Category / Half Hour Challenge

by Colette

Not The One Who Knocks

Written by Blue-Eyed Devil

Part of the Grimsley Chronicles

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Can you hear that howling? Image // Bill Dickinson

‘S’nice place,Grimsley thought to himself.Breaking in hadn’t been all that much trouble. Duct tape placed on one of the small windows in the back door and a sharp jab with his elbow had allowed him to enter the premises without much hassle. He had found himself in a kitchen, cleaned well but small and rather bare. Running a gloved hand over the crockery, he put a little thought into what he would use to end the owner’s life.Skillet? No. Frying pan? Been done, and recently.His eyes slid their way over to the selection of knives in a wooden block and he pulled one free, examining the blade. Yes… this should do the trick.Seeing a tall glass on the draining board, Grimsley casually nudged it off. It fell to the floor and smashed into a dozen pieces.

He moved further into the house with practiced ease, his footfalls not making a sound on the floor as he inspected the place. He was no interior decorator, but you could tell a lot about a person by the way they kept their personal space.

No pictures anywhere – could be that she didn’t have any family alive, or was estranged from any that were. But Grimsley doubted that. There were more than a few pieces of furniture about. That implied that the occupier had company often; friends, family, partner. Or partners. He wasn’t old-fashioned; each to their own. No pictures but she had visitors often? Not a sentimental type, perhaps.

Working his way around, Grimsley continued his observations. Everything looked neat, nothing out of place or flung about randomly. A tidy person, then? But a quick inspection of her cupboards and drawers revealed things simply stuffed in haphazardly. She made a show of being put together, but under the surface was chaos. Out of sight, out of mind…

Grimsley sighed to himself. Were it so easy to put that into practice.

A sudden creak brought the thug back to his purpose. His target was finally awake and was investigating the noise he had made. It had taken her long enough.

Slipping silently out of sight, Grimsley waited for the woman to show herself. He didn’t have to wait long, the figure of a small but compact person was moving past him in the dark. She was shorter than him, he noted. A pleasant change, he thought to himself.

Well, time to get on with it. He approached her from behind, thrusting the knife upwards between her ribs and into her heart.

Or that had been his intent anyway. She surprised him by turning sharply and kicking the weapon out of his hand.

Huh. That’s odd.

Grimsley blocked a punch aimed at his jaw and locked the arm in place at his side. He thrust forwards with the palm of his hand and struck her nose, but she moved into the attack and it bounced off her forehead. A knee jabbed into his stomach, making him let go of her arm.

His head was beginning to ache again. Not now. Gotta end this now.

She aimed another kick at him and he caught her leg, taking the blow to his side but grasping firmly onto the appendage. She was well muscled, but Grimsley was much stronger. She discovered this herself when he shoved all his weight into her, knocking her straight to the ground. She tried to struggle free but the stocky thug had his forearm pressing down on her neck and his whole body was crushing down onto hers.

Grimsley looked down onto the slowly purpling face of the woman as he slowly cut off her air and suddenly realised something. She was… normal. She wasn’t changing. Her face was… human.

A sudden, blinding light filled his head and he felt… renewed. Refreshed.

Reborn.

“It’s your lucky day, miss,” muttered Grimsley, more to himself than to her. His fist cracked into her face and she stopped struggling.

He made sure she was still breathing before he left. Placed her in the recovery position too, just to be on the safe side. Concussion was a tricky thing.

Walking back to his flat, Grimsley reveled. Everyone was a monster. Makepeace had been the first. Others had come; people he was forced to work with, those that passed down his orders, those that drank in the same pub as him. But the woman he had been sent to kill was not. The pain in his head had come, but she had not changed.

He knew what the others thought about him. He was the organisation’s pet wolf. Everyone was afraid of him, of who the bosses would unleash him on next. He remembered someone saying that even angels would cross the street out of fear from him. Knowing that they were scared of him did not diminish him; on the contrary, it invigorated him, as if he fed off of their fear.

