serial – penned in moon dust

This is the fourth year I have done this challenge and each year has been a different rollercoaster ride. Last year, I did the challenge (weakly) after sustaining a fractured wrist that required surgery. Just before the challenge, I fell again and badly sprained the other wrist. For days I used a pencil in my mouth to draw and type comments. (no joke.)

This year I am hosting short stories written by three of my favorite writers: Steve Slack, Matt Harrill and Newt Livesay. People seem to die when these guys show up so enjoy their styles. For my week, I retapped a noir serial I wrote several years ago. We have run out of body bags for our victims so paper bags will have to suffice.

I have all the stories on top of my blog under A to Z Challenge or you can just look for today’s letter below:

A is for Avarice G is for Gluttony

B is for Betrayal H is for HiJack

C is for Curare Cure I is for Interview

D is for Docket J is for Jump

E is for Eros K is for Klan

F is Un Faithful L is for Lust

(the letters A-F written by Steven Slack, G-L by Matt Harrill)

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Blood in its wake #flashfiction #newcago #noir

June 26, 2013June 26, 2013 by moondustwriter, posted in flash fiction, Friday Fictioneers, new cago

I stood in a daze my mouth agape

out of nowhere came a colorful bus travelling much too fast

Its wheels barely touching the pavement.

I heard a woman scream and then saw her emerge from the bus’ bloody wake

Staggering, she strained toward the guarded doorway

Never acknowledging my presence, she pled with the stoic, holographic image

“Please grant me entrance. I am wounded.”

I shook my head in sadness. ” Poor soul- death’s fog is rolling in.”

To my surprise the barricaded door opened

she stumbled over the threshold

With not a moment of thought, I entered behind her

Thanks to Indira for the Photograph: “Fleeting”-copyright-indira-mukherjee

(I doctored up the coloring to give the red highlights)

Thanks to Rochelle who manages a bus load of Flash Fictioneers each week and keeps us on our toes. This week is no exception – Join Us as we strive to write something in 100 words!

NewCago is a noir, metropolitan area that is plagued with a string of perhaps para normal bad guys. Sam (a private detective) seems to be the only one who can stay alive long enough to protect the citizens. How long can his luck last???

Last week Sam faced up with a holographic guard who was guarding a passageway the Sam somehow knew he must enter. Follow Sam inside as he unravels the death and deception in New Cago.

Week 13 Holographic Deception

Here’s a list of the previous stories (the clues were week 11 & 12)

Week 10 in Newcago Serial No Dial Tone

Week 9 in Newcago serial Gathering Bodies

Week 8 in Newcago serial No place to hide

Week 7 in Newcago serial They were Pink

Week 6 In Newcago Serial You poison filled wasps

Week 5 in Newcago Serial The Doom Cycle

Week 4 in Newcago Serial Helpless

Week 3 in Newcago Serial When the Lights Go On

week 2 in Newcago Serial Can’t Kill The Thirst

Week 1 in Newcago Serial Secret Weapon

No Place For Clowns #flashfiction #Newcago #clowns

June 12, 2013June 12, 2013 by moondustwriter, posted in flash fiction, Friday Fictioneers, new cago

“You need to get out-of-town, Jelly. This latest turn is going to make NewCago unsafe for even clowns.”

Jelly Bean and I had grown up together. He followed me into the dark corners of the city. He did most of my night-time surveillance.

“But what about you, Sam?”

“Lily is keeping me safe for now. ”

***

“I thought you had left.” With little dignity, I sobbed.

“You found something didn’t you, Jell?” I could tell by the unnatural angle of his legs.

And here was yet another code to decipher…

I’ll start with the listening devices in his clown shoes.

***

Another week of Friday Fictioneers is in full tilt. Our hostess is the inspirational Rochelle and our photo prompt credit goes to John Nelson.

This is another 100 word offering being added to a growing series of stories set in the dark metropolitan city of NewCago. There are many loose (shoe) strings and unanswered questions about this metropolitan society that is sinking into the mire. Sam seems to be the only one to keep the bad doings at bay but how much longer???

Pages: 1 2

The Message Behind the Dress #flashfiction #newcago

May 29, 2013May 29, 2013 by moondustwriter, posted in flash fiction, Friday Fictioneers, new cago

It had been a glorious, humm dinger of a day in NewCago.

We celebrated a holiday (the key players long forgotten) of a well-known street battle that had raged years ago.

The gangs remembered and agreed to keep the streets safe for one day.

The parade-route litter of popcorn bags and soda cups was a welcome relief.

On my walk home I saw it swinging in the lazy breeze of the tenement’s rusty fire escape.

