Hello everyone! As some of you may have noticed, I recently celebrated reaching 100 followers. I’m still very excited about this news and thrilled that so many people have enjoyed my scribblings thus far. I wanted to find a way to write more regularly on my blog, as I am always writing but not finishing work very quickly. I feel like I need something to focus my creativity, a bit of pressure to get the cogs turning in my head. I’ve been following some wonderful bloggers for a few months now and if they can manage to write a blog post every day whilst juggling their own busy lives then I can at least write one short story every week!
So, from today I am launching a weekly project which I have very cleverly named “Fiction Fursdays”, and I will require a bit of help. Upon completing the A-Z Challenge set during April, I found that prompts from other bloggers not only fired up my imagination but also helped me to feel part of the wider blogosphere. So, I’d like to request that you lovely people send me suggestions for my Fiction Fursdays! I’ll take on board every suggestion given and store them away for the upcoming weeks. This will not only give me a big group of stories to be getting on with but it will also provide me with a DEADLINE for each of them. I seem to work quite well when a deadline is set so I think this will be a good move for me!
So, if any of you would like to propose a story for me to write about in the upcoming weeks, go right ahead! I solemnly promise to give each and every suggestion a bash, regardless of the genre or narrative style etc. Anything you think I can tackle or would like to see me attempt to write just let me know. I’m very excited about this! I’ll be posting a short story which I wrote a while ago underneath this main post, which will then be the first and (hopefully!) last “Fiction Fursday” short I put up here.
Sorry for the rambling, but I wanted this post to convey my excitement and eagerness to get started! I do hope you’ll honour me with a suggestion, whoever you are! Of course I will give a shout-out to anyone who suggests something to me.
Now that that’s out of the way, here is a piece of flash fiction I wrote few months ago for a competition. Sadly it wasn’t placed, but it was fun to write. I hope you enjoy it.
Brick Wall
By Adam Dixon
John padded into the kitchen, blinking at the morning sunshine. He scratched his unkempt hair, followed by his bare stomach as it growled audibly. ‘What to have for breakfast?’ he thought, casting his eyes lazily across the room. He shuffled towards the fridge and wrenched it open, examining its contents. ‘Hmm…bacon and eggs, maybe?’ he pondered. ‘Nah, not today. Cuppa tea, though.’ He took out a bottle of milk and put the kettle on. The clip-clop of shoes on tiles announced her arrival. He didn’t turn around.
“John, we need to talk,” her quiet voice floated into the kitchen. John plonked a tea bag into his mug and began opening cupboards. ‘Hmm…cereal? Frosties or Coco Pops? Hmmm…’
“Things…haven’t been going well between us for a while now,” she continued hesitantly. She took a step into the kitchen, placing a small pink suitcase next to her smart black heels. “I feel like we can’t talk to each other properly anymore. Do you know what I mean?” John took out the box of Coco Pops and looked at it briefly before he put it back.
“I think…I think we should have some time apart,” she persisted, speaking quickly. “You know, to think about our futures…because I don’t know if I can do this anymore.” Her voice cracked slightly as she spoke. John poured boiling water into his mug and hummed to himself as he added the milk.
“John? Are you listening to me? This is important!” John continued humming. ‘Actually, bugger it, I will have bacon and eggs!’ John smiled triumphantly and fished about in the fridge once again.
“John? John! Why won’t you say anything, for Christ’s sake?!” Her heeled shoe stamped down on the tiles. A single tear followed it, splashing onto the white marble. John cracked two eggs into a glass bowl and began to whisk eagerly, still humming softly.
“I can’t believe you…how can you stand there and make fucking breakfast while I’m suffering over here? Is this why Jenny left you? And Suzie?” John stopped humming. He paused for a moment mid-whisk, before scraping a generous lump of lard from the packet and into the frying pan. The humming resumed. There came a long, exasperated sigh from behind him.
“I don’t know why I bother. I loved you, John, but I can’t talk to a brick wall. I’ll send someone round for the rest of my things.” There was a hopeful pause before she picked up her case and clip-clopped out of the room. A moment later the front door slammed.
