Upcoming Flash Immersion Event + This Week's Prompt: A Flash Bestiary
and lots o' links
(“Why the Hare Has No Tail”, a Zulu fairy tale, from Book of Hare Stories, Tom Seidmann-Freud, 1924)
“The monkeys stand for honesty
Giraffes are insincere
And the elephants are kindly but they're dumb
Orangutans are skeptical
Of changes in their cages
And the zookeeper is very fond of rum”
from At the Zoo, lyrics by Paul Simon
Hey friends,
First, a reminder that our 3rd Flash Immersion Extravaganza will run for ONE MONTH right here from mid-June to mid-July, and this event is FREE for all paid subscribers. If you’ve not upgraded to paid yet, please consider it. Lots of stories begun in the Immersion events have gone on to be published. This event alone makes your paid subscription a huge bargain!
What to expect:
Daily Writing Prompts: TWELVE thoughtfully designed writing prompts (3 per week) + feedback, along with some fun pop-up prompts for the days in-between
Positive, encouraging feedback from your fellow immersionists and myself
Weekly chats and / or Q & A on various flash fiction topics
Recommended reading lists
Substantive craft articles
Daily inspirations
Celebration Salon & Reading! (TBA)
A fun and productive month!
“We’re a family, but the only thing that binds us now is blood. We are western lowland gorillas, displaced in the Virginia Beach zoo, but no complaints. Our space is open and rich with what we need: water for bathing, trees to climb, and a cave to hide in when the world gets too large. The food is great if you like roots and celery, and I sure do!” ~from “Zoo,” by Jeff Landon
Okay, I thought it would be fun this week to write a hermit crab flash in the form of a “bestiary.” What’s a hermit crab flash, you may ask? It’s flash fiction that takes on a borrowed form to tell a story, i.e. a crossword puzzle, a letter, a quiz, a game, a medical file, etc.
And, what’s a “bestiary,” you may also ask? From Merriam-Webster, one definition is: “a medieval allegorical or moralizing work on the appearance and habits of real or imaginary animals.” Or simply: “a collection of descriptions or representations of real or imaginary animals.” Check out The Medieval Bestiary.
As an aside, it seems scientists have been doing some “de-extincting”:
From Time Magazine:
“Relying on deft genetic engineering and ancient, preserved DNA, Colossal scientists deciphered the dire wolf genome, rewrote the genetic code of the common gray wolf to match it, and, using domestic dogs as surrogate mothers, brought Romulus, Remus, and their sister, 2-month-old Khaleesi, into the world during three separate births last fall and this winter—effectively for the first time de-extincting a line of beasts whose live gene pool long ago vanished.”
YOUR PROMPT
“I really don’t think I could consent to go to Heaven if I thought there were no animals there.” — George Bernard Shaw