Only 28 days to get my portfolio ready. So much to do!
One week in and I’m excited but a bit overwhelmed. I’m having so much fun I need to force myself to eat and sleep. They want dozens of options to choose from.
Ten days down and eighteen to go. Starting to feel some panic because there are so many ideas inside my head. The details need to be just right. Each drawing is better than the last. Each one shows more of what could be.
Halfway! The drawings have more depth than anything I’ve ever done. I’m anticipating problems that might happen in the real world and finding solutions. I’ve never been so consumed.
My skills are improving. The drawings are so real I can feel them surrounding me.
Shadows and sun. Dark and light. So many contrasts. So many metaphors.
It messes with my head sometimes.
Have to get them out. Have to bring them to life.
The shadows deepen.
The light ebbs.
Things are lurking in the shadows. Things I didn’t put there. Things I don’t understand.
My hand aches.
The images keep coming. Intruding into my dreams until I don’t know if I’m awake or asleep.
My blood seeps into the art, deepens the shadows, and enlivens those hidden within.
Fear pours from my hands along with the blood.
Is any of it real?
I can't stop.
The drawings cover the floor and the walls.
What have I done?
What will I do?
It’s too--
...I HAVE BROKEN THROUGH...
...IT BEGINS...
***
This story is part of the WEP challenge: 28 Days. I hope you check out the other entries - and add one of your own! It's an excellent community and a fun way to try out new angles with your writing.
This is actually the 2nd piece I wrote for the challenge. The first had so many similarities/echoes with the piece Toi Thomas wrote, I decided to put that one aside and take a new angle.
How about you? Do you enjoy flash fiction?
From urgency and fear to downright horror - I like it!
ReplyDeleteThanks Alex :)
DeleteCreativity is a great thing, but it looks like it tipped into madness here. Gripping stuff!
ReplyDeleteThanks Nick :)
DeleteOoh, I liked this!
ReplyDeleteThanks Marcy! :)
DeleteThe tale you created brought to mind the strange duality creativity and madness often share. As the late Steve Jobs once said, "Creation is messy. You want genius, you get madness;two sides of the same coin." Well done, Jemi.
ReplyDeleteThat quote gives me chills!
DeleteThanks :)
So, her drawings created a way for something mysterious to break through into our world. In a way, everything we create - a story, a painting, a song - bring out something new. We, writers, create characters, creatures who never existed before, and offer them to our readers to enjoy.
ReplyDeleteYour post is like a creator's story in miniature.
Thanks Olga! I just hope none of my creations work out in this way!! :)
DeleteOur can make us mad if we're not careful!
ReplyDeleteWe do have to watch to make sure we don't cross that line! :)
DeleteQuite unusual. I'd like to know what happened. Perhaps a sequel. Loved your writing.
ReplyDeleteNancy
Thanks Nancy - I'd like to know as well, so may just have to do that!
DeleteThis is clever and brilliantly written. I loved how you steadily built tension as the piece went on. Is there something otherworldly going on, or is our narrator losing their mind? How will it all unfold from here? I love that there are no easy answers. Well done!
ReplyDeleteThanks LG! I do like ambiguous endings in flash fiction! So much fun :)
DeleteThis almost sounds like maybe the art brought forth a demon or something. So creepy, and I LOVE it. Great job.
ReplyDeleteThat's how it was working in my head :)
DeleteThanks!
Hi Jemi. Clever you, tossing one entry aside for this one. I love it! So intense! So emotional! A real Van Gogh personality. I can see why great artists go mad! Thanks for taking us on this creative journey! You write brilliantly and know how to keep a reader glued to the page. Soon we shall see you in print?
ReplyDeleteThanks for participating Jemi! Loved having you with us again.
Denise
You're so kind Denise! Thank you :)
DeleteI'm getting closer to putting out my nonfiction project on Dementia out there. Then I'll focus back on the romance. Hopefully not too far down the road!
Love how the story flows. Great creativity, Jemi.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Mason! :)
DeleteHmm; this is so creative and freaky. Perfectly describes the life of an artist - of any type. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteThanks Donna - I do like freaky :)
DeleteIntense and gripping! You've given us a glimpse of the all-consuming passion that inhabits the minds of great artists. Loved it!
