Halloween Flash Fiction!

I wrote a flash fiction piece from a prompt for fellow author Kate Hill for her Halloween blog promo. Turns out she only wanted one line! So below the cover advert is the rest of this short, short story for your Halloween "horror" entertainment. Enjoy! (P.S. It's not all that scary--this is my PG rated persona writing, after all.)
 

Our latest book in the BloodDark trilogy--SF adventure for all ages! From Desert Breeze Publishing and available online at Amazon.

 

 

 

The Bus
by Cynthianna

On a cold, dark night, you're alone at a bus stop when your cell phone rings and the caller ID says it's your boyfriend, so you answer it. The voice on the other end isn't his... In fact, it's not even a voice but the sound a puppy whimpering.  It sounds like your dog.

"Is that you Rex? How did you get out of your crate--and how the heck did you call me on Danny's phone?" The bus pulls up and the door opens. "Don't worry. I'll be home soon."

You enter the bus and sit down as it pulls away from the curb. Strange, it's empty. Usually there's a few other souls riding the route, coming off of second shift work about the same time you do, but tonight you have the bus all to yourself. Blinking, you notice there's no bus driver either. The vehicle is driving itself, and you know your city is too cheap to buy a self-driving bus.

"Oh, no... Get me out of here!" You rush to the back door, ready to disembark the moment the bus stops at a light, but it only speeds up. This is your worst nightmare--being trapped on a speeding bus. It reminds you of that movie with Keanu Reeves, the one Danny loves watching over and over again on your big screen TV while you and your faithful dog Rex silently fume at the imposition.

With a sudden jerk you're thrown forward and hit your head against the back of a seat. Minutes later you slowly open your eyes and look up, puzzled to see you're now at home, in your apartment, lying on the sofa next to your boyfriend as he watches television.

"Man, you missed all the good parts," Danny says as he picks up the remote and starts flipping channels. "Good thing you're awake now. I think Rex needs a walk before bedtime."

"You take him," you say to Danny, patting your pup on the head. "I don't think I can go out again tonight. I'm coming down with something... Something I caught on the bus."

 You can see the very nice Halloween Adventures page Kate set up for me at
http://kate-hill.com/halloweenpage/adventures-start-here/cynthianna

Also available from Desert Breeze Publishing, my latest rom-com novel, Preachin' to the Choir!

 

Off to the cons!

We're off to a couple of sci-fi cons this month--Archon 38 and ConClave 38. What better way to celebrate this wonderful fact than by posting some flash fiction I wrote at the last con we attended, the NASFic DetCon1?

(Okay, there's probably a better way to celebrate, but this is a family friendly blog!) 

Now for the wonderful flash fiction, written under duress in five minutes on a Sunday morning at DetCon1...

Writing prompts: Two old friends, a mistake, an airlock

“No, you did not just do that!”

Bob scowled at his dear old friend Bill. Yeah, Bill was getting forgetful, but he hadn’t slipped into Alzheimer’s quite yet.

“I did. He deserved it, Bob. You heard what he said about the Sixth Doctor. That man deserved to die.”

“But Bill—come on! It was just a flippant remark about a centuries’ old sci-fi TV show... It wasn’t worth it.”

“Yes, it was!" Bill stood proudly. “The entire Doctor Who fandom was at stake. It had to be done.”

“Oh, all right.” Bob sighed. “What do we tell the captain then?”

“We just say Rick stepped out for a breath of fresh air.”

“Fresh air?” Bob smacked his forehead. “Through an airlock? On a space station in geosynchronous orbit around Earth?” He thought for a moment. “Well, all right.”

I'll be posting news about a couple of book contracts I recently lined-up very soon!

Not Quite an "Iron Author" from DetCon1

We're home from the NASFic, aka DetCon1, and still trying to mentally and physically recoup. My husband Adrian took some great photos and put them up on Facebook for all to see. (Click here to see his photos.) I wanted to make sure that anyone who sat in on the "Copyediting--don't fear the editor" panel on Sunday and came looking for my testimonial page knew they'd found the right place. Just head to the top of the page and hit the link that says "editorial services". (No, this blog has not been copyedited. I'm tired. So there!)

We had a lot of fun in Detroit, met some nice folk, and got a couple invites to area conventions to talk about writing, publishing, whatever. Adrian sold two of his world famous bookends in the art show, so all-in-all, not a bad showing.

I thought I'd share a bit of the flash fiction I wrote in the "Iron Author Detroit" contest I participated in Sunday morning. (Yes, it was early on the last day of the con--not the best timing for a contest.) The winner was the fabulous author Lucy A. Snyder, so I don't feel too bad for losing to her at all. However, I do wonder about the sanity of the audience members who came up with the "prompts" we used to write a short story in five minutes. My example below will show you why I have some reservations on their mental stability, as these three words actually made sense or at least more sense than the last three sets of prompts. Enjoy! ;)

Prompts: a Watermelon, a Triceratops, and a Lost Shoe (the secret ingredient)

"Wherever could it be?"

Lilah looked at the trail behind her. No shoe. It must have fallen off after she had forded the stream, after she had eaten some of the delicious wild watermelon, but she was pretty sure she was still wearing it when she scrambled over the sharp rocks near the waterfalls.

"I knew this was a mistake. I knew I should have never listen to Marc (the panel MC). This is beautiful country, but really... What's so special about it?"

She sighed and plopped down on a boulder. That hiking shoe had cost hundreds. She'd never be able to afford another pair anytime soon.

"Why did I believe, Marc?"

Then she heard the sound far-off... Oh, my God! A triceratops was grazing in the meadow below where she sat.

"The Lost World!" she cried. This is why Marc had told her to come here.

I was writing with pen on legal paper since I didn't bring a laptop. I'm not sure the story would have been much longer or better written using a keyboard, but I certainly could have read it with less problems. Deciphering my horrible handwriting a day later is a challenge and a half! 

Feel free to leave a comment below, especially if we met at DetCon1, and feel free to like me on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, etc., at the links on the right side of the page. It was great getting to know you, but now I need to catch up on my sleep. Zzzzz... :)