Welcome to the sixty-fourth Weekly Challenge, where I post a topic and then challenge you to come up with a 100 word story based on that topic.
The topic this week was selected by Caleb Bullen from the Black Tie Martini Club: Existential Ennui.
The excellent theme music is by Guy David
SOMETHING NEW
Due to popular demand, I am going to include stories that were sent to me, but without a recording. However, since the midget has left for sunny Coral Gables, Florida, those stories will just be posted in the show notes. You’re more than welcome to vote for them, but they will be ineligible for prizes or topic selection.
I feel that this is a fair balance between the podcast and blog natures of this content.
Feel free to share your thoughts on this decision in the comments, and we might possibly come up with an even better and more fair policy for handling these kinds of situations.
SPECIAL ADDITION
Rich DeSoto/Palmer of Audio Gumshoe, That Tickles, and Open Microphone on Los Arboles in Second Life (Mondays at 6PM) took a parody set of lyrics of mine and turned them into a pretty cool song this week. I’ve tacked it on to the podcast right after Z’s story, and I think you’ll get a kick out of it.
VOTING
Go ahead and listen to them by clicking on the grammophone thingy there in the left column and then vote for your favorites (multiple selections are allowed):
WE GOTS PRIZES:
I will be sending the winner a prize… it’s refrigerator magnets for the podcast. Massive amounts of fridge magnets were mailed out in the past week… watch your mail, and let me know if I’ve missed you.
It is your voting that determines who wins. So listen, vote, and tune in next week to find out who won!
CALEB
Nelson Algren sat in his mother’s bar on Division Street in Chicago drinking and pondering Existential Ennui when suddenly Jean Paul Sartre came bursting in through the door six guns a blazing.
“Algren! I’m taking Simone with me and if you try to stop us, you’re a dead man!”
“You’re too late. She’s gone back to the continent with some guitar player or something. Here, let me buy you a drink”
And so Algren and Sartre sat in Phyllis’ Musical Inn on Division drinking and pondering existential ennui while Simone DeBauvior sat somewhere in their existential ennui regretting her divisions.
TOM
The view from the tiny pumphouse on the hill is like one perched on a random cornflake drifting in the center of the milk of a bowl of cereal. The rim of the valley surrounds with its California potato colored hills dotted with frog skin valley oaks. It is a quiet purposeful place with underlining communalism yet tempered with strong personal Existential possibilities. Tonight within these walls there is no solace. The end result of a year of dying has take its toll on the vibrant existential soul. You want Existential Ennui in a word I will call it cancer.
LAIEANNA
God blew more smoke out the crack of his window. Harry hated people
smoking in his car, but this was God. He wasn’t a person exactly and
could you tell him to stop?
“Why not?” God asked. Harry flinched at the mind reading. “You
believe you’re in control of your own life.”
“Well, maybe I’m tired of being in control. Look at this god
damn…sorry…traffic!”
“We’ve been carpooling together for five years and that’s the first
time you apologized.”
Harry just sighed. God smiled, lifted the car, and flew it to work.
“Welcome to the fold, my son.”
JENNY
I remember the first person I killed. Her name was Tifanee…with two
e’s. She made me so miserable in school. Made everyone miserable really.
Bitchy. Bitchy with two e’s. I felt a little bad about it later. Well
not really bad but bad for not feeling bad, you know? And then after that
was Stephen. “It’s not you, baby. It’s me.” Yeah, you and half the
cheerleading squad. Sometimes I wonder why I do this? Why I have to take
out the human trash. Maybe it’s better to forgive. Maybe I’m not the one
who’s supposed to be doling out justice.
But if I don’t…then who will?
GUY
I was just sitting, drinking tea with my good friend Lony, when she turns to me and says:
“Grandma Shunra, I can’t stand this existential ennui. We just spend our life turning people into things, selling them various potions and casting spells on them. There must be more to life than this”.
“Yes”, I said, “That is our life, take it or leave it, it’s not that as bad as you think. You should learn to except it. We do have more then most, you know”.
“But what good is it?” Lony asked, so, I turned her into a frog.
FALDWIN
When I first read the prompt for this weeks challenge my response was, in a word: “Huh?” A quick Google search revealed an article explaining the phenomenon. I would explain it, but I only have 100 words here. If a person finds themselves bored with life because everything is the same, they might, in an effort to cure that boredom, do something exciting and different. But if that person continues to do exciting things he might get bored with excitement. Then he will go back to doing the same thing over and over again and the cycle will begin anew.
Z
Jo says she’ll do you for the cost of weed, but there’s more to it than that.
She’ll want to talk. Sometimes an hour, sometimes more.
Camus, Sartre, Beauvoir – over and over.
Next thing you know, you’re both grinding away under the sheets.
Your mind’s been elsewhere, worthless in all this screwing.
You try to catch up, but she rolls you over. She’s finished.
And you look down – so are you.
Let me tell you: Existential ennui makes lousy foreplay, but I think she gets off on this whole thing.
She puts out, and yet, she keeps it to herself.
Thanks to everyone for sending in their stories, and I look forward to what you’ve got to write (and say) next week.
The theme for next week’s Weekly Challenge will be posted shortly.
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