ReplyDeleteThanks Debbie! I guess we have to be careful of that tipping point! :)
DeleteFantastic! I wondered at the start where you were going to go with this, and then it gradually built to a really horrifying end.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rebecca - it's always fun to play, isn't it?
DeleteFantastic, creepy and utterly plausible.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kalpanaa - it was fun to write! :)
DeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI personally like how you played with the theme as an artist. The desire to give the painting life. I think in many ways writers, and artists, as well as musicians are people who want to give life to whatever they write, paint, construct, sing or play.
Excellent implementation of the theme 28 days.
Shalom aleichem,
Pat G
Thanks Pat - it's fun to play with the themes and see where they take us!
DeleteOooo, I liked that!
ReplyDeleteThanks Diane! :)
DeleteHi Jemi,
ReplyDeleteWOW...that was intense. Well done! Very gripping!
Thanks Micheal - it was fun to write! :)
DeleteThis is chilling and intense. I love how it starts slow and picks up intensity. Your sentence length variations and word choices really drive the story forward.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tyrean - it was such fun to write :)
DeleteHi Jemi - you certainly painted and drew your art into life ... I did want to see what arrived ... my mind doesn't go that deep ... I'm happy not being a genius!! But well done - loved it - cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteLOL - thanks! I'm pretty sure I don't want to go this deep either!
DeleteLoved how you built on the intensity, from effort, to madness.
ReplyDeleteThanks Damyanti! :)
DeleteA little creepy and a lot of tension. I like flash fiction now, but it took a while for me to decide that. Seems like there is some paranormal intervention involved. This story makes you want to read more.
ReplyDeleteThanks DG - I'm just getting used to flash fiction as well - it's definitely a challenging style of writing - and reading!! :)
DeleteYou leave us wondering just where this art will take the character--madness or death or both?
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't feel like a good end is coming, that's for sure!
DeleteWhoa, nice! Scary. When art leads to madness, or perhaps something worse, manifestation. Great entry.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Toi! :)
DeleteWow! Great piece, I loved the ending. The creative mania she goes through is actually quite relatable-I have similar phases myself where I need to obsessively work on my art and I get into this magical 'flow' state. It sounds like it takes a much darker turn for your character at the end though.
ReplyDeleteLOL - hope none of us go quite as far toward the edge as this poor character! :)
DeleteI do love that feeling of being in the zone though!
Creepy and intense - I liked the tension in the piece, as also how it begins so innocuously and then unravels into darkness. Well done.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Nilanjana! :)
DeleteThrilling. I first thought it was someone trying to create a collection of their best work, then it went into something out of a horror movie.
ReplyDeleteIt's so much fun when things twist!
DeleteSuper creepy. Just like I like it. when a story makes me nervous, I'm like all over it.
ReplyDeleteTeresa
LOL - thanks Theresa!! As long as the piece is short I love the creepy!
DeleteOo-er... sounds like one of my weird dreams, that disappear before I can put them on paper. Great tension builder :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Jemima! I have those creepy dreams too - sometimes I'm VERY glad to wake up!
DeleteYour words have certainly made me think. Creativity - a blessing or a curse and then you leave us to make our own mind up.
ReplyDeleteThose endings are some of the best parts of flash fiction!! :)
DeleteThat was wonderfully spooky! One wonders if the narrator is having a mental breakdown or if she has broken through to some sort of Lovecraftian world where the horrors of the Universe are revealed. Well done!
ReplyDeleteThanks Cara - it was sure fun to write! :)
DeleteGreat take on the theme. Deadlines are always tense but this one is a nightmare become real. Excellent description and use of words.
ReplyDeleteThanks Roland - those deadlines don't always bring out the best in us!! :)
DeleteLove the switch from urgency to down right confusion and fear.
ReplyDeleteThanks Patricia! :)
DeleteOoh, this is great. Love how dark the story got!
ReplyDeleteThanks Heather - dark is always fun to write! :)
DeleteI’m still doing the WEP rounds. Better late than never, right?
ReplyDeleteIt started off innocently enough... and then shifted...
The tension increased and from there it was a downward spiral!
Great job!
Thanks Michelle! It was another fun one to write!
DeleteKeeping up can be a challenge when life gets busy!
That was great, Jemi! So fun to read! I wanted to read more!
ReplyDeleteThanks Dawn!! :)
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ReplyDelete