Weekly Fiction Writing Prompt Contest Winner #3

Speech Bubbles Representing Dialogue

We’d like to thank everyone who entered last week’s dialogue contest! It was a challenging prompt but we had some amazing entries.

The winning entry goes to a writer who’s witty banter not only made us laugh but also gave us a good feel for the characters involved. Congratulations Rob Grim!

We’d also like to give props to Holly Geely for taking a close second with her action-packed story of a dragon attack. Thanks Holly!

Writers were asked to submit an entry based on this prompt:

Dialogue can make or break a story. It’s difficult to make a conversation that sounds natural, moves the story forward, and is clear enough for the reader to understand. Write a story that is fully developed using only dialogue. Do not use any tag lines or narration. Make sure that it is descriptive enough so that the audience can still follow the action.

Check out our winning entry!

Warning, entry contains strong language.

[line]

Dialogue

By Rob Grim

“It’s just a fucking sports car or woman half your age. You know that, right?”

“It’s not a midlife crisis. I’m thirty-four.”

“You don’t know that you’re not at the middle of your life. In fact, that might be generous.”

“Har-har. Finish you drink.”

“Yeah yeah, hey can I get a light-thanks. Yeah, I get it. So you wrap it up in a fancier bow. Existential crisis sounds way more poetic and cool, man, maximum tortured artist points.”

“I’m sorry you can’t come. Don’t be jelly. That’s how they say ‘jealous’ on the intern-”

“Yes. Yes, thank you. I am jelly of you. I’m jelly you’re going to Tokyo and wherever else because that is an awesome thing to do. Bully for you. You’re still lying about why you’re doing it, though.”

“Because ‘I really, really, really like it there’ is a giant fabrication for some nebulous purpose?”

“Because you’re bored. Because you’re going literally as far from where we’re sitting as you possibly can just to un-bore yourself for, what, a few months?”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, you’re not that bo-”

“No, no, I’ve got a head of steam now. You’re just gonna go because, you know, oh wow it’s all so shiny and different and stimulating. Different colors and buildings and language and money. It’ll take you years to get used to it and hate it like you hate it here.”

“Oh, at least a decade.”

“Waiiiit one second -two more shots please- so I AM right!”

“No, you just spelled out why I really like it there. A decade of being stimulated and challenged and inspired and thrilled seems neat. Should it not seem neat?”

“But then what? Then you end up bored with your favorite place in the world and then, what, chain-smoking and alcoholism?”

“Why wait?”

“Alright, yeah, tortured artist. Right. Such a tragic fucking soul. So you’re just running from boredom? Or let me make it pretentious so it suits you better: running from ennui and the implacable feeling of restlessness born of these mundane surroundings, oh deary me!”

“If you see a gazelle running from a lion, the gazelle probably shouldn’t stop running.”

“Protip: make yourself sound like the cooler animal, next time. Gazelles don’t inspire thoughts of clever writers at war with their soul, you know?”

“It’s my fursona. Don’t kink-shame me. Drink.”

“See? See, that was funny. Go be funny and liven up this place. Don’t leave me here with the stiffs. And you know sometimes that gazelle is running just because it’s a panicky animal who heard a rabbit fart or something, and now it’s running past good food and drinking water and some hot lady-gazelle and…”

“Are you the hot lady gazelle?”

“You know it, baby. Can I get another light-thanks. But look, it’s not too late. Selling all that shit just means you have some cash now. Get a new car or a nice place, you’ll still have some left over to go sit on the beach or fart around in New York City for a week or something. See, happy medium? And you come back at the end. Happy ending, too.”

“Not happy for me. What? No, look, ah shit. Stop. Hey, listen. Okay, I get it. You’re the hot lady gazelle right in front of me all along, my dream I can’t quite put into words – right here next to me bumming my smokes all night. So I stay and you’re great and then in a month I’m in this same damn spot – and then what?”

“Then I help. Gazelles stick together.”

“Gonna need to drop the gazelle thing here. Look, what happens then is that I’m the same as I am now – except now me being miserable is ruining you, dragging you down. You’re spending time and money on trying to help me and it’s all just getting flushed. Now you blame yourself. Now it’s not just me being an ass, it’s on you, too. Now we’re both miserable but you being miserable is my fault and that intensifies my misery, which makes you feel worse, and now we’ve engineered a vicious fucking misery cycle. So, no.”

“Finish your drink. You’re really going, then. When?”

“Tomorrow.”

“…what the f-”

“I didn’t want to make it this dragged out thing. You know how people get. They get like…like, uh-”

“Like I’m getting. Gotcha. I’m coming along.”

“You seriously can’t.”

“I’m drunk enough to make the reservations and shit on my phone right now. I can work from my laptop anywhere.”

“Bartender, I don’t know this crazy person, but I’ll take their tab too, please.”

“I’m doing it. See? Tap tap tap, getting tickets. One way. You’re not stopping me.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“I think you’re bullshitting. No? Well, gazelles gotta stick together.”

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Want to read more of Rob Grim’s work? Check him out by clicking the links below:

Facebook: facebook.com/RobGrimWrites

Twitter: @wandering_rob

Website: robgrim.wordpress.com

 

You can also follow find and follow our second place winner, Holly Geely, by checking out these links.

Twitter: @hollygeely

Website: hollygeely.wordpress.com/

For those of you who missed out on last week’s contest, check out our active contest or sign up for our newsletter for the latest in news and updates.