It’s Rachael Harrie’s first campaign challenge. Here are the rules: Write a short story/flash fiction story in 200 words or less, excluding the title. It can be in any format, including a poem. Begin the story with the words, “The door swung open” These four words will be included in the word count. If you want to give yourself an added challenge (optional), use the same beginning words and end with the words: “the door swung shut.” Also included in the word count. For those who want an even greater challenge, make your story 200 words EXACTLY!
Here is my entry, which is exactly 200 words btw. Check it out below:
The door swung open. She was surrounded by the most beautiful things. Rows upon rows of books with classic spines lined up against each other, standing on dark wooden bookcases affixed to the walls behind them. There were four tables in the middle which formed a perfect square and in the center, the marble bust of an unknown man. A bulbous pencil sharpener sat in the corner and on each table was an orange colored lantern, which brightened up the space on the dullest of evenings. It was the most wondrous library she had ever seen. It was the room in his house she wished she owned, but felt blessed to be invited to.
His world consisted of this newly inherited house from his mother who recently passed, of leather bound books with golden pages, of luck. She let her hand pass against the hardbacks, smooth, then lumpy until she found a thin one with a red, leather spine; The Velveteen Rabbit.
She flipped through it. The scent of old passed through her nostrils, of experience, of regret. Oh yes, she was in heaven.
“Lunch?” he called out.
As she made her way towards the exit, the door swung shut.
–
Thanks for reading!
51 Responses to “First Campaign Challenge Submission”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
How gorgeous – I love the sound of this room and The Velveteen Rabbit is one of my favourite books. I also love the “scent of old” from the books, I get this every time I leaf through books at my grandma’s house! Well done 🙂
Thank you Kathleen! Such great compliments. I appreciate you taking the time to read and comment. 🙂
Oh what I wouldn’t give for a room even half so nice. A lovely description of the things that draw lovers of books to them.
I love the image of an old library–oh, to have an entire room dedicated to books alone! I don’t know who this man is, but I’m hoping he needs a makeshift librarian!
Love this! Nice job! So descriptive. I love how it is layed out.
Oh, to inherit such a library! gREAT JOB! ROLAND
This is such a cozy story. It also has a very classic feel that reads wonderfully.
Very good job.
Wonderful! I love the description of the room and the books. I love that she finds the Velveteen rabbit, too. What a great old book!
That is a library made in heaven. I can smell the scent of leather and paper while reading this. Great prose.
Wow, I want to live in that library! I could totally imagine it, it sounds like my kind of place. Nice writing!
Oh my goodness. What a pleasant place to visit! 🙂 Great work!
This entry takes me back to when I had my first, and then second encounter with Barnes and Nobles!
It was the closest thing I fashioned to be a “cool” library!
Your entry brings back a nostalgia as I use to glance at the rows of manga, sliding my fingers across their spine until I picked a pretty out for my devouring :-3
A wonderful scene you’ve built.
Good job! I loved that library.
Totally the room in his house I would want to own, too! AND THEN to find The Velveteen Rabbit…. fabulous! Loved the rich imagery. Good stuff.
A place that all writers long for. Good writing.
Love it! So much good imagery, I could picture everything! Wonderful job!
(I’m entry 236)
Great description of the room and so quick to read. A potential page turner in the making. Nice one!
Wow everybody, thanks for stopping by to read my entry and leave comments. I really appreciate it. And all of you gave me such great feedback. You all are so supportive. Love it. TY!
I’m currently on the 80th entry in the campaign. I’m hoping I can get through the rest of them by the end of the day.
Lovely. This library is every writer’s dream! I liked “The scent of old passed through her nostrils, of experience, of regret.” Nice.
BTW: Thanks for following me. (I’m also following you now.) And, because you are a new follower, you have one point in my book give-away contest. You can read the entry for Friday, August 26th to see how to get more points; the contests ends the evening of Friday, September 9th.
