Cafe Aphra: An Online Community for Writers

The traffic light turns yellow. I wonder if I would’ve gunned it if the small white Toyota truck in front of me hadn’t stopped. I know the light to be interminably long and begin to fiddle with the dial. When I look up the glint of her ring, bright and lively , flashes in my eye for an instant. She is admiring it while lovingly scratching the back of his head. They talk, laugh, smile, and talk some more, all the while, her eyes wavering between his and the ring. Newlyweds, maybe just engaged, I conclude. A lifetime in front of them; picket fence, kids, another car, maybe even a mini-van to go with the dog they’ve probably already acquired in an effort to satisfy the nesting instinct until the first baby comes: a child that will no doubt reflect the best qualities of each. Mortgage, family vacations, recitals, ball games, Christmas performances, and furtive glances exchanged even in church as proof the home fires continue to burn. The talk becomes animated and takes on a decide...

Saturday, 21 st June was National Flash Fiction Day – the third, in fact, to be held by the folk here http://nationalflashfictionday.co.uk/index.html and Cafe Aphra decided to get in on the action with a Flash Fiction Challenge of our own. We gave out five writing prompts at three-hourly intervals throughout the day and encouraged you to post your inspired pieces of 400 words, or less, as comments on this blog. The beauty of flash fiction is that its compact size and brevity allows you to create a glimpse into a life, a world or even just a thought and then, once seen, close that door behind you. There is such freedom in that level of concision. Without the necessity of laying out the background of characters, setting the scene or establishing a theme, plotlines or lengthy metaphors, you can throw whatever combination of words you want on a page and step away. It’s a format that promotes the domestic, encourages the bold, celebrates the fantastic. On the pages of Café Aphr...

And our final prompt for the day in our Cafe Aphra NFFD writing challenge is.... Midsummer's Eve   The night before the midsummer solstice, a night of magic and mystery, even madness - leap off from this starting point and see where it takes you.   There have been some really wonderful pieces of writing here today... Thank you everybody for contributing your time and your beautiful words to our flash fiction day event and keep posting on the site! See you around in Cafe Aphra... Painting by Edward Robert Hughes

Some absolutely fantastic responses to our writing prompts so far for the Cafe Aphra NFFD... well done and thank you everybody for your contributions!  These simple ideas have really generated some great short fiction writing. So - prompt number 4 for today is: "My mother never..." W rite a piece starting with the line "My mother never..." and see where it takes you - I look forward to reading more fascinating and intriguing pieces! Next one in three hours' time.

And here is prompt number 3 of the day.... AN OBJECT Write a piece around a significant object (it can be any object you choose) I always love this one. :)  Have fun.... and see you in three hours for another one!  

Second prompt of the day for our NFFD writing challenge is... LOST  Physically or metaphorically, whatever occurs to you. Write a short piece around this idea - anything up to 400 words - and post it under here as a comment.   Any technical difficulties, please email us at: cafeaphra@yahoo.com   Next one along in three hours' time....

So our first prompt of the day for the NFFD Cafe Aphra challenge is.... BORN LUCKY         Write a short piece - a few sentences, whatever story occurs to you, but no more than 400 words - and post it under here as a comment. Any technical difficulties, please email us at: cafeaphra@yahoo.com Next one coming in three hours' time....