99 Word Prompt: Red

(The prompt from Carrot Ranch for this prompt is red, so many possibilities! I decided to borrow from a real life incident that happened about 30 years ago when I was driving up the I-5 Grapevine in southern California in my '84 Mazda B2000 with three passengers, one in the cab next to me and two … Continue reading 99 Word Prompt: Red

99 Word Prompt: Dance-Off

(More from Carrot Ranch, link below. I did know a person nicknamed Tommy Disco. He was a local character who used to spin records at one of the downtown bars until he moved away because he got priced out of Santa Cruz, a common occurrence here. I heard he moved up north to some logging town where he … Continue reading 99 Word Prompt: Dance-Off

99 Word Prompt: Journey Home

(Flash fiction piece prompted by Carrot Ranch. I took the theme of journey home and made it a metaphor for the final journey everyone has to make, hence the unusually somber tone of this short fiction piece. Link below.) https://carrotranch.com/2023/08/15/august-15-story-challenge-in-99-words-2/ He recalled his last visit to the doctor's office and getting the bad news; terminal, … Continue reading 99 Word Prompt: Journey Home

99 Word Prompt: Optimism

(Had to take part in the Carrot Ranch prompt because optimism is so rife with options on how to tackle the theme. Optimism is a hope bordering on blind faith in the face of the hopeless gloom of reality. Optimism can be a force for uplift but too much can make you not see dangers … Continue reading 99 Word Prompt: Optimism

99 Word Prompt: For The Water

(Been a while since I wrote a 99 word piece of flash fiction prompted by Carrot Ranch but the subject of this one really caught my attention. As a Californian I'm well aware of the importance of water and all its surrounding controversies. Between increasing drought and the continuous rerouting of water into deserts to … Continue reading 99 Word Prompt: For The Water

99 Word Prompt: Never Ending

(Flash fiction prompt from carrotranch. Usually the phrase 'never ending' is used as a negative (as in reference to a long and tedious task), but I tried to make it into a positive. Link below.) https://carrotranch.com/2022/04/18/april-18-story-challenge-in-99-words/ "Have you seen the news? War, poverty, oppression, planetary destruction; the world's problems are never ending!" "They are, but … Continue reading 99 Word Prompt: Never Ending

99 Word Prompt: The ’49ers

(Flash fiction piece prompted by Carrot Ranch. The theme of '49ers is topical because the American football team in San Francisco with the same name just lost the NFC title game to their Los Angeles rivals, so I tied that into the historical '49ers who came to California during the gold rush. Link below.) https://carrotranch.com/2022/01/31/january-31-story-challenge-in-99-words/ … Continue reading 99 Word Prompt: The ’49ers

99 Word Prompt: Film Festival

(This latest prompt from carrot ranch couldn't be more timely for me as will become evident in the story. Link to prompt below.) https://carrotranch.com/2021/11/04/november-4-flash-fiction-challenge-2/ The writer was checking his emails then saw one from a film festival competition where he had submitted a screenplay. Probably just another rejection, he thought, bad news can wait. He … Continue reading 99 Word Prompt: Film Festival

99 Word Prompt: Across The Water

(Another carrot ranch prompted flash fiction piece. The prompt, across the water, made me think about visiting Santa Cruz with my family when I was a kid and that first view of the ocean, brought back some memories. Link below.) https://carrotranch.com/2021/10/01/september-30-flash-fiction-challenge/ The family drove through the mountains then the highway straightened as they approached the … Continue reading 99 Word Prompt: Across The Water

99 Word Prompt: Cooking Show

(Another flash fiction piece prompted by carrotranch. The subject of this prompt is cooking show, of which there are many, but after some thought I finally figured out a way to make it interesting. Link below.) https://carrotranch.com/2021/09/09/september-9-flash-fiction-challenge-2/ "Today we'll be cooking octopus," the chef said to the camera. "The key is to cook it quickly … Continue reading 99 Word Prompt: Cooking Show