John scratched his stomach and added bacon to the frying pan. He began whistling as his breakfast started to come together, and the mouth-watering smell of bacon and scrambled eggs filled the kitchen. ‘Oh yes’, he thought cheerfully, ‘today is going to be a good day!’
adamdixonfiction 
Lol I like the entirely detached character, summarising why she left while simulatenously ignorant to the truth and her.
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Glad you liked it ☺ His complete detatchment was quite fun to write.
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A prompt suggestion for your Fiction Fursday 🙂 : Write a story containing fantasy elements set in a world or culture technologically no more advanced than the Neolithic.
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Ooooh, that sounds fun! I will certainly give that a go, thank you! 😄
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You’re welcome!
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Fiction Fursday – Fabulous! A guy, down on his luck, sneaks into the zoo for the night and the animals start to talk to him about what’s wrong with his life. :0)
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Wow! Kate, that is a bloody great idea! 😄 I’m looking forward to that already!
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Ahh you’re being very kind AJ. I’d love to read it as I’m sure you’ll be able to give it a ‘twist’ in the tale :0)
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I’ll certainly give it a try! ☺
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Fiction Fursday – a friend actually joked this idea to me but I’ll share 😊 – a ghost haunted by a living human being they can’t seem to get rid of!
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Well, thanks so much for sharing! 😄 That’s an awesome idea, I’ll have some fun with that one! ☺
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Fucking hell! That’s not detachment, that’s…I don’t know what it is, my brain isn’t working right now…whatever it is you’ve conveyed it really well though, I love the contrast of her painfully enunciating her feelings and him cheerfully deciding to go for bacon and eggs after all as a response…and pausing for half a second before carrying on with his breakfast…really well crafted, what a twat he is.
On a side note, I’m sorry but I cannot think of anything to suggest for your Thursday fiction, my brain is really fried right now. If anything comes to me, I will let you know though 🙂
I hope you’re having a good day, Adam 🙂
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He is, rather! Thank you for the comment, I’m glad you liked it ☺ Or disliked it, I guess?
No problem! 😄 That would be brilliant, thank you ☺
I’m having a pretty good day, thanks. All the better now that you’ve returned to WP! 😄 Hope you’re doing ok and not working too hard!
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Well John is a complete Jeremy Hunt in that story – nice is horrible. Great idea to do a weekly story. Nothing like a bit of pressure.
Two things. One, would you review my anthology for me? I can let you have a pdf. I hope to publish is very soon. If you’re up to your eyeballs then of course I’ll quite understand but since you’ve tried the same thing I’d value your views and comments. And of course I want it honest.
As for story ideas
Write a story in the second person, involving a rescue dog
Write a story that pays homage to scylla and charydis frommthe Odyssey.
Take a real life character – say, Winston Churchill – and imagine them dealing with a crisis, say a bad reverse and whether to hide it because of the propaganda value
Let me know if you want more
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He is indeed! Nasty fellow. That’s what I thought 😊 Thanks for reading.
I absolutely will review it for you! 😄 I loved your Nano stories and having a pdf of them would be brilliant. Thanks for asking, I’m quite chuffed! My email address is aj.dixon@hotmail.co.uk. I’ll be honest, don’t worry.
Wow, those are great ideas! A couple of head-scratchers there, so thank you so much! 😄 Looking forward to getting started.
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Hi, Adam. I finally made it here after meeting you at the Bloggers bash on the weekend.
Congratulations on the followers milestone. I’m sure you’ll have many more milestones to celebrate over the coming year.
I had a feeling that she may have been a ghost at first, but how wrong was I? He obviously wanted rid of her and it seems to have worked given that he thought the rest of the day was going to be good.
I look forward to reading your short story. Thank you so much for finding my blog first. I was so busy yesterday with catching up on Post Bloggers Bash stuff. I’m working on the video today which, of course, you’ll be featuring in.
Best wishes,
Hugh
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Thank you so much for reading and commenting, Hugh ☺ I’m glad you enjoyed the story. Yes, I think he was far too keen on allowing his relationships to wither away through apathy.
I hope so, I’d love to reach 150 soon!
I’m sure sorting through the post-Bash pictures, blogs and videos has kept you really busy! I’m looking forward to reading more of your posts and seeing the video! 😄 Hope you’re having a lovely day.
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