art by Shot Hot Design
Hints of the Apocalypse
by K.G. Jewell
Transcription of Orkney artifact 345NG, recovered at -10M, 3K SW from primary blast center. Handwritten on loose-leaf paper.
Minutes of the February meeting of the Orkney Boarding School Fiction Society, as recorded by Secretary Ewan Charlet, President Sophie Marwick presiding. Vice President Jamie Hurley also attending.
The meeting was called to order in the basement faculty lounge at approximately 3:00 pm. The lounge grandfather clock read 3:12, but Jamie didn't believe it to be accurate.
President Sophie Marwick thanked the membership for attending. The minutes of the last meeting were read. Jamie moved to accept them, Ewan seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
Sophie presented an article in Lump Magazine about "Hint Fiction." The article defined Hint Fiction as a short story of 25 words or less.
Jamie motioned that they write Hint Fiction for the meeting writing exercise. Sophie seconded. In discussion on the motion, Ewan expressed doubt that 25 words was a "real" story. The motion passed, two to one.
A ten-minute writing period, per the grandfather clock, was allocated to the story writing. The stories are presented below:
Sophie: A lone horse runs under the moonlight. Where will it find a companion soul? Not with the herd, chewing on the trampled grass.
Ewan: The professor points at his bookshelf, "I think you should have my Nobel. Your fiction is new, and real. My time has passed."
Jamie: The flower blooms, even in the dark of the basement. The dusty clock's pulse races, dismissing proper time in the presence of such beauty.
Discussion followed, in which it was decided that a plot was necessary for even such a short story. A discussion of the definition of "plot" arose. Sophie proposed a definition of plot as "something happens." Ewan noted Miss. Cavelos' lecture last week on the "causal chain" in fiction. It was unanimously decided to amend the definition to "something happens because something happens."
A second writing period followed.
Sophie: A dandelion reaches for the sun, striving to be seen. On Thursday, it blooms, rising above the grass of the schoolyard. On Friday, it is mowed. --Ewan noted this piece used 26 words, and Sophie edited the above text to use the contraction "it's" for it is.
