Does anyone remember Ficlets? It was a really fun collaborative writing site that allowed us to write stories no longer than 1024 characters, and anyone could write prequels or sequels to it.
I loved Ficlets, and it played a significant part in my growth and development as a writer, because the limitations it imposed on us, as well as the short format, made it fairly risk-free for someone like me who was just figuring out what his writing voice sounded like (and how to use it).
Some of the Ficlets I wrote are pretty good, and others aren’t, but they’re all things I made where something wasn’t before. This one, which was inspired by listening to The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars on repeat a lot, is one of the better ones I did:
A Godawful Small Affair
“I want to move to Mars, and open up a bar,” Gregor said.
Matti inhaled deeply, and let a cloud of pale blue smoke surround his head.
“What would you call it?” Matti said.
“Moonage Daydream.” Gregor said.
They sat together on a crumbling balcony, exposed rebar and radioactive dust, and waited for the rocket, three miles distant, to launch.
“What’s it mean?” Matti said. He flicked the butt of his cigarette over the edge, and watched it fall out of sight.
“It’s the title of an old song,” Gregor looked past the rocket, to a horizon he knew he’d never cross, “from about a hundred years ago.”
“Nobody’s going to get it. Why would you pick something that old?”
“Because back then,” Gregor said, “people had hope.”
The ground shook, and they watched the rocket climb into the sky.
If you follow that link, above, you can find some stories other folks wrote when they were inspired by this one as a starting point. Hell, if you want, you can write a prequel or sequel and post it in a comment here, just keep it to 1024 characters or less, because that’s the rule.
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Thank you to my dear friend Will Hindmarch for reminding me that I could still get this off the Internet. The image I used is part of a larger image that I found at Flickr, and it’s used under Creative Commons license.
FYI: The Ficlets site is now at http://ficly.com/ .
Ficly’s actually closed its doors now. There’s a handful of us who’ve migrated to a new site called Ficlatte (still under development, but functional).
Man, I had forgotten about this site. Here’s my favorite one that I did:
Meta Poem
This stanza is a grouping
That’s made up of four lines
And if you count the words here
You’ll find fourteen and nine.
The rhyme scheme that I’m using
you may already know:
with rhyming words adorning
just every other row.
The meter, too, is common
With seven beats, then six
And then just duplicate it
To keep it moving quick.
I hope you like this poem.
It was quite hard to write.
It took a lot of effort
To keep the structure tight.
Though if you don’t like meta,
I’m not sure what to do.
The title should have hinted
That this was not for you.
There’s only one name for a drinking establishment on that particular planet.
The Mars Bar.
nooo 🙁 your story stops on February 04, 2008: http://ficlets.ficly.com/stories/20155
The link to the sequel is broken 🙁 🙁 Do I really have to click through all stories by Howie Amourscow to check if there is an answer?
Is there something like a list of stories that belong together? So that I could maybe find the story after Howie’s story?
Will they ever get to Mars? How should I sleep now 🙁
I have a book I need to finish for a review and I’m finding the story, prequel and the sequels far more entertaining…this is awesome 🙂
Unfortunately I hit that same dead end, that celila did 🙁
I searched for the last sequel in the author’s profile. It’s there, but the link is still broken. The links with a story number +1 or -1 all work, but they are not part of this story. I had a look at the profiles of all the other authors that contributed to this story to try to find the sequel after the broken one, but noone continued.
Since someone posted that there is a new website (still in construction, but working) , I was wondering if anyone is interested in continuing the story there 🙂
We could repost Wil’s first part, add an explanation and a link to all sequels and continue with a sequel to the last worki’g entry on the memorial website.
Or we could only repost the last working entry and continue from there. But I really want to know what’s going to happen!! 😉
That’s actually pretty powerful. It makes me think and feel. Thank you.
I hastily threw something together, If it’s with spaces it’s over if it’s without it’s under. This is perfect for me I recently got back into writing and this was a fun challenge. one of my weakest points is collaboration, it’s why i never did fanfic because I’m very head strong and I don’t want to stay in canon plus i prefer creating new characters. also the corporation and planet name was off the type of my head they mean nothing I just needed names.
It had been about three and half years since, Gregor and Matti had discuss their dream of opening a bar, called, Moonage Daydream, where Mars used to be. They had sent a rocket up to begin the destruction of the planet, and they had imploded the planet. The funds had dried up, now it was nothing more than a pipe dream.
“Maybe if we sale the home in Kallenphol 4,” Suggests Matti.
Kallenphol 4 was a planet about 56.7 light years from their current location and looked very similar to earth, but always smelled like spring and morning dew. It was always around 70 degrees very few natural disasters it was an ideal location to live. His mom grew up there,until Ogre corps took it over and made it unaffordable and she moved back to earth with Gregor’s father.
“No I can’t that was my grandmother’s home,” Replied Gregor.
“We have nothing that home is basically a shack that is falling apart. You can no longer afford to make repairs.”
“I know,” Gregor sighs, “ Its just I can’t. I don’t know why I can’t, I just can’t”.