I suspect this is the dream room of all writers. Nicely done. mine is#72
Beautiful post and lovely imagery. I haven’t read The Velveteen Rabbit, but somehow, it seems appropriate to the story. Great flash post.
That flowed incredibly well! Threw me right into the scene. Great detail!
Awesome job, Nina! Following. 🙂
How I wish I had a library like this! Sigh…
You did a great job with the details in this one. I felt warm and cozy with the smell of books drifting around my head!
I soooo love this! what a wonderful library and I especially love how she picked out the *Velveteen Rabbit* one of my favs. ; )
Wonderful description and a great scene. Well done.
The description was breathtaking. The way you managed to pull together such a cohesive description of both the library *and* her was both economic and well done! I also like that I’m left to inquire about the relationship between the two of them at the end!
Thank you everybody. I’m thinking of turning this into a short story.
@mytrickstergod – I love B&N and old used bookstores too. They’re just great.
I am still working my way through the rest of the entries.
I loooooooove this! Oh what rich, savory, delicious details! Your prose really sang to me! I love old things – they are truly full of experiences and emotions like you wrote about. I loved how you wrote of “books with golden pages, of luck” and “the scent of old . . . of experience . . . of regret.” Fantastic writing!
I collect old books. I love when the owners signature is penned inside, or a cutout from a magazine has been tucked between the pages. I love to just hold the book and imagine what the person was like who read the book so many years ago.
I’m a fellow campaigner. I’m not in your groups, but I wanted the fun of getting to know more writers. It’s so great to meet you! I really enjoyed getting to know you in your ABOUT ME tab. I love every one of your weaknesses!
Hello Brenda,
Thank you for taking the time to read my entry. I appreciate everybody that has stopped by to read or comment on my post.
As for old books. I’m a huge fan. It’s rare that I’ll find an article or cutout inside, but when I do I find myself thinking much of the same things. Who was this person? Why did they cut out this particular magazine article? Why save it?
Well, it’s nice to meet you Brenda. I’m off to visit your blog now. 🙂
I think books are the most beautiful things, too. This is a library I would want to get lost in. Nice job.
You have some really lovely descriptions. I really enjoyed reading this! Thanks for stopping by my challenge post and leaving such a nice message.
What a beautiful description of a library. All the scents and sensations. A place to get lost in, indeed!
Thank you for following my blog. I’m here to return the favour 🙂
What a wonderful description of the library! I feel like I’m there, and also feel how much she loves it. Nicely written piece!
This was really nice. A place I would like to be in. =)
What a nice story! I could picture that room so well. Loved the bulbous pencil sharpener. I remember those from grade school. 🙂
Sounds like a place I’d like to be! Great job!
Oh the beauty of a library! Great job at conveying the hard to describe feeling of finding treasure in a library.
Oh, how perfect. A wonderful library, and a treasured childhood classic 🙂
Great imagery, I was with her in the room. Well done.
What a beautiful piece of writing! I love your description.
This was such a lovely entry. I could just picture myself in this library!
That was a lovely scene, rich with detail. You captured a lovely voice. So easy to read, the words flowed like water !
I love libraries, wonder what will happen to them when we no longer have books *sigh*
Nice story, enjoyed it.
cheers,
mood
Feels like an opening to a larger book.
Are you writing it into one?
Tirz
I love this, totally appropriate and no one else thought of it! This brought back fond memories and made me smile.
Aww, you guys are so nice! These are great, supportive comments. Thank you!
@Tirzah – I think I will use this as the beginning to a short story. If it turns out being longer than 10,000 words then yes, maybe this will be the intro for a second novel. 🙂
Wonderful! I want to step into this daydream of a room!
I know the feeling. A library is a little bit of heaven. Well described.
Wow! That was really well written. I think the best I’ve read so far! Definitely getting a vote from me.
Stobby
Hi Nina. Lovely to come back to your blog. I’ve tagged you in a game of 10 random facts about yourself. For details of what it entails, see my post here: http://alliewilde.blogspot.com/2011/09/ten-random-facts.html