Blogging from A to Z

Yes I am aware of the Second Campaigner Challenge now up on Rachel's blog, but I haven't finished it yet. Scratch that, I haven't even started it yet. Relax, I'll get to it before Friday. I am very practiced at procrastination.

However, I wanted to pop on here and dust off an announcement I've

been meaning to, well, announce. I'll be participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge in April. You can go here to sign up or find out more information. For those who don't know, the challenge is to post one post a day and each post is related to a letter in the alphabet. You start on A and end on Z. I'm still in the process of figuring out what to post each day, but it'll probably be a combination of freewriting and the usual posts. Post a link in the comments below if you're participating too! And I promise, cross my heart and hope to die, that I'll visit and comment on your blogs during the challenge and perhaps before. :)

Until next time!

Flash Fiction time!

And, 8 minutes before the deadline, here is my flash fiction piece for the first Campaign challenge! For a refresher, the challenge is:

Write a short story/flash fiction story in 200 words or less, excluding the title. It can be in any format, including a poem. Begin the story with the words, “Shadows crept across the wall”. These five words will be included in the word count. If you want to give yourself an added challenge (optional), do one or more of these:

• end the story with the words: "everything faded." (also included in the word count)
• include the word "orange" in the story
• write in the same genre you normally write
• make your story 200 words exactly!

I started the story with "Shadows crept across the wall", included the word orange, my story's 200 words exactly and I sorta wrote in my usual genre. The only thing I didn't manage to fit in was ending the story with "everything faded". But I like my ending better.

I'm not sure that my entry went through on the linky list but I did list it in the comments. So, if it shows up (around entry #200 or so) please vote for me by liking it!
Edit: It's shown up as entry #209! Go here to vote!

Father’s Time

Shadows crept across the wall and then back again.

“Not again. Dad!” Tyler threw the bedcovers off and pounded down the paneled hall. “Dad! The shadows are going backwards again.” He slid to a halt on his sock-covered feet in front of a large, closed door. A chink of blue-white light outlined his toes as he pounded on the wood.

“Dad, open up!”

Silence.

“Bet he’s asleep. Again.”

Tyler turned the door knob and pushed the heavy door open. For a moment the lit screen of a machine was all he could see. Then the shape slumped over the controls came into focus. Tyler approached the old man and swept back his long, white hair to reveal closed eyelids. He sighed. He pulled the man up and carried him to a bed hidden from the machine’s light. Gently, Tyler pulled a blanket over the man. He returned to the machine and studied the blue-white screen, then adjusted some of the settings. Finished, he stepped quietly out of the room and closed the door.

“I wonder if Dad’ll ever retire.”

Tyler slid back under the covers and glanced at the wall. Shadows crept across the wall, black and orange slivers intermingled.