On the first weekend of each month, the Australian Writer's Centre puts out a Furious Fiction contest. Writers take the prompts given and write a flash fiction piece of no more than 500 words during the 55-hour contest.
In June 2024, writers had to include:
The piece I created, Versatility, was longlisted. Enjoy! Versatility Merv sat on the edge of the bed holding a jar in one hand and a needle in the other. He nudged June with his elbow. “Wake up, baby,” he pleaded in an urgent whisper. Merv squirmed in the ill-fitting uniform. The legs were a bit too short, as were the arms. However, it was the best he could do on short notice. He nudged her again. “June. Wake up. We don’t have much time.” June’s eyes fluttered open. “Merv? Is that you?” “Yeah, baby. It’s me.” “Why are you wearing a mask?” “It’s part of the uniform, baby.” He pulled down the mask, letting it rest under his chin. “See? It’s me. I did what you asked. I got everything.” “Everything? Are you sure?” Merv’s hands began to shake. “I’m not a dimwit. I only needed two items and a way to camouflage my actions. Even I can’t muck that up.” She raised her eyebrows. Merv always managed to muck things up. As if to prove her wrong, he held up his right hand. “Phenobarbital.” Then he held up his left hand. “Syringe.” Finally, he looked down at his attire. “Standard hospital garb.” With a satisfied nod, he said, “Are you sure?” “Yes. It’s time. It’s way past time.” June emphatically nodded her approval. Merv removed the cap and plunged the needle into the clear liquid, tears leaking from his eyes. She told him she was tired of living this way. How could he deny her an easy escape? Suddenly, the room filled with shouting people. Aides. Nurses. Doctors. Above the commotion, he heard her say, “I woke up to find him sitting on my bed, filling that syringe. I think he was planning to kill me!” Merv stammered. “But…June…” Before he could say another word, security pushed him to the floor. Someone wrapped duct tape around his wrists and pulled him by his legs into the hall. Before he left in the squad car, he’d been labeled a murderer. As for June, once alone, she smiled. For the first time in their entire thirty-year marriage, Merv had done exactly what she needed him to do. No handholding. No procrastinating. No errors. And because of his spectacular success, she’d finally be free to live the life she’d always wanted - right after she healed from her plastic surgery. Who knew euthanasia could be so versatile?
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I woke up one morning about a month ago to find that An Enemy Like Me was listed as "temporarily out of stock" on Amazon. Of course, I immediately contacted my publisher. Unfortunately, not only could they do nothing, but the situation grew worse.
am against book banning, against authors being told what they can and cannot write about, and against someone else making decisions for me. I firmly believe that parents have the right to say no to books for their children, but I don't believe that parents have the right to say no to other people's children.
During our discussion, we found that many banned books were coming-of-age type stories where a child, teen, or young adult had witnessed or experienced something traumatic and found a way out the other side. Generally, these books were banned for being "too" something. Too sexual. Too racial. Too stereotypical. Too violent. Too real. My hope is that no matter what you believe or what prefer to read, that you also believe that same right belongs to everyone. And with that, I'll step down from my soapbox and present you with a list of books that were read by members of the group. Each book was banned, either immediately upon publication, or at some point later in its lifespan. My hope is that you will read at least one of these books to see if you can figure out why they were banned and also determine why these books might be just the right book for someone despite the elements that put it into the banned pile.
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AuthorTeri M Brown, author of An Enemy Like Me and Sunflowers Beneath the Snow connects readers with characters they'd love to invite to lunch. Follow the Blog Using the RSS Feed link below:
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