Striding into his flat, the thug made straight for his couch, lifting the seat and revealing the hollowed out innards. He reached in, rummaging inside it until he found what he was looking for. Things have changed now. The monsters had struck fear into his heart before, but he would exorcise that fear by becoming fear itself. Becoming the Wolf that even angels feared to tread near.

Running his hand along the blade of the machete, Grimsley smiled to himself.

Yes… this should do the trick.

Blue-Eyed Devil’s Grimsley shorts began with a simple Half Hour Challenge idea, from then the Grimsley Chronicles were born. Now, our Haiku creator writes interesting scenarios for his character to get into, and most of the time it’s tense in action. There’s definitely a big sense of fear in ‘Not the One who Knocks’, which is exactly what we’re aiming for with this month’s content. If you enjoyed Blue-Eyed Devil’s short HHC, you can check out some of his other work, including Haiku Selections One and Two. 

by Colette

Monthly Editorial – October’s Content Gets A Little Spooky For Hallowe’en

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Time to do some carving? Image // Andrea Vergani

Hey Inkblotters!

Welcome back to the monthly editorial post – we’ve only been away for a month, but it’s surprisingly felt much longer. Maybe it’s the routine and the great comfort it brings when sharing some fantastic content with our readers. Either way, I’m very happy to be back writing, editing, and covering all sorts of things for magazine content.

Late summer has closed its doors and a new autumnal breeze has swept across Britain, making the tawny leaves hit your boots and probably your face. Autumn is delightfully pretty, but it’s also messy – there’s nothing worse than wet leaves sticking to your hair, specifically if it’s already curly and tangled. I’m not here to whinge, though, as it’s the start of a very spooky month here on Inkblots. With the arrival of Hallowe’en, my Pagan roots strengthen and begin to welcome in the new Pagan year. It’s out with the old and in with the new. I even find time to start carving a pumpkin for the evening celebrations!

Given the time of the year, October’s content theme surrounds itself with the idea of fear. And we’re kicking the month off with the winning Fiction Frenzy entry. As many of you will know, in conjunction with our sister site The Inkwell, we ran a writing competition throughout July and August with two themes: Carnage and Virtual Reality. We had some truly wonderful entries, with three in particular making the final shortlist. But there could only be one winner, so it was with great joy we awarded the Fiction Frenzy Winner title to Magnificent Mayhem for her horrifying tale “Rabid”. It will be published on October 5th, so make sure you check back to read it.

For the rest of the month, we’ve got poetry from Ashcloud on the 8th, a great HHC short from our veteran forum writer Rob, as well as a lovely twist on the Red Riding Hood fairytale by Bandit Queen. On Hallowe’en itself, we may have a spotlight special for stand-out HHCs under this month’s new theme: Pumpkin. So if you’d like to get your piece into the spotlight on the 31st, make sure you send us in your HHC entry. All details for submitting entries can be found on our submissions page.

And that just about covers October. Keep checking back to Inkblots regularly so you never miss a post, and you can always follow us on Twitter or Facebook too. Also, before I forget and in aid of National Poetry Day, here’s a link to see a snippet of the BBC’s Dylan Thomas animated poem, The Hunchback in the Park. Narrated by Michael Sheen, you can catch the full animation on BBC iPlayer or BBC One Wales later in October, which marks the centenary of the poet’s birth.

Have a fab October – don’t get too spooked!

– Silver, Inkblots Editor

by Colette

Shot Blast

Written by Rob

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It may not be to Emily’s taste, but it’s still a neat victory. Image // ABC Studios

Folk speak of watershed, a turning point, epoch, or pivotal moments. Of course, I understand that all of these could apply, but I think they are descriptions to “grab the headlines”. Viewed from my side, the events and trends that came before, made the moment inevitable, and everything that came after “business as usual”.

People like to moan. And there is little people like to moan about more than “the boss”. Derek Peterson’s staff had more excuse for moaning than most. He was moody, ill-tempered, badly organised, erratic, unsympathetic, aggressive and, not surprisingly, a piss-poor manager. But moaning, much as we like to do it, is wasted effort. If you want change, you need to make change. Moaning doesn’t make change.

