Six Minute Story – Page 2 – Ruth Livingstone

Six-minute story: Indecision

Six minutes isn’t long enough to plan a cohesive structure. But great fun!

This was the prompt for today’s six-minute story.

(photo by epSos.de from Flickr)

And here was my response: Indecision.

I tried to avoid the cliché of a describing a would be suicide, at least, not head on.

Not sure if it works.

Six minutes isn’t long enough to plan a cohesive structure. But it is great fun to write a story with the clock ticking.

Here is the story for those who can’t be bothered to follow the link:

OK guys. Calm down. Yes, I am standing on the edge of a cliff. No, I am not contemplating suicide.

For a start, my life is worth living. I have a new girlfriend, a great job, an apartment with a mortgage and a loving family. I don’t drink and I only smoke after meals.

So, what am I doing here?

I am thinking of my future and of the choices I need to make. Like today, when I phoned my girlfriend (gorgeous, blonde and randy) and she said she thought it was time for commitment. But am I ready for that? I don’t know.

Or how about my job? The boss wants me to keep working on my current project, but the department head is keen I take on the strategic planning for the coming year. That could be great for my career, if I get my forecasts right. Or terrible, if I get it horribly wrong.

Decision making is not my strong point. You may have gathered that.

Today I went walking with my dog. She ran ahead and disappeared off the edge of a slope. When I caught up with her, I realised the “slope” is, in fact, a very steep cliff.

Where is my dog? No idea?

So here I am, sitting on the edge of the cliff and wondering whether to phone 999 for help. And if I do phone 999, do I ask for the police? Or for the coastguard? Or what?

You see, there are so many decisions in life. And I find it hard. Yes, life is hard. Perhaps the end is in sight. Or not.

Meeting the Muse

No prompt! My mind went blank. But the clock was ticking and I had 6 minutes.

Here is today’s Six Minute Story.

Today (being Friday) there is no prompt.

Freeform prompt. Every Friday, writers face a blank page without any prompt. They write whatever they want in six minutes or less.

No prompt! My mind went blank. But the clock was ticking and I had 6 minutes. I started off, meaning to write about NaNoWriMo. But the story just evolved into something a bit different. Thank you muse!

Here it is, below, in case you can’t be bothered to follow the link. And yes, I resisted the temptation to edit.

Meeting the Muse

This was the month she was going to do it. Yes, really. This time.

Sitting down at the keyboard she faced the blank screen. First things first, time for coffee.

Now she could start. Come on, come on, come on. Where is my muse?

She strokes the keboard, searching internally for inspiration.

PUFFFF!

At first she thinks the computer screen is broken. Or maybe a virus has hijacked her software. She peers in astonishment.

A green face is forming in front of her eyes. At first the details are vague and hazy. Then it grows clearer. Yes, definitely a face. The nose may be a little large and there may be horny outgrowths on the forehead and, maybe, the eyes should not be that vivid red colour. But, all these things considered, definitely a face.

“Who, on earth, are you?” She didn’t mean to say this out loud.

A smile spread across those green lips and a voice, crackled and gravelly, like an old gramaphone record with a dusty stylus, replied.

“I am your muse.”

“Good heavens. You are a ugly bugger!”

“Yes, my dear. A little like your writing.”

And that was when she gave up. Writing.

6 minute story – The Elephant Dragged its Feet

I am procrastinating, as usual. Instead of finishing my NaNoWriMo novel, I am finding other things to do.

Today I discovered the 6’minutestory site.

Here you get a prompt to start your story and you type directly into a text box on the site. The clock is ticking from the moment you start. At the end of six minutes, the story is finished. You cannot add any more words.

The prompt today was “The elephant dragged its feet.”

I love elephants. Could I resist? No.

Did I finish the story in 6 minutes? No.

I will do better next time.

Here is my (unfinished) 6 minute story, entitled The Defeated.

I am feeling sad today because my elderly father is slowly dying. This influenced the writing of this story.