FURIOUS FICTION

At the beginning of last year, March 2019, I began entering stories into the Australian Writers’ Centre Furious Fiction competition.

It’s a fun little monthly challenge whereby you have 55 hours to write a 500 word story that could ultimately net you $500. The only caveat is that each they provide you with a set of non-negotiable story prompts which much be utilised in your piece of prose. The prompts change every month, some more challenging than others, but the format remains the same otherwise.

The prompts this month were that I had to incorporate the following lines of dialogue:

• “It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution.”
• “He’s never done anything like this before.”
  
• “What’s it going to be then, eh?”

 

I have yet to take home the $500 in any of my attempts thus fat, though I have been long-listed twice and short-listed once. In fact, this is the submission I was short-listed for.

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As the curtain went up, the lights went down, and a solitary figure stepped into a single spotlight in the of the centre stage.

“What you are about to witness, ladies and gentlemen, is act which no man or woman has ever attempted before,” the lone performer announced, “on stage or in the privacy of their own home.”

The announcement was met with silence. Not a stunned silence, but a silence that spoke volumes about the audience that was being addressed. To put it simply, they had no idea what was happening.

“It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution,” the presenter continued, “and should anything go wrong, not that you should have any reason for concern, the terrible beauty of the act will be forever embedded in your collective memories.

The audience began to murmur, quietly, in the darkened room. A second figure stepped onto the stage and into the spotlight which appeared to double in size.

Now I must warn you “he’s never done anything like this before,” the speaker cautioned the audience, “so he will need your unwavering support.”

The audience, who had no idea what they were about to experience, remained silent.

“Afterall, we wouldn’t want to see anyone get hurt now, would we?”

The stillness of the spectators seemed to embolden the performers, the speaker’s voice growing in confidence and volume as the crowd continued to withhold any reaction.

“And so, I will leave you with this final warning, before our esteemed player indulges you with a presentation that will leave you speechless,” he finally pronounced without a hint of irony, “whatever is to transpire in the next 3 minutes and 14 seconds, please hold your applause until the very end. Please refrain from any and all interaction with our revered artist, and please, under no circumstance, do not attempt to leave your seat.”

The sustained quiet told the orator all she needed to know, and she hastened off-stage, the spotlight remaining on the remaining figure and shrinking until only their head was visible.

For nearly two minutes, the person on stage remained as still and as silent as the audience had during the introduction until eventually there was some agitation amongst the assembly.

After two and half minutes someone towards the back finally spoke up,

“What’s it going to be then, eh?”

It was yelled with an abrupt aggression by someone who knew that they were breaking the rules. A minor commotion broke out where the voice had originated but the performer remained steadfast and the audience dared not turn to look.

At 3 minutes and 4 seconds a screen lit up, behind the person on stage, and a 10 second countdown began.

As each second ticked away the remaining members of the audience held their breath in terrified anticipation of what was to come.

The timer hit zero and the room went dark. It had been another successful show.