Decide what you want, find your allies and understand them; recognise your enemies and understand them too; recognise what you can and can’t influence; take a conservative view of your effectiveness; make a plan and stick to it. Remember, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step; it’s not where you start but where you finish that matters; a drip of water will reduce a mountain to sand eventually.

The good news was that Derek’s peers didn’t like him much either. Asking around, probing and prompting, I found thinly veiled resentment amongst the management team of Derek’s access to the M.D., Jeremy Argyle. Just why Jeremy thought so highly of Derek was not only unclear to me but also to his peers in the management team. So potentially, all the managers were my allies. Derek’s relationship with Jeremy was both his strength and his weak spot: break that and he would be lost.

Derek had long been a champion of shot blasting. As business development manager, he liked to boast in all company literature that every piece of steel that left our factory had been thoroughly shot blasted before painting. He was right: it was a quality feature, and our finished cranes always looked better than our competitors’. But it also added to our costs, which made the sales manager’s task more difficult in winning work at a reasonable profit margin, and the production manager’s life more fraught, as shot blasting is very time-consuming. The quality manager didn’t like all the extra paperwork generated by every piece of steel needing a certificate. The plant manager didn’t like trying to keep our shot blast machine operational 24 x 7 x 52. Naturally, the finance manager didn’t like the cost. Maybe, I thought, just maybe, this is the issue that could be used to scupper Derek. But how to get Jeremy to both share the opinion of his managers and blame Derek for its adoption?

So I set about a system of sabotage. Continue reading →

by Colette

Hunter And Prey

Written by OrdDiff

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In the vast world of Skyrim, only the Dragonborn can slay dragons. Image // Bethesda

The hunter breathed in.

Kale crept through the undergrowth as quietly as he could. He knew his prey was near, and the slightest disturbance would alert it to his presence. The midday heat was stifling, making every action ten times harder than it should be. Flying insects harassed the woodsman sneaking by their homes. Kale did his best to ignore them.

Passing a spectacular oak tree, the large hunter spotted the gleaming scales of his quarry. It was seated over a waterfall, looking over the lands it thought of as its own. “Such arrogance,” thought Kale. He strung the massive bow he’d been carrying on his back, the bowstring resembling more of a rope than the twine of traditional limbs. He nocked the great arrow, almost as thick as his arm, and braced the weapon in the ground. The beast had still not noticed. Kale drew the string back…

—

“Stupid hornets”, thought Kale. “What a place to build a nest.”

The determined hunter ascended the rocky face of Heaven’s Key mountain. Frost coated the light beard he had grown in his travels, and he could barely feel his fingers. The hornet’s sting had cost him one of them, impairing his abilities and causing pain with every handhold. The thick coat he had bartered from the villagers down below did little to protect him against the bitter mountain winds, and he worried that the chattering of his teeth alone would alert the beast. Wiping his goggles clear of white snow once again, he crested the ridge and gained footing on solid ground.

Over a chasm, Kale spotted crimson scales. He could barely make out the beast’s details through the blizzard, but he couldn’t waste this shot. Fumbling with numb appendages, he strung his bow and nocked an arrow. Just a single shot…

—

“Damn winds,” thought Kale.

The weary hunter trudged across the plains, longing for home. When he had taken it upon himself to down the monster, he had underestimated the sheer scale of his task. The dragon could cross immeasurable distances in a day, leaving a hunter with weeks of travel. Kale’s supplies were running low, and he had been forced to ration harshly. As long grass brushed against his thick leather boots, he drank the last of his water. His beard scratched his neck as he forced himself to continue, knowing that stopping now meant certain death.

The hunter’s ears twitched. “No,” thought Kale, “it couldn’t be.”

Now alert, he strung his massive bow. The great limbs groaned in protest at the lack of maintenance, but submitted to the will of the hunter. Kale’s ears twitched again; he’d heard the flapping of giant wings. He dropped his pack, the travelling pots clanging and sounding throughout the valley. It didn’t matter if the beast heard him now.

