I have since chosen 10 of my stories for voting. They are not necessarily the very best stories, but ones I think have the most potential for a longer telling. I have included the titles and links to the stories below, as well as a short description of each. If you would like to vote please do so in the comments. You may vote for up to 3; please put them in order of highest preference. Thanks, and happy reading!

Finalists

Day 5: The Pitch – The moon is now a destination vacation! (With some drawbacks.)

Day 9: Collectible  - A girl named Wren who collects jars makes a surprising discovery.

Day 30: Curiosity – Jobo’s Magic Store, a shop that is always closed, is mysteriously open for business.

Day 46: Careers of the Future – In the future, suitable candidates may live underground and rate advertisements.

Day 85: The Infection – Derrick has a gruesome wound on his leg that refuses to heal.

Day 105: Night Terrors – A young girl has a reoccurring visitor at night that makes it hard for her to sleep. 

Day 113: Time Out – After being sent into timeout, a brother and sister find something intriguing in their bedroom.

Day 128: The Great War – Earth is at was with the hideous Octomonsters!

Day 137: Unfinished Business – Jay foolishly thought that his dirty dealings with the Tooth Fairy were over.

Day 145: The Quickening – Nadia knows her unborn baby came from unnatural sources.

Note: If for some reason you have your heart set on a story you don’t see here, by all means vote for that one instead!

Not too far into this project my brother Aaron (hi Aaron!) suggested that when it was over I could give the readers the chance to vote for the story they most wanted to see turned into a full short story.

I thought this was kind of a neat idea and so I will shortly be posting 10 stories from the bunch on which people can vote. If you have a story that you desperately want included in these 10 please let me know via the comments, or email me at opheliaflower(@)gmail.com.

I would like to thank everyone who took the time to read my very short – and sometimes very weird – stories. I enjoyed the process and I hope you enjoyed the result, and hopefully I will eventually get this little collection published!

Anything.

She thought about the five grey hairs she had plucked out of her scalp that morning. She thought about going to the gym. She thought about the ceiling.

Finally, something sparked. She could just barely see a far off place in her head, but as it slid into focus, the writer began to type wildly. She had no idea where the story was going; something outside of her was deciding that now.

The noises attracted the cats, and eventually her husband. He kissed the top of her head and whispered something into her ear that was inaudible, even from this close distance.

The writer smiled.

“Perhaps the laws of physics do not apply in the world you are inhabiting, young lady.” She was told again and again, “But we simply cannot fund this insane project!”

But Carly knew that it was just a matter of time before someone realized the brilliance of her idea, and as she was not put off by mere matters of economics, she began the construction phase anyway.

Months later the ladder was finally complete, just in time for the Nobel Prize Committee. No one could quite explain how it was possible, but then there it was! Everyone wanted to know:

“How did you do it?”

“When one’s cat gets stuck on the moon,” Carly simply told them, “One will do almost anything to save it.”

“You’ll never get away with this!” She bellowed at Professor Hinz, whose face just visible over the cusp of the pit.

“Please. We both know you can’t escape!” The Professor carefully dusted off his elbow patches. “I’ll claim you were tragically killed during a freak anthropological accident and keep all the glory for myself!”

Ariel was about to let loose a string of profanity that would make a corpse blush when she heard a shuffling sound nearby.

The Mummy staggered around the corner, wailing incoherently. Before he could scream it wrapped its bandaged hands firmly around Professor Hinz’s throat.