Struggling to get through Monday? Then why not try the following challenge to get your creative brain working?
You have 150 words in which to write a story with the following line in it somewhere:
This was a matter of life or death.
Here’s my story:
Fay couldn’t stop the terrible thoughts trampling through her head. She battled for calm. Think! Think! she shouted to her tormented mind. This was a matter of life or death. Well, almost. At the very least, it would change her life.
She looked at her hands, at the objects held in them. The left hand or the right? The left would hoist her high, high into the wondrous realms of heaven. The right would dig her deep into the putrid pits of hell.
Slowly, she replaced the object in her left hand. A tear prodded at her eye and she pushed the beautiful images and thoughts away.
With shoulders slumped, she trudged to the till, the sludgy low-fat concoction in her right hand. It was never worth crossing Miss Slimbridge, especially not on weigh-in night.
***
estherchiltonblog 
excellent post Esther,
stirs the mind!
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Thank you! Glad you liked it 🙂
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Reblogged this on Write of Passage and commented:
Need a writing challenge today? Try this one.
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An enormous thank you for the reblog 🙂
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You’re most welcome.
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Pingback: Monday Motivations | Matthews' Blog
I would like to do this, is it best to post and link to this post or post it in the comments?
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Either way is fine, Simon. I look forward to seeing your take on the prompt 🙂
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I’ll have a go… 🙂
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You should have had a pink back 🙂
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Pingback: Life or Death – 150 Words | Planet Simon
Many thanks for having a go. I love the idea you’ve come up with 🙂
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Interesting, When is this due?
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By Monday 15th Aug. Hope you give it a go 🙂
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Maybe yes…. Monday 15th is also our Independence Day.
Do you know why Lord Mountbatten chose August 15 as the date for the Independence?
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No, I don’t story behind it.
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Well, Lord Mountbatten, it seems, chose 15th August as it was the second anniversary of the Japanese surrender in SE Asia during WW 2
Republic Day, however, is celebrated on 26th January every year. We became a Republic in 1950, and 26th Jan 1930 (I think) is the date when we declared Self-Rule to be our objective
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How interesting. Thank you, Rajiv. It’s really good to know that.
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Hi Esther! I’m well past Monday, but I might give this one a go at some point this week 🙂 I do enjoy your motivation posts.
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Thanks, Helen. I’m glad you like them. Would love to see you have a go 🙂
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Thanks, Esther – I’ll see what I can come up with 🙂
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Pingback: Writing Challenge – Life or Death | Journey To Ambeth
Hi Esther
Here I am… Not exactly 150 words, but…
Frodo and Sam both loved Mary Jane Parker. There was a problem in this. They were best friends from another age, and you may even say that they came from a different world. The world does change everyday, every moment, but that is not important at this stage.
Mary Jane Parker had almost ended their friendship that had existed through the Fourth Age. Yet, there was one thing that still bound them together, and this was their hatred for Spiderman, that creepy crawly chap who loved, and was loved by Mary Jane.
Mary Jane found them funny, these two young chaps who were short, wore strange clothes, spoke a queer tongue and had furry feet. She found their addiction to pipes, mushrooms and dragons rather quaint.
Spidey disliked them, and wanted them out of the way. They decided to team up, for now, against him. This was a matter of life or death.
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You’ve given me something different here. Thank you 🙂
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Yeah, I thought something whimsical would be in order…. I hope Prof Tolkien is not turning angrily in some distant corner of the universe
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Ha! Ha! Let’s hope not.
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A little over 150 words-
She was petrified of hospitals. It stemmed from the fact that she spent many years knowing what goes on behind the scenes. It’s not peaches and plums then.
Here she was, facing her worst fears. Being on the other side of the fence. With the imminent hospitalization, for no other therapy seemed to have worked. Fear killed her faster than the disease.
The uncontrolled growth of the cells of her abdominal organs had reached humongous proportions. She looked six months pregnant. It reached monstrous proportions when even her lungs started swimming in a deluge of inflammatory fluid.
She engaged in delirious banter. Nothing she said made sense. She couldn’t breathe. Her heart rate looked as erratic as the New York skyline. The oxygen in her body plummeted to the Mariana Trench. It was a matter of life and death!
Code blue resonated through the twenty storeyed hospital and she was wheeled in to the ICU for the last chance of survival.
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Wow! What a strong piece. Thank you very much for sending this in.
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😊
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Pingback: Monday Motivations — esthernewtonblog – Traveling around the world
Thank you very much. It’s greatly appreciated.
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Pingback: neelwritesblog/fiction/150wordstory/mondaymotivations/#01/crossroads/31/10/2016 | neelwritesblog
Thank you 🙂
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Here i am Esther… exactly 150 words.
Also, is this challenge still running every Monday. Kindly let me know. Would love to participate.
Crossroads
By Neel Anil Panicker
There was nothing to see. Almost. His eyes roughly made out the ever darkening silhouette of a sky that looked any moment it would crash into ‘Killer’ Shanks.
‘Killer’ because the Valley had swallowed over a 100 lives. And the year had just begun!
Behind the steering wheel, Rags’ mind lay moored in blank mode.
Despite the cold outside, he found himself sweating.
His turned to his left. Ashima lay curled up, her hands clasping his thighs, totally lost to sleep.
The medicines were at work.
Rags checked his watch. Twenty minutes to two. Time was ticking away.
‘We need to start the operation at two. Otherwise…’
The doctor’s words rammed into his skull.
He turned on the ignition. He had to go. There was no other option
This was a matter of life and death.
Left or right? He took the left hoping it to be right.
+++
Word count: 149
©neelanilpanicker#150 wordshortstory#flashfiction#01
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Thank you for your story. Yes, I run this every Monday; they’ll be a new challenge today!
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Thanks. I think you also hosted a 500 word fiction challenge with the prompt ‘the discovery’. I have emailed it to you.
Hope you have received it.
Thanks once again.
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