“But that bar is the one thing you always wanted, and you’re just gonna give it up?” Matti asked angrily.
“No, I haven’t given up I’ve just had a slight set back,” Gregor takes a sip of beer looking
“Don’t say that.” Gregor said.
“Why not?” Matti said, “It’s true.”
He leaned forward and waved his hand at the rocket slowly climbing toward the clouds.
“What are those people doing?” he said.
“Trying to get out of here.” Gregor replied,
“Hoping for a better life on some distant planet.” Matti sneered, “What’s that hope going to get them? We all know how this ends.”
As he spoke the first pieces of the rocket began to break apart, scattering across the sky. A fire ball and a plume of smoke replaced the silver gleam of the ship.
“Every day those rockets take off,” Matti said, “and every day they break apart before they get through the atmosphere.”
“Just shut up.” Gregor said.
“Ah, now don’t be like that.” Matti said, “Look at it this way: We get a front row seat to watch it all fall apart.”
“I said shut up.” Gregor snapped, “I don’t want to hear it.”
“You’re too sensitive kid.” Matti laughed, “The sooner you accept the inevitable the sooner you can learn to enjoy the fall. Face it, we’ve got five years. That’s all we’ve got.”
Matti pulled out a fresh cigarette and placed it between his lips.
“Hope is for suckers.” He said.
“Don’t say that.” Gregor said.
“Why not?” Matti said, “It’s true.”
He leaned forward and waved his hand at the rocket slowly climbing toward the clouds.
“What are those people doing?” he said.
“Trying to get out of here.” Gregor replied,
“Hoping for a better life on some distant planet.” Matti sneered, “What’s that hope going to get them? We all know how this ends.”
As he spoke the first pieces of the rocket began to break apart, scattering across the sky. A fire ball and a plume of smoke replaced the silver gleam of the ship.
“Every day those rockets take off,” Matti said, “and every day they break apart before they get through the atmosphere.”
“Just shut up.” Gregor said.
“Ah, now don’t be like that.” Matti said, “Look at it this way: We get a front row seat to watch it all fall apart.”
“I said shut up.” Gregor snapped, “I don’t want to hear it.”
“You’re too sensitive kid.” Matti laughed, “The sooner you accept the inevitable the sooner you can learn to enjoy the fall. Face it, we’ve got five years. That’s all we’ve got.”
Wow! Just a few weeks ago I was thinking about this site, and a couple of stories I wrote. My favourite: http://ficly.com/stories/22665
Sorry about the duplicate entry. The first entry cut off the beginning lines I wrote…
Loving your story.
I’m sorry…
He’d been like a father to her, so it seemed fitting that she come along.
But as Matti turned over the last spade of earth, he wondered if he’d done the right thing.
She was only five, after all.
Not that that meant much these days. Life was rough on what was left of Earth, and it’s not like this was the first death in the family. He glanced at her, saw her stand up straighter, and felt a little better.
He held out an arm.
She stepped into his embrace.
They stayed there a while, holding each other.
As they did, she hummed to herself, and Matti couldn’t stop his tears.
When she finished the song (for it was a full song, learned at the knee of her “uncle” despite his late wife’s protests), he patted the fresh earth twice, stood, and turned himself and his daughter away.
As they walked home, he looked at the shining red star in the distance and smiled.
Because they said that no one was truly dead until they were forgotten.
And as Jessie started to hum “Moonage Daydream” again, Matti knew Gregor was remembered.
Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow.
Beautiful, Wabbit. Beautiful writing!
Thanks, Wil. I’m sorry, but I had to. It’s what they told me. They told me more, too…perhaps another day. 😉
sniff I wanted them to continue their journey that they started on ficlets… but but, that was so beautiful! Thank you, Wabbit!
First, thank you. Second, think of this one as a stand-alone. An AU, if that helps. And there’s no time frame specified, so set it when you want. Maybe they had a good long time first, defying the odds. Whatever helps. I’m okay with that. 😉
“Hope?” Matti said. “Pfft. Who has that now?”
“They do,” Gregor said gesturing at the rocket as it climbed higher in the sky.
“Maybe. But they have a reason to hope. They’re not like those of us who have been left down here. You? You’d have to get to Mars first. And there’s no way the people on that rocket will ever let people like us on it.”
Gregor was silent, his eyes scanning the poisoned, decaying landscape. “Maybe you’re right,” he said. “But what if you’re not?”
“You know I’m right.”
The ground shook again and another rocket began to climb into the sky.
“See. That’s the problem. I don’t know if you’re right. But I don’t know if they’re right either,” Gregor said, gesturing at the new rocket. “But the fact that we’re having this conversation tells me that you’ve at least got a little bit of hope stashed away somewhere deep in that stubborn head of yours. That gives me hope. Face it. If things don’t get better-and it doesn’t look like they will-hope is all we have.”
I love this!! Thanks for adding to the story!!
Wow. Thank you. Usually I’m more of a lurker than a participant, but there was something about the story. Thanks for giving us all an outlet for our creativity too.