Some of you may have heard of the Sanjana / Groundviews initiative that began last year inviting writers to submit stories of 25 words or less with a view to publishing a book of ‘Hint Fiction’. A labour of love for Sanjana and Perera Hussein Books, the book was launched on the 24th of January. You could read all about the launch here: http://groundviews.org/2013/12/10/launch-of-short-sweet-an-anthology-of-very-short-stories-on-sri-lanka/ 

We couldn’t make it due to unavoidable circs, but heard it was a ‘full-house’, with readings from the book by the Floating Space Theatre Company and apparently a good time was had by all.

Anyway, Java was convinced that we could come up with something that may make the grade and after a bunch of nagging, I finally agreed. And so we dashed off a few of what we thought may be considered, and lo and behold, a couple of our submissions were actually picked! One of Java’s and one of mine!! And since we haven’t been much on the active side for yonkers, as far as blogging is concerned, we thought this would be a good way to get back in – even if the spark does fizzle out – for soo many reasons.

So here are some of what we came up with:

UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES

Sipping coffee at the Barefoot Cafe, she wondered if the corpse had been discovered. It wasn’t easy, but it was the best she could do.

 AS A LAST RESORT

The soldier was kind to her – not like the others at the Camp. But she knew she had to make an example of him.

QUANDARY

It was a crazy night of ‘anything goes’. Now showered and shaved, with egg-hoppers and curry for breakfast, he wondered how to move the body.

A SPIRITED CHOICE ‘TO LET’

Preserved historical Walauwe with all amenities. Excellent location in quiet surroundings, away from temple loudspeakers. Ideal for spiritualists.

STORMY WEATHER

Psychedelic! The pelting rain on the windscreen reflecting kadé neon lights, making visibility impossible. Then, shattered glass and a bleeding child lay on his lap.

STING

“Eat shit, you fucking journalist pig”, he screamed, apoplectic, blood-vessels distended. She turned off the recorder, punching the air with clenched fist. “Yes!”, she exclaimed.

GLOBAL WARMING?

Filming whales underwater off Weligama, Dan wondered why they all dived simultaneously. “Oh shit! Couldn’t be global-warming?” he thought, as the Great-White swam into view.

YOU DUNNIT?

Administering sedative – easy. Getting her up there and placing the noose – trickier. The verdict – suicide. So why did the Colpetty Police want him?

VAMP

Kuveni was everything he desired. As he drifted off, he knew it was special. They found him, blood oozing from twin perforations on his neck.

If you want to know which of them was selected for publication and also read some interesting stories, get your copy of ‘Short & Sweet’ – now available at the Barefoot Bookshop, for one, and also on-line.