

He was right. Charlie remembered the fight footage of Downtown Brown’s last three fights. All knockouts. All within the first two rounds. What round was it?

A large red glove connected dead center of Charlie’s face, and everything went black. The mat came right up to greet Charlie’s motionless body. The white towel flew up over the top rope and everyone rushed in to make sure Charlie was still alive.

My Flash Fiction February page can be found here. Sometimes I’ll only be posting excerpts. Other times, the whole story if it’s short enough. I’m here to tell you, 500 words is a walk in the park most of the time. Staying under 500 is a challenge for me.

Part of my ambition for #FlashFicFeb is to do some fanfic stuff and relate some things to RPGs. My first story was actually a brief arc from a Cyberpunk story. Good times. More to come.

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