The Flash Fiction Open has been quite successful. I've identified twenty responses to the challenge here: [ jlake.com | LiveJournal ]. (If I've missed one, please let me know!)

I've pulled together the stories here as links. I'm contemplating doing an electronic (or physical) chapbook, but hopefully I'll lie down and get over that impulse to publish. In the mean time, since this would make a very unwieldy poll, I think I'll recruit several celebrity judges to read and identify a handful of finalists, then construct a shortlist poll to find a winner for the fabulous prizes that will accrue.

Here's the story starter:



Photographed at the Whatcom Creek Estuary, in Washington State, by criada.

© 2009. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission.

Here's the stories:

Cora: "Gone"

Matt: "Philosophy and Headwear"

John Ginsburg-Steves: "Estuary"

Deanna Hoak: "Stained"

Shawn Scarber: "Untitled"

Jim C: "Untitled"

Jonathan: "Untitled"

evaleastaristev: "Untitled"

newroticgirl: "The Year They Outlawed Blue"

martyn44: "The Blue Hat"

etcet: "Untitled"

edwardmartiniii: "Untitled"

manmela: "The Salt of Life"

edwardmartiniii: "Untitled 2"

joshenglish: "Untitled"

a_r_williams: "Untitled"

biomekanic: "In an Octopus's Garden"

bridget_coila: "Hat"

martinlivings: "Tradition"

wyld_dandelyon: "The Big Blue Tent"

uglychicken: "The Sea, The Hat, The Rock"

leesmiley: "Untitled"

Plus John C. Bunnell, with a bonus feature: The Road to Tillamook: A Bob Hope/Bing Crosby Road Picture; Starring Ken Scholes, Jay Lake, and The Child

Originally published at jlake.com.