Richard Trisdale Wins Flash Fiction Challenge

Congratulations to Richard Trisdale whose entry won this week’s Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Challenge.

The voter-selected story is recognized with a special feature here today and wins a place in our 2015 Flash Fiction Anthology, which will be published as an eBook when this year’s challenges are completed.

Without further ado, here’s the winning story:


doctors office flash fiction prompt IMG_20150213 Doctors Office photo copyright K. S. Brooks. Do not use without attribution.
Doctors Office photo copyright K. S. Brooks. Do not use without attribution.

To Die and Not to Die
by Richard Trisdale

Barry had cheated many things in his life, so why not Death? He had remembered that infamous quote about the only things certain in life are death and taxes, and he had already cheated on one of them, so why not the other?

He pondered his options. Maybe he could challenge Death to some board games much like Bill & Ted did in their Bogus Journey. Or perhaps he could take Death’s place and give him a vacation. It was rumored that Robert Johnson sold his soul to a demon at some crossroads, could he do the same to buy more time? Granted all these were fictitious accounts, but could they truly work?

Barry needed a concrete solution, but where could he look? Would the Internet offer a solution? The library? The church? The government? So many theories out there about secret happenings and societies, did Barry even have the time to find a solution?

Death materialized before him while he pondered these thoughts. “It is time,” he stated.

“We have time for a game of chess?” Barry asked

“No,” he replied. “Your time is up.”

“Are you sure? I feel very much alive.”

“My records are correct, Barry. You’ve cheated many things in your life, but you have no way out of this one. Now let’s go, I have others to collect.”

“Awe, what the hell, I should’ve thought of a way out sooner! I suppose I’m ready to go then,” Barry replied. “Goodbye cruel world.”

Author: Administrators

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3 thoughts on “Richard Trisdale Wins Flash Fiction Challenge”

  1. Congratulations Richard. You were a worthy opponent and deserve the prize. I and my voters had some amazing time challenges as we voted from New Zealand, Australia, Tanzania, India and Turkey. Wow! It was great fun.

    1. Thanks S.K.!! This was my first attempt at this contest and I look forward to future match ups!! Good luck next week!!

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