The Single Line Story Challenge Tag!

Well, I’m incredibly late to this one. (This lateness is a theme of mine recently, isn’t it? That needs to change.) But I was tagged by three of my lovely friends – E.G. Bella, Joelle Stone, and Grace Johnson. Thank you so much, ladies! This tag looks intriguing … and a little daunting, to be honest! My writing sadly lacks conciseness, so a one-line story might be rough for me. But I’ll do my very best, and we’ll see how it goes!

---

Rules

1. Thank the person who nominated you. (Bella, Joelle, and Grace. Thank you again! Go check out these ladies’ blogs.)
2. Write 5 single line stories that fall under any of these genres (you can pick which ones you do!):
   • fantasy
   • romance: Ugh do I have to? I claim to write romance, right? I’m just going to bite the bullet …
   • thriller: Yes!
   • mystery
   • western: Yes to this one, too! I’ve watched enough old Westerns to be able to do this one.
   • contemporary: Yep, I should be a pro at this. But I’m still not … 🙂
   • historical: Ooh, back to the ol’ homeplace!
   • drama
   • dystopian
   • adventure
   • sci-fi
   • paranormal
   • young adult
3. You can choose 5 genres that’s easiest for you, or you can challenge yourself to try something new!
4. Nominate 5 blogger/writers who you’d love to see participate and leave an open nomination for all writers!
5. You can do this challenge more than once.

Alrighty, then, let’s see what I can do …

---

Romance

Years, distance, hatred, and lies had separated them—but with one glance, every memory crowded close, whispering of a love unbroken.

That’s as romantic as it’s going to get. 😊

Thriller

My hands shook, slicking the gun with sweat as I pressed to the cold brick wall …. yet the footsteps crunched close, declaring one truth: he’d found me.

(Add more punctuation so it hardly makes sense but it’s still one line. What’s that saying about knowing the rules so you can break them? Not good in life, but in punctuation … it works. 🙂 )

Western

The canyon lay still, the sun blazing above, the only sound the chink of hoofbeats against rock – until a pebble tumbled loose from the cliff.

*cue the suspenseful music* Does anyone know what’s going to happen next? 🙂

Contemporary

I gripped my smartphone—though it would’ve been preferable to chuck it at the muleheaded guy—and muttered, “Stop thinking everything’s about you, bud, and imagining poison in your cocktail of protein powders.”

Again, trashy punctuation. Don’t take cues from me, kids.

Historical

The cool wind brushed his face, tasting of tangy salt, of loamy earth, of home—yet home stood fathomless miles away, ripped away by a single bullet.

I feel like I need music for some of these … *dramatic sad music*

---

Whew, that was hard – but so much fun! I hope you at least got a laugh out of these ridiculously constructed sentences. Some of these were inspired by a few of my past projects, which were nice to revisit for a single line!

Thanks again to Grace, Bella, and Joelle for tagging me! If you’re reading this, consider yourself tagged! Specifically, though, I’m tagging Bethany @ A Ruby in the Rough, Sherrice @ Penlightenment, Hannah @ More than Just Reading, Kads @ Your Writerly Friend Kads, and Sisters Three!