[FGC#5] Bewitched

Of all the challenges, this one sparked the most discussion, fittingly, via Twitter. I have followed several twitter accounts specifically to read Twitter Fiction, notably @arjunbasu and @GayleBeveridge (who is this week’s guest judge with me) so I had an inkling of what I was getting myself—and everyone else—into this week.

It is harder than it looks to execute well, especially when you trawl Twitter for stories (use #vss as a starting point) and see how some sing and others bomb… then have a go yourself a telling a story in 140 characters. It must have a beginning and an ending, it must be a story, not merely a statement of something.

If a vignette is a snap shot of a scene, a twitter story is like a breath within that scene. An inhalation which draws you into the story and an exhalation which brings with it an emotional payoff, some kind of deeper reaction. And that’s what most challenged me this week… drawing an emotional response from such a short narrative. Adam Byatt’s collection of 140 character stories, Polaroid Moments is stirring and poignant (vintage Byatt!)

Of the six or so I penned (from trees of petrified thoughts like fairy floss to scarlet scarves and prickly first dates under the full moon) this is the story which appealed most to those who read my efforts.

So without further ado, my submission for the Twit-fic challenge…

She twirled in the hired dress remote in hand. Dance with me Mr Darcy. She pressed play and reached out. You have bewitched me, he said.

Like it… vote for it on the Readers’ Choice Poll.