August Flash Fiction prompt is from an overheard conversation “It’s illegal. You know it’s illegal”
Do with that what you will – maximum words = 170
Voting has closed. The gate has been shut! The winner was Entry #3- You Can’t Do That. Congratulations to Johanna Botman.
Entries are in … vote for your favourite under the last entry. Voting closes 8.00pm Tuesday 28th August.
Entry #1 – CATCHIT
Dunno why I went…dirty dishes, usual pigsty. But past breakfast mess, I saw smooth sea, sun glinting. Why not, anything’s better than this. I enjoyed the first hour. Chopping bait, salty skin. Kev gotta few tiddlers, threw em back, pissed off.
“Ya cuttin’ bait too small,” he grumbled. I felt sick, the swell getting up.
“Let’s go in,” I said. Kev kicked the empty fish box.
“Nah, gotta beat that arrogant arsehole Bert. Thinks he owns the bloody ocean. I’ll show him.” Anger rose like steam. “Yeees,” he yelled, rod bending, a promising arc. The baby snapper flapped, entwined in seaweed. I reached down.
“Nah, we’re keeping it,” he said. “But it’s illegal, you know it’s illegal,” I muttered. We headed back, smashing through a big swell. Crowds milled about the boats.
“Just a minute sir, routine limit check.” He peered into the dinghy. “Well, you’re the first empty boat we’ve seen today. Bad luck eh?”
Kev clutched his stomach.
“Hang on,” called the fisheries officer, “Open your shirt mate.”
Entry #2 – Into the Night Sky
Jake saw them enter the darkened alleyway, and dashed into a doorway. The older boy prised open the shop door while his young mate kept watch at the end of the street.
Cars quizzed past the alleyway, and stragglers roamed the streets. It was past midnight and a full moon pieced the clear sky.
Jake watched the boy sneak out of the shop, a box tucked under his arm as his mate rushed to join him. Jake pushed further into the doorway, ears pricked.
They opened the lid of the box, eyes wide with delight. The young boy hesitated, ‘Should we really do this? It’s illegal. You know it’s illegal,’ he muttered.
‘Nah it’s not,’ the boy scoffed, excitement mounting, ‘people do it all the time.’
They flew down the street towards the beach, Jake following at a distance.
Reaching the sand they halted, struck a match, and watched the rocket take off into the sky with swirls and swirls of coloured stars. The boys looked up in wondrous joy.
Entry #3 – You can’t do that
‘It’s illegal. You know it’s illegal. You can’t spend every Saturday this way.’
I’d said it a thousand times before and a thousand times before he wouldn’t listen.
‘Babe’ he started.
‘Don’t. I know it’s going to be bad when you call me Babe.’
‘Honey?’
‘That’s not going to work either’
‘What could possibly go wrong?’
This was always the last desperate attempt to get me to give in and let him have his way. He knows that I can’t answer that question – that I don’t even care to try to answer. I just rolled my eyes. He had won.
‘You get the food, I’ll get the drinks. The disk should finish copying in 5 minutes.’
‘If I have to. What did you choose this time?’
‘Blackadder.’
Entry #4 – Overheard at a local coffee shop
“It’s illegal. You know it’s illegal.”
“Well I guess I’m going to jail then because I’m not going to stop.”
“It’s not worth it. Change it slightly to make it fit with the new laws. Surely you can get the same message across without risking losing everything.”
“The truth needs to be spoken. The law has been wrong before, they are wrong now and I am sure they will be wrong again in the future.”
“I wish you’d reconsider.”
“I wish you weren’t so afraid.”
Entries must be in by midnight Wednesday 22 August 2018. Voting will open soon after and close at 8pm on Tuesday 28th. Winner announced at the Members Night on 29th August 2018.
Conditions of entry
Your entry must:
- Be in 12 point Times New Roman font
- Have single line spacing
- Have a title
- Include the author’s name
- Include the word count, not including the title
- Be submitted as a Word.doc, or .docx file (PDF files lose all formatting in their transition)
- You must be a current member of Ballarat Writers.
Submit entries to: competitions@ballaratwriters.com
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