Photo from Jezri’s Nightmares
“Bigoted old hags!” Gwen stormed up the lane as indignantly as two arthritic knees would allow. For years she’d sat at the weekly tea, letting racist remarks pass by unchallenged. It got harder to remain silent after her daughter married “one of them.” Her permissiveness ended abruptly at 10:28 yesterday, with her granddaughter’s first cry.
Word count: 55
Thought I’d try my hand at an even shorter piece of flash fiction this week, joining up with the 55 Word Challenge over at Jezri’s Nightmares. I could choose from one of three photo prompts to inspire a short, short story. To anyone who thinks writing a story in 55 words should be half as hard as writing one in 100 words (since the story’s roughly half as long), I say, “You try it!”
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Posts I commented on today:
Sleepless in Duwamps (Where’s my backpack?)
Book Review: Unexpected Gifts (Rick Mallery)
A to Z Reflections (The Ninja Librarian) new blog of the day
Things I See and Know 
Janet domino
May 18, 2013 at 12:47 AM
Amazing how you can do that!
dreaminofobx
May 21, 2013 at 7:42 AM
Thank you! 🙂 Practice, practice, practice.
Tina Downey
May 19, 2013 at 2:33 PM
I’ve written a lot of 55 word pieces for a meme I used to participate in, but they were poems. I think I’d struggle mightily with those 55 words being a story! I also used to participate in a 100 word story meme, and I got better and better at those. I love a good writing challenge for working out those muscles!
Tina @ Life is Good
dreaminofobx
May 21, 2013 at 7:42 AM
Yes, the 100 word stories are getting a bit easier (although I still struggle to cut those last three or four words) but this was my first attempt at 55. It’s good for me…I’m usually wordy, so I really have to concentrate on identifying the crucial information then portraying it as succinctly as possible. I take for granted that the reader will be on the same page as I am, but that’s not always the case, so I’ve got to provide a clear map quickly!
galeriaredelius
May 19, 2013 at 7:58 PM
Fantastic text, what a skill to tell so much in so few words, that’s something I really admire!
dreaminofobx
May 21, 2013 at 7:37 AM
Thank you, it’s a skill I definitely need to practice! I’m normally quite wordy, so there is A LOT of editing involved in these challenges.