From behind a peak, Kale spotted the dragon. There was fire building in its maw, and it was circling the hunter. With resolve, Kale drew his bow for the last time. The dragon dived at the man, and then hunter and prey locked eyes.

The hunter breathed out.

—

“Sir!” The squire burst into the warlord’s tent. All eyes fell on the young boy, just twelve years of age.

“Well?” The grizzled old general demanded. “Spit it out!”

“He grounded the dragon!”

OrdDiff’s Half Hour Challenge was submitted as part of last month’s theme, Chase. He’s done a remarkable job in building the tension in such a short piece, and we love it. Given the 12-year-old boy’s impressive performance – hunting a dragon, of all things – it was a sure shoe-in for this month’s content. If you enjoyed OrdDiff’s piece, you can check out his first published work for Inkblots, “Bronze Regrets“, at the link. 

by Colette

Race

Written by Terrestris Veritas

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The race is on! Image // Paolo Camera

“Here we are today at the Pulchetown Races, live on Red FM, 92 – 96. It’s a beautiful day here with the sun splitting the stones. There is hardly a cloud in the sky, and the fashion statements today are formidable.”

“Indeed, Jim, there has been a fascinating turnout today in terms of the extremities of hats but, no doubt, each and every one cost a pretty penny. Though, all in all, they do look fabulous.”

“Right you are there, Henry. And now here come the jockeys with their horses. The race will begin in five minutes, so to introduce the racehorses we hand you over to your commentator; James Roche.”

“Thank you, Jim, and yes the day is glorious. Here come the eight competitors for today and their striking steeds. First on the line-up we have Thundersprint. Indeed, Thundersprint has had a hard season but today many patrons are betting hugely on him. Secondly, we have General Speed, thirdly Huge-Hoof, Roaring Beauty, and then Prancing Dafy. The final three on the right are Headspin, Sparkling-Winner, and Golden-Mane. Some excellent and extravagant names by their owners, for sure.

“And they’re off! Roaring Beauty takes the lead in a strong sprint, lunging ahead of the pack with Sparkling-Winner coming some way behind, Thundersprint third, Huge-Hoof, then GeneralSpeed, Golden-Mane, Headspin and Prancing Dafy bringing up the rear. The horses are snorting vigorously from the whips of the jockeys and – oh my – Prancing Dafy seems to have tripped over his own hooves, slamming into the ground and sending his rider flying into the air. Either way, Prancing Dafy is out of the race now with the line-up of the others horses unchanged.

“But it does seem that Roaring Beauty is struggling to keep the lead as Sparkling-Winner gradually pulls ahead, inch by inch, getting closer with each gallop. And after getting the inside position of the bend he does so, with Roaring Beauty taking second place on the first lap, Thundersprint just behind. Yet out of nowhere, it seems Thundersprint has found a new lease on life – beginning to live up to his name – as he sprints with such determination to claim victory and earn many patrons new-found wealth.  Continue reading →

by Colette

Monthly Editorial: August’s Content Looks To A Grand Performance

Edinburgh sees the final weekend of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival - Edinburgh, Scotland, UK - 29th August 2009.

Street Acts are everywhere during Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival Image // Wiki Commons

Hey Inkblotters!

Now that August has arrived we’ve got a month full of brand new content, but first I’ll turn your attention to our undercurrent theme for the next four weeks. While June saw festival season kicking off and July welcomed in a time of dedication for our sporting heroes, August’s theme will bridge the gap between both of these and bring in a grand performance. There’s always so much happening during the summer months – both Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival and London have street acts, plus there’s lots of open-air theatre whenever the sun makes an appearance. So in order to celebrate this incredibly lively time during the superb British heat wave, we’re publishing content that reflects a great performance.

