As a writer, you’ll often be given word-count restrictions. Maybe 2,000 words, or 500 words…
…or sometimes, even 30 words. Could you write a story with only 30 words?
We tried, and here’s the results!
During the last stream, by the time we got to the prompt section, we were running low on time. The reason for that was because we’d spent a long time writing our submission for Storyzine.
And now here I am, from the future, putting in our submission here. Its title is “Heavy Memories.” (One of my favorite stories we’ve written on stream.)
My Dearest Daughter,
The day your mother gave birth to you in this hot air balloon, your cries were like music, the sound of a possible future in a world that had lost all hope.
You took your first steps in our tiny wicker home, bobbing from your mother’s lap to mine. You giggled, so pure and naive, unaware everything around you was not the way it was supposed to be.
That was when we first noticed the dying flame. We’d packed enough fuel to last for years, assumed it would be plenty to find dry land. But you were already walking and talking, and there was nothing but ocean in sight.
Your mother and I discussed our options as you slept against my chest. We have to lighten our load. We’ve already tossed everything that wasn’t essential. All we have left is our fishing tools, water purifier, and ourselves. I know what has to go.
My daughter, words cannot express how much I love you. But perhaps this act of mine can.
Love,
Dad***
My Little One,
You’ve grown into such a wonderful young lady. You’ve certainly inherited your father’s brains!
Remember that time I dropped our fishing pole into the water, and you maneuvered the balloon down just in time to grab it? Or when I was too sick to clean the fish and you did it all by yourself for the first time? Now you do it for every catch, and though I don’t say it often, I’m always impressed by you.
And though you are my Little One, you are getting bigger by the day. I knew what that meant long ago, back when you first asked me how long the balloon could stay in the air. Back when you asked me about what happened to Dad.
Now I’m sitting here writing this in the light of the moon while you’re sleeping. This is my final gift to you, my Little One, in hoping that it will give you enough time to find a piece of the world your father and I used to tell you about.
When you wake up and read this, you will be angry. You will be sad. You will be lonely. You have every right to be. But the one thing I ask of you is to keep going.
I know you will, and I know you will make us so proud.
Love,
Mom***
The girl stepped out of the balloon basket, having crashed into land, the last drops of fuel spent. Unnerving grains of sand clung to her feet. Unfamiliar greens filled her vision.
Shaking, she clenched two weathered pieces of paper to her chest. Without thinking, she tore them to pieces, throwing them into the wind as she screamed and spilled tears.
Realizing what she’d done, the girl reached after the floating pieces before they disappeared into the ocean. She only managed to clasp onto one before the rest blew away.
The single piece that remained read: “Love.”
Once we’d finished with the Storyzine writing, we didn’t have much time left for the prompt. But rather than skip it, we decided to write some super short 30-word stories instead.
Chat voted that we write this prompt created by ywuiadr: It is said we are made from fragments of stardust. You, a budding astronomer, are studying the skies when, all of a sudden, you hear the stars calling out to you, telling you to come home.
You can read our stories here.
(There’s some other great ones done by chat in the replies!)
Or you can watch a quick video
of us writing/reading them here.
If you want to join us and help write a story by trolling in chat, or share your own writing for feedback, then we’d love to have you. We stream on Twitch every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 7:30pm-11:30pm (U.S. Eastern Standard Time).
And you missed the stream, you can still watch them on the YouTube channel, or watch the full stream reruns.
Hope to see you next time, friend!
Scott Wilson is the author of the novel Metl: The ANGEL Weapon,
forthcoming March 2019.