July/August 2021

From the Flash Contests Weekly Creativity #142 | Flash Contest #29, March 2021 Write a story set somewhere you’ve never been. It could be set in outer space, Antarctica, or even an alternate reality! An excerpt from Frank in the Galaxy Kimberley Hu, 8Lake Oswego, OR Chapter 1: Frank Got in Trouble Frank was taking a walk around in the stained neighborhood (no idea why it was called that). Frank was so busy thinking about why the stained neighborhood was called the stained neighborhood that he accidentally bumped into the very fragile, most famous, awarded, and worshipped statue in all of the Jobbs Planet. The statue of Frank Jobbie, Frank thought. Then Frank realized that he didn’t really care about the statue of Frank Jobbie. What was he thinking?! Frank turned and saw a big crack in the statue of Frank Jobbie, or, as Frank liked to call it instead of saying “the statue of Frank Jobbie” so many times, TEE-ESS-OH-EF-JAY. That’s just how you pronounce it. I mean, how you pronounce the letters. So, it would be TSOFJ, right? See, say TEE. What letter does that sound like? Yes, it sounds like the letter T. Now you get it. Oh, no, no, no. Oops—not AGAIN, Frank thought very worriedly. Frank had already broken TSOFJ once three years ago on accident because Frank’s spirit was strong. Frank was big and his hands were big, as were his feet, arms, legs, and just entire body. Except . . . his head. Well . . . it was SHORT. Frank’s head was SHORT. Luckily when Frank had broken TSOFJ, he had been forgiven and TSOFJ’s broken part had been rebuilt. But the builders said, if Frank ever broke TSOFJ again, he would not be forgiven. And this time was that time. Frank was very alarmed. Frank wanted to run away as fast as he could, but he knew he couldn’t. He had committed another crime. At least, breaking a part of TSOFJ was a crime. Frank stood still with his mouth open and his legs startling. Frank knew there were secret security cameras around TSOFJ to make sure nothing happened to TSOFJ. It was too late. The security cameras had seen Frank, and Frank had no other choice than to stay still and accept it. You can read the rest of Kimberley’s story on our website: stonesoup.com/contests/ About the Stone Soup Flash Contests Stone Soup holds a flash contest during the first week of every month. The month’s first Weekly Creativity prompt provides the contest challenge. Submissions are due by midnight on Sunday of the same week. Up to five winners are chosen for publication on our blog. The winners, along with up to five honorable mentions, are announced in the following Saturday newsletter. Find all the details in the Activities and Contests sections of our website.