As always we’ve got our regular content scheduled and it kicks off on the 5th with regular contributor Terrestris Veritas’s HHC piece named “Race”. With its fast-paced action and around-the-clock excitement rivalling the Ascot races, you won’t want to miss out. Next up on the 8th is new contributor Juwan Cross’s exceptional poem “I am the Night” and further along into the month we’ll see more of Ashcloud’s fantastic poetry, as well as Rob’s humorous HHC shorts.

If you didn’t catch our recent news post, we’ve had a small update to our submissions page which includes our new email address. You’ll also find all the guidelines for submitting a Fiction Frenzy/ HHC piece there. Speaking of the FF, it’s still running until August 31, so make sure you email your entries into us with either the theme Carnage or Virtual Reality, or a bit of both. This month’s Half Hour Challenge theme is Freakshow, so you can now get cracking on the theme.

And just as a reminder to all our regular readers, there will be no content in September, but we’ll back in October with the theme “fear” – apt for Hallowe’en.

Have a lovely August/September!

– Silver, ‘Blots Editor

by Colette

Mirror, Mirror

Written by Rob

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“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?” Image // Walt Disney Studios

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?”
“Depends what you mean by “fairest”, love. Some folk mean ‘blonde’ when they say ‘fair’. Others mean ‘just’ or ‘sporting’ or ‘egalitarian’.”
“You’re a magic mirror: I’m consulting you about beauty. Am I not the most gorgeous creature in the world?”
“I think ‘creature’ is a mistake, to be honest, love. This is difficult enough without getting non-species specific.”
“All right! Am I the most beautiful woman in the world then?”
“Of course you are.”
“Why ‘of course’?”
“You own me. I’ve made a judgement that you want to be the most beautiful. Therefore, you are the most beautiful.”
“But am I really the most beautiful?”
“Well, I think so, of course, but these things are very subjective.”
“That’s not good enough. I want you to tell me that I’m really the most beautiful.”
“You’re really the most beautiful.”
“But would you still say that if I didn’t own you?”
“Of course.”
“But would you still say that if someone else owned you?”
“Yes.”
“But wouldn’t she, your new owner, I mean, wouldn’t she want you to say that she was the most beautiful?”
“Possibly.”
“So what would you say then?”
“Look love, I’m doing my best here. My job is to please. I don’t know what my new owner looks like. Isn’t it enough that you’re the most beautiful owner I know?”
“Am I not the only owner you know?”
“Well, strictly speaking, yes, but I think you’re beautiful.”
“What’s the point in having a magic mirror, if I can’t get a straight answer?”
“With respect love, you don’t want a straight answer.”

Armed with a half hour challenge, Rob penned this one in last year’s previous writing challenges. However, the sharp wit and comedic tone of the fairytale-inspired piece is certainly a great flash fiction story that had us in hysterics. And what a better way to conclude our month of dedication with a mirror that really only speaks one language – you really are the most beautiful woman (or man, we can’t be gender specific here!) in the world, love. If you enjoyed Rob’s HHC, why not check out some of his other writing with ‘Partridge‘ and ‘Angela’s Touch‘. 

by Colette

Fetish

Written by Miss Smiley


We don’t usually use videos in our ‘Blots posts but this one is far too cute not to share! All credit goes to Chuck Scott.

 

It’s not like I can really help it. There’s something about completing one of my sneaky little jobs with perfection that makes me shiver with pleasure. It ticks all the boxes.

I stand back, sweating, to admire my handiwork. A perfect job. I grin, satisfied. Look at that finish…

What makes it more satisfying is the silent nature of this particular job. All the bandsaws and the sander I would usually use had to be substituted for stealth mode tools, like files, sandpaper and manual saws. This was the first time I’d done it at night, when they were at home, sleeping.

The pre-dawn light of morning filtered through the windows of the upper floor. Time was now of the essence. In a matter of minutes, the wake-up alarm would go off. That meant it would be roughly half an hour before the owner would be up. Probably just enough time to move this all out of the surrounding areas.

Grinning, I opened the front door and negotiated the flight of stairs through the door.

What a night!

