Jeffrey Archer’s Short Story Challenge

Right after he asked “Who wants to be a Writer?” and I frantically lifted my hand after a sharp reminder from the husband, I felt him look straight at me in the eye and with a very sly smile he said “Ah! You’re in trouble!”

Of course, every aspiring writer in the room had to have felt the same way! He proceeded to give us a challenge, one that he has given to writers the world over. We had twenty-four hours in which we had to come up with a story. The rules of his game were:

  1. It had to be a 100 words, no more, no less
  2. It had to have a beginning, middle and end
  3. It had to have a twist

With only minutes remaining for his deadline to end, I’ve managed to pen something. It’s not my best work, but it’s a start! I hope to get more and more bursts of inspiration over the next few days, years and lifetimes and challenge myself more to meet Lord Archer’s stringent standards. This, is just the beginning!

Without further preamble, I present my first attempt of a 100-word short story.

 


THE SILENT TREATMENT – By Indira Anand

She woke up with a start. It was past ten in the morning. It startled her that she wasn’t woken up by the familiar ring of the bell and her friends arriving with greetings of a good morning.

She was in two minds to open the lock and check up on her friends. What if they had given her the proverbial boot? She agonised over the events of the last 24 hours. But couldn’t find a clue to this bizarre silent morning.

She opened her eyes, stared into darkness and was instantly relieved. She had forgotten to charge the phone.


 

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