“Pass or Fall” – Flash Fiction, week 7

Based on the prerequisite portfolio you submitted, you are expected to score well in all areas. However, we are a little concerned about your entry in the Criminal section…

JJ Burry

I had an interesting morning, a morning filled with writing! (Crazy, right?) I joined Jennifer Laffin (owner of Teach Write, LLC) on Zoom for a virtual write-in.

Saturday mornings are usually pretty laid back at my house: cartoons for the kids, late breakfast, hopefully sleep in… All of that still happened, but while the kiddos watched cartoons, I wrote.

Jennifer said she would be working on her novel and asked me what I was working on. I told her that I needed to write my story for this week’s #52weeks52stories, and I hadn’t even started planning for one yet.

When it was time to start writing, I flipped through my writer’s notebook and found a plot line I had created a few weeks ago for a #FlashFicHive story (hosted by Anjela Curtis on Twitter). The prompt, which is organized in writing experience levels, told us to “let color inspire you.”

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I chose goldenrod as my color, and I named my MC (main character) Rodney Gold. It turns out that the story I plotted out will make a better novel than flash fiction story though, so I took the idea today and wrote a prologue for it in the form of a letter.

The main conflict for this story is from a Bingo option that my students came up with: “write a story with the conflict of not ready for the test.” They were probably thinking something along the lines of math test or the like, but sometimes our minds jump to other possibilities…

I hope you enjoy this glimpse into a future (hopefully) novel that I plan to write!

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photo credit: taken by my baby brother Jeremiah — Denali, Alaska

“Pass or Fall”

Highcliff Community
Testing Services

Dear Rodney Gold,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into the Advanced Test program.

Based on the prerequisite portfolio you submitted, you are expected to score well in all areas. However, we are a little concerned about your entry in the Criminal section. Our expectations are much higher in this area for the Advanced Test participants since many of those graduates will earn a position with our government.

We suggest you discuss this section with your parents and follow their advice. Your mother knows the expectations: Don’t forget, she still holds the community record for highest score in all sections of the Advanced Test for best time and quickest decision-making skills.

Before you arrive, be sure you have everything on the list (sent last week) in your Pack. Since you are in the Advanced Test program, you will also be allowed to bring a Goodbye Letter (just in case). You can address that to anyone you wish, and it will be delivered in the unlikely case that you fail.

Another advantage of the Advanced Test program is a watch. You may carry it in your Pack, or you may wear it. We recommend visiting Trenille’s Time in a Gadget for a specialty watch. You may upgrade it there and use it on your Test. We have no limit on the number of upgrades you add.

In closing, we will remind you that immediately following the Test, graduates will proceed to the staging area to await awards and job offers. Failures will proceed to the cliff where they will relinquish their Packs before descending.

We wish you the best of luck and hope to see you on stage.

Sincerely,

Rhint Mosely

Rhint Mosely
ATA – Advanced Test Administrator

Comments?

What do you think? Which part in the novel would you most like to see? Feel free to leave your comments below!

6 thoughts on ““Pass or Fall” – Flash Fiction, week 7”

  2. I would like to see Rodney Gold’s reaction to the letter, which might include whether he plans to visit with his mother, and his worrying if she already saw the brightly colored envelope. I’m looking forward to the next installment!

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