Lily’s white glad rags were dripping with blood-red.

It was a signal; it had to be. But who was the message from?

” Lily what does this mean, Baby?”

Another week of Friday Fictioneers is in full swingggg. Our hostess is the inspirational Rochelle and our photo prompt credit goes to Janet Webb.

This is another 100 word offering being added to a growing series of stories set in the dark metropolitan city of NewCago. There are many loose strings, unanswered questions about this metropolitan society that is sinking into the mire. Sam seems to be the only one to keep the bad doings at bay but how much longer???

Week 10 in Newcago Serial No Dial Tone

Week 9 in Newcago serial Gathering Bodies

Week 8 in Newcago serial No place to hide

Week 7 in Newcago serial They were Pink

Week 6 In Newcago Serial You poison filled wasps

Week 5 in Newcago Serial The Doom Cycle

Week 4 in Newcago Serial Helpless

Week 3 in Newcago Serial When the Lights Go On

week 2 in Newcago Serial Can’t Kill The Thirst

Week 1 in Newcago Serial Secret Weapon

They were Pink #flashfiction #newcago #noir

April 24, 2013 by moondustwriter, posted in flash fiction, new cago

They were pink, moist and plump.

Her eyes were violet and they sparked like firecrackers.

‘Oh Lily Baby…”
“Stop you fool!” You can’t think about her; it will be your ruin and the city’s.

***

It had to be here in her library.
Lily had been the source keeper for OldCago.
She had tried to tell me what she had found. Maybe that’s why she was killed.

The old ways written in one of these books has the power to break the machinations of terror occurring on our streets – it has to be here or all of NewC ago is doomed

“Where are you?????”

Every week Rocelle Wisoff-Fields host Friday Fictioneers. This is a delightful group of talented and encouraging writers. Have a peek at the talent beneath the page. Today’s prompt is the picture of the library taken by Claire Fuller

Every week based on the prompt I am writing a (noir) serial about a detective in a place called Newcago who tries to round up the bad guys at night. The stakes are just raised with the introduction of the automated Doom Cycle; crime just got harder to fight and the one person who could help him is dead.

Week 6 In Newcago Serial You wasps

Week 5 in Newcago Serial The Doom Cycle

Week 4 in Newcago Serial Helpless

Week 3 in Newcago Serial When the Lights Go On

week 2 in Newcago Serial Can’t Kill The Thirst

Week 1 in Newcago Serial Secret Weapon

DoomCycle #fridayfictioneers #flashfiction #newcago

April 10, 2013 by moondustwriter, posted in flash fiction

*****

An unmanned vehicle being controlled by ???

“What the devil?”

In one moonless night:

The Sheriff had been pushed into CagoBend River on his evening constitutional.

An unnamed legislator left a permanent bloody imprint (his only remains) in the Last Street Tunnel.

It knows I have no power against it. “The stakes have been raised,”It sneered at me as it squealed away from its bloody destruction. Leaving a wake of red tracks.

***

“You have everything you need here. Help Us…!” Doom was etched in his knowing eyes.

All I possess is a sheaf of files, a sense of foreboding.

Another week of Friday Fictioneers hosted by cycle mama Rochelle Wisoff Fields. The prompt inspired another installation for the NewCago Series. Here are the previous stories in the series:

Week 4 in Newcago Serial Helpless

Week 3 in Newcago Serial When the Lights Go On

week 2 in Newcago Serial Can’t Kill The Thirst

Week 1 in Newcago Serial Secret Weapon

Can’t Kill the Thirst #flash fiction #retro #fridayfictioneers

March 20, 2013March 20, 2013 by moondustwriter, posted in Uncategorized

Another night banging around in the trashcans of Newcago, I needed a drink. A tall one and a Cheesesteak at Tony’s would do nicely.

I noticed the dame – she was a looker. I couldn’t get a read on the guy beneath the brim.

“Yeah, the regular,” I nodded. Sally and I go back to days when drinks came from the hose in the horse’s mouth.

I couldn’t help but hear dollface gagging. I rushed to stop her fall. Too late – white stuff was bubbling from her mouth, her eyes glazed over.

Something besides the guy under the shadowy brim was missin- a large sparkler around her wrist.

“Baby, Newcago is not like life on the farm…

…Playing is for keeps.”

A new week for writing flash fiction over at Friday Fictioneers with a host of fiction writers. As you can see the picture prompt may mean you’ll find a bit of hay stuck between the pages but please go over and check out some of the excellent writers. Thanks to Rochelle for keeping us thirsty for more…

If you’d like to read the first of this flash fiction serial set in the sleepy town (cough, cough) of Newcago have a gander.

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