The Scottish Book Trust run a monthly contest to write a 50 word story on a given theme. Last month, it was mobile phones, and a few of our members decided to give it a try. Here are our attempts.
My Waterloo
The visiting dignitaries glared. There’s a suppressed smile from Sweden at the vibrating roar of ‘Waterloo’. The contents of my bag rattled onto the glass table; a stray lipstick came to rest against the glass of Russia’s ambassador. I snatched up the handset, the reminder read “switch phone to silent”.
Susan Proctor
“Da da?”
She pulls herself up.
[Bleep bleep]
“In a minute darlin’,”
“Da da?”
She steadies herself.
“I just need to check this, I’ll be two seconds”
“Da da?”
She takes a tiny step, and then another and another, before landing in a heap.
“What you doing down there darlin?”
Rosie Baillie
The Modern Author’s Lament
“They are stranded on a remote island.
Been done.
The battery is dead.
Too obvious.
She drops it down the toilet while she’s checking Twitter.
Too contrived.
Okay, I give up. How can I stop every plot twist being foiled by ‘The hero checks it up on her mobile phone?’”
Craig Mudie