At the January 17 New Year's Celebration, members were invited to read their 50-word extensions of one of six first sentences. Below are some of the stories they read.
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It was bound to happen sooner or later. I hope they’ll have a few days of happiness before the past starts to catch up with them. Maybe she’ll never find the farewell letter I sent. Maybe he’ll never locate the gun.
--Jinny Batterson
I can’t go, not without Alex. I would be a distraction. People who know what happened might politely avoid me so they don’t have to mention him. But people who don’t know might ask me or someone else. It wouldn’t be fair to the newlyweds.
--Sandra Yeaman
It's not my wedding. I don't know the bride or the groom. Some floozy at the bar tonight asked me to go with her. It's a big wedding, she said. The booze is free. She told me she slept with the groom once. That was her big mistake.
--Corey Lynn Fayman
“And you forgot to tell me something?” The champagne flute slipped out of Allison's hand.
“I know,” Michael approached; his crisp tuxedo, long strides – handsome as ever, melting her in his embrace he whispered, “I just didn't want to upset you, but my mom invited my ex-!”
--Terry Bell
Packing books and old sneakers in the honeymoon suitcase was weird enough, but the wedding gown? Ha! I earned that shit by spending a lifetime in fitting rooms. Its simplicity fits any occasion, especially when the sharp kitchen scissors cut it short. Speaking of sharp, those scissors will come in handy.
--Zoe Ghahremani
There we were. No land in sight. And no paddle.
Our boat looked like it was sitting on an enormous sheet of glass.
The silence was deafening.
The only thought I had was: What. The. Fuck.
--Mardie Schroeder
I looked ahead at my daughter, cringed. I’d pushed too hard. I can do 15 miles a day with a full pack but her swimmer’s feet aren’t used to long days on trail. I also hadn’t accounted for the rock scramble of Pennsylvania before the nauseatingly humid slap of Maryland.
--Jessica Brodkin Webb
We stowed the canoes as the rain poured. We pitched the tents in record time, and I unrolled the garbage bags, ripping head and armholes. Tentbound, the girls cried, soaking wet. I dry shaved my legs, told scary stories, and woke with friends.
--Christina Buffington
My bobber twitched. It dipped again. Three seconds later, it submerged, pulled down by the striking bass. I jerked the pole, setting the hook. The fish ran. I reeled up the slack when it paused. Four times we repeated before I saw the flash of silver. I grabbed my net.
--Erik Martin
I’ll keep it that way. It’s said, if two people know a secret, it’s no longer a secret. So … You really wish to know what happened to her, eh? Well … Wish all you want. I’ll never tell.
--Bob Riffenburgh
I heard them fighting. Then, a scream. Later, silence. I watched from my window as he dragged the heavy trash bag across the garden and to his car. When he leaves, I'll follow. They say I'm only twelve. But I'm strong, and my bike is fast. What could go wrong?
--Marcia Buompensiero
And I'm not telling. Suffice it to say that she has never participated in legalizing a marriage, and her parents named her Robert--nickname Bobby--at birth. Bobby Salazar.
--Rachel
And I can't tell you because Mr. Brown mustn't find out where she is. That Narcissist shriveled the amazing Nancy Adams into an insecure, terrified couch cushion he sat on.
She's still scared to stand up to him. But a powerful, courageous first step is escaping his filthy claws.
--Margaret Harmon
That’s because Mrs. Brown is not her real name and all the others that knew are dead.
I mean, everyone knew she disappeared, but those who knew her real identity and what happened to her are dead.
To the general public, Mrs. Brown was a sweet little old lady who loved to read and who could be counted on to sub for the weekly scripture study class at church.
You’d think I should be afraid for my life, or that I might have something to do with the others' deaths--IF Mrs. Brown is still alive.
But that would be telling, and she is my mom.
--Audrey Walz
“Follow me children.” We walked through the dark forest, past the pond and headed downhill toward the old barn. “Don’t be afraid,” I said, as we entered the barn: “Mrs. Brown and her six kittens.”
--David Walz
She was the neighborhood grandma. She’d spend afternoons on her porch bench basking in the sunlight and watching the neighborhood children play hopscotch and Double Dutch. Sometimes, she’d even join in. The children would shout, “Go Grandma, go Grandma, go.”
One day, the bench she’d sit on, cracked in half.
--ShuJen Walker
He kept giving me dry food. Every day. No gravy.
No apology. I nudged the bowl. I whined.
I watched plates pass untouched. No scraps, ever.
I watched patiently, salivating.
One morning, he tasted my breakfast instead.
The vet said it was his heart.
I got chicken that night.
--Jerry Strayve
That matched my mood. I sat on the bed caressing the fully loaded Ruger LCP Max cradled on my lap. As my mind swirled with conflicting emotions, hate, love, grief, I closed my eyes imagining pulling the trigger. Then, I heard my father's footsteps on the stairs.
--Sandra Stahl
… If only my life were that simple. If only seeing Charlie last night meant that the storm would rage and bluster for a while and then move on. Problem solved. Simple. But no. In my world, the storms build and wind rages in the searing light of day.
--Paul Banks
There was no possibility of taking a walk as billowing Santa Ana winds careened fiery embers into the ravenous blackness. Nevertheless, thirteen-year-old Rachel donned her Superwoman Halloween costume and stepped outside.
Overwhemed by her tactile sensibility, she stared into the starless heavens and shouted: “I’m coming for you, Dad!”
--Larry Edwards
They lied. Stories arrive like rain—unannounced. Then vanish.
Stranded in California with a suitcase meant for one year that stretched decades, voices returned:
Peasant workers whose labor fed a nation that never learned their stories.
If these stories remain unread, the world has not yet made room.
--Wanjiru Warama
She was broken, hopeless, lost.
A deep desperation within her spirit.
It would take an act of GOD to give
her freedom from destruction.
She looked up from the bottom of
the grave and heard His voice calling,
"Come to Me"---That was GOD!
--Marie DiMercurio
A miracle. Yes. I was locked up in that body for years. Now I am free. Yes, the first human soul transplanted to a new body.
Now I am running free. I want to weep with joy. Oh look, a fire hydrant. I lift my leg. I really got to pee.
--David Walz
But Harriet knew she could save the mission--and her life--if she could only get to the computer.
The Russian major kept pacing across the flagstones, his boots like the ticking of a clock. If he said yes, she had at least one chance in hell.
The man stopped pacing.
"Well?" she asked.
The major turned and scowled. "No."
--Rick Peterson
I’ve always known that. Most people don’t, but I do.
I’ve lived in Centerville my whole life. Olive moved here with her mother when we were both twelve. In that golden summer we were inseparable. That’s when she told me she didn’t really think she was a girl.
--Jeff Mason
She follows me everywhere. She ruins dinners. She makes people uncomfortable.
I’ve tried ignoring her. I’ve tried removing her. I pleaded quietly, I argued loudly, nothing worked.
Then the bartender asked why I was yelling at my drink and pulled my martini away, the olive still staring at me.
--Jerry Strayve
She always wants to added. She’s wishy washy when it comes to choosing gin or vodka. She likes to have fun. Shaken not stirred, she doesn’t care. Just don’t say with a twist anywhere near her. She’ll feel left out.
--Janet Travers
There’s something about Oliver. They said it couldn’t be done, but the wedding is tomorrow. Who cares? I’m the only one who knows what happened to Mrs. Brown. It was a dark and stormy night. First the wind stopped, then water became very still. A flash of lightening showed…
--Zoe Ghahremani