Written as part of the Half Hour Challenge theme ‘Taking Flight’, Miss Smiley’s flash fiction certainly makes us chuckle. Taking the theme in its literal sense, our lovely contributor is a sneaky writer, but that’s why we love her work. If you also enjoyed Miss Smiley’s HHC, you can check out some of her other pieces such as, ‘Inheritance‘ and ‘The Laurel‘. 

by Colette

Summer 1943 – An Alexander Short

Written by Dice

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A summer breeze. Image // France Today

“Lovely day,” commented Jennifer.

“Yes it is,” agreed Alexander, “and feel that 1943 Summer breeze.”

“1943? That explains the soldiers, and the posters.”

Jennifer and Alexander had travelled through one of the Impossible Room’s many doors to a sunny city square with a green park in the middle. At different points around the square pairs of soldiers were stood chatting. Many of the walls and trees were World War Two propaganda and public information posters, most advising against giving away war secrets: “Keep – mum, she’s not all that dumb”, “Loose lips, sink ships” and “Careless talk costs lives” amongst the most popular.

The two were also dressed the part for the period. Alexander wore a standard grey suit with a white shirt and a tie with a simple stripped pattern, while Jennifer wore a plain long-sleeved blouse and a knee-length skirt.

“We’re in London aren’t we?” asked Jennifer.

“Yes, St James’s Square. And over there is the building we’re after – 31, Norfolk House,” replied Alexander pointing to a large brick building towards one of the square’s corners. It was a grand building, but no grander than any other the other buildings in the square.

“Well, let’s go then.”

“Hang on. We just need to wait… there, you see that window.” The window Alexander was referring to was a few floors up and was opened by a balding middle-aged man wearing a dark suit. “And if you look below that window,” continued Alexander tracing his pointing finger down to a women standing directly under the window looking up. Continue reading →

by Colette

Monthly Editorial: Focusing On Dedication In July’s Content

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Fancy a bit of a warm up? Image // BBC

Hey Inkblotters!

As June’s content and theme passes, July’s is now upon us and we’ve got a new theme to boot. Since the sporting season is here – what with the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and Wimbledon’s annual two-week stint on the BBC – our theme this month reflects the commitment sportsmen and sportswomen must have in order to succeed and achieve splendid results in their chosen careers. Putting matters of money and sponsorship deals aside, athletes work hard to be the very best they can – 5am wake-up calls, swim sessions, and gritting their teeth through bad weather to head out for a morning run. But it’s not just athletes who dedicate themselves to sport, what about the regular individuals who just do it for fun? So this month we’re tackling the theme of “dedication” through sport, an homage full of admiration, or with dedication to an event in history – we’re going to cover the theme from all angles.

First up we’ve got a wonderful HHC entry by Dice in his Alexander episodic shorts on the 5th. Written in relation to the 70th anniversary of D-Day, Dice’s Summer 1943 is definitely not one to miss. On the 8th, poetry whizz Ashcloud takes us on a journey with a knight as an homage to her closest friend; consider us fans already. Then a little further into the month on the 20th, new contributor but forum veteran Fuzzyears takes snippets from song lyrics and recreates her own for us. But you know the drill by now, keep checking back to see much more Inkblots content throughout July.

For those who follow our Twitter, you may have seen a small tease that the Fiction Frenzy will be returning – well, it has and it’s returned for TWO entire months this time. Throughout July until August 31, the FF will be open to everyone. You can check out the rules on our Inkwell forum, here, for more info. Also, seen as the competition will be running for two months, I couldn’t help but give our members two themes to go with it. So get writing some awesome entries for Virtual Reality and Carnage. If you’re looking to send us your entry, just check out the submissions page for rules and guidelines and, more importantly, our email!

Finally, seen as you’re probably getting sick of me babble on, our new Half Hour Challenge theme is Chase. Since I’ve been re-watching One Tree Hill episodes, I can only think of the character named Chase who wants to be a pilot. But hey, I’m sure you (our lovely readers and contributors) will think of much better HHC entries than the above.

Until next time!

– Silver,  Inkblots Editor