True Stories in exactly 50 words

Exactly

Intro

Dear friends,

About a year ago I posted about being on the shortlist of a 50-word memoir competition.

Issue 4 - Some Good News

Although I did not reach the final round, it was an enjoyable experience which provided some much needed motivation and encouragement at the time.

It is hard to write a story in 50 words, it is perhaps even harder to write a 50 word memoir. Like all short forms it requires economy, and impact. Here are all five of my submissions and the stories behind them.

The Stories

1. I saw a Leprechaun once. First grade. The teacher pointing as it danced from desk to desk. ‘I see it’ or ‘I can’t’ in excitable voices…and then it was gone. Real? The teacher found the mark of a little foot on the hard floor, and then all of us believed.

This is a really early school memory. I don’t remember exactly if I thought I saw it, or not at the time. The power of suggestion works on me very easily, even now, but I do remember the teacher showing us the mark on the hard floor (which had probably been there forever) and then being certain that the Leprechaun was real.

2. I never played with toys. I played with entire worlds as might a young god. Plastic figurines had their histories recorded in journal after journal, an ongoing tapestry which kept them alive for years. Until I reached an age where fitting in one world… required the destruction of the other.

This was the short-listed story. When I was a child I had army men figurines, mostly GI Joes, but to me, they were so much more. They were ‘alive’ and the start of what led to me becoming a writer. They used to have ongoing stories and narratives, and I wrote many notebooks recording their histories and adventures. Doing so, I became very attached to them and played with figurines longer than most boys. Sadly, in an attempt to ‘grow up’ after being teased at school, I threw all my figurines and notebooks into the bin. I am still a little sad about it to be honest.

3. In my life I have flown a Sopwith Camels in WW1, Spitfires and Lancaster Bombers in WW2, and flew a F117a Stealth Fighter. I have shot many missiles, dropped many bombs, and killed countless virtual people. I had not seen footage of bombs dropping on Vietnam, but now I have.

The important line is ‘killed countless virtual people,’ and I am of course referring to video games. I had many war simulation games as a kid, WW1, WW2, Korea, Vietnam, Cold War, WW3 (hypothetical) and then intergalactic. In games you never see the human cost of war. There are games where you have to command a bomber squadron. It is hard to see footage of bombs dropping on Vietnam and then play such as game in good conscience.

4. At school, I wrote Sci-Fi epics with space battles, ninjas (every story is better with a ninja in it) and robots. Writing was usually stress free, but imagine putting a fellow classmates name as your love interest, or putting a teacher on a hit list, and then being found out...

This happened to me a number of times. I am thankful that I live in Australia because if I were in the United States I probably would have got into more trouble. My math teachers probably weren’t happy that they made my completely hypothetical hit list in some spy story I was working on, or imaginative 007 style game, but they didn’t have to worry that I could actually be a shooter. In Australia we don’t have guns, and therefore no school shootings, go figure.

5. The theater audience waits for the curtain to rise on Transylvania. It is a gothic night, of wind and rain, of lightning and thunder that explode in the sky. The Director calls repeatedly. The musicians, my mother and I, drive in the storm. The show must go on… Dracula Spectacular.

I remember that night very well. We were running late. It was dangerous weather. I saw lightning hit the ground up ahead. We had delayed as long as we could, but everyone was waiting for us. First time I ever got applause just for turning up! I don’t know if it was due to the weather, but that performance was electric! The best one of the entire run! It was a youth production of Dracula Spectacular, run by the late Fred Lawson. He is still missed and was taken too soon.

End Matter

Dear friends, I hope you enjoyed these little autobiographical stories, maybe you have been inspired to write some of your own? I would love to read them, please tag me in notes or comment directly on this post.

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