Trifecta consists of two weekly challenges: one weekday prompt and one weekend prompt.
For this weekend’s challenge, write a horror story in 33 words, without the words blood, scream, died, death, knife, gun, or kill.
Deafening silence but for crunching leaves and twigs and her labored, ragged breathing. She stopped, disoriented and dizzy. The crunching came even closer. She refused to look back. That always sealed their fate.

Lizzie Cracked (not broken) and don’t know about you… but I’m scared.
Love it Lizzie. Good job!
thanks – I am trying to go read them now and feel a little like I’m trying to play with the big kids… wow.. good I entered before I read anyone else’s…
There are a lot of good writers, but I thought yours was great!
thank you – you are so sweet…how come you didn’t enter? You always do great on these…
I just didn’t feel like it this time. I’ve had some other things on my mind.
yeah you were gonna email me… I am emialing you in a little bit anyways…hey do you think it would be ok to display the awards on the Artsy Brain Fartsy blog? I mean are they all for the blog or some for the blogger? just wondering – I got more room over there but don;t want to be presumptuous
Sorry, I forgot to email, but it will all be worked out tonight. You can put the awards wherever you want. You know I hate rules. 😉
I knew I was asking the right person – I’m not much on them myself.. 🙂
Oh, great take on the prompt. Nice and scary, and so true. You are a good fit for this genre.
thank you.. 🙂 I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if i wrote this stuff..wait I don;t sleep much anyways…
pffft! Your take is wonderfully creepy. I hate being in the wilderness alone. I always think I hear that crunching and it scares the H*LL outta me! To imagine it is real… YOWZA!
I know right? and then at night? I love to camp and hike but when it gets that creepy silence – which isn;t creepy unless you have seen Friday the 13th too much and then gone camping in a remote campsite as an immpressionable child and therefore equated the woodsy silence with creepy – although when the birds atop singing or at night the crickets stop chirping…ugh I always gotta pee in the woods… I gotta pee now…
bwhahahaha RIGHT!!!
I especially like the title of your blog. Your entry is interesting because it changes the person from the person running to the person pursuing. I had to read it twice to make sure. Well done!
thank you 🙂
I don”t know how you could get better than that! I’m scared! But then I”m a wimp. Haha
I am too totally.. everytime I am in the woods I gotta pee the entire time… it;s hard to love the woods and be scared at the same time.. but I do
It’s like a scene from a horror movie. Dark woods always make for scary times
thanks 🙂 hard as heck to convey stuff like that in only 33 words – I’m glad I got the point across.. 🙂
Amazing how much “chill” can be worked into 33 years.
Hopefully she’ll make it out of there ok, since she already knows the horror tropes.
Great piece!
thank you 🙂 did you do one this weekend? I didn;t see yours… did this make you have to pee? cause I always have to pee when I am alone in the woods…
No, I had an idea, but there was no way in hell to work it into 33 words.
It would have been 2 people trying to avoid saying the banned words, then looking frighteningly off the page at the author.
Not really sure how I’d write that even with no word limit – seriously, how do you break the 4th wall when writing?
Fortunately, I’m with my girl at home, so just normal peeing.
I hope you are able to pee when you’re not alone in the woods too. Otherwise that could get painful…
Wing it? or a bulldozer..not sure…I like where you are going with your idea.. mine started out as 86 words.. try writing it and see what….bet ya can do it.. you are the Guapman!! (I’m thinking your idea with Batman and Robin.. 🙂 )
I can pee when I am not alone in the woods – except when I am not alone only cause there is a crazy madman / alien after me… if that’s the company I can hold it thank you very much.. I hate that feeling though ug…
I was thinking that your story reminded me of the first time I went camping with Mountain Man. It was a real life horror story, me thinks!
Hey Lizzie, when are you and Hobbs coming over for dinner?
oh sooon.. gotta go to my mom’s tonight.. but I’m free the rest of the week…
I’d sure like to hear that story…. 🙂
This was a great take on the prompt. Chilling and I got an uncomfortable feeling with her being pursued in the woods. EEEK! Nice work!
thanks…was it the feeling like you might have to pee…urgently? likethe kind that wnen you finally can you can barely get your jeans unbuttoned in time to make it…cause that;s the kinda feeling I get just thinking about someone chasing me in the woods…
This was amazing! I felt her fear. And exactly right; NEVER LOOK BACK!!!!! Good job.
thank you 🙂 I dunno i would watch the horror flicks and think wow if they hadn;t looked back and just kept running…they probably woulda bought themselves enough time to get away…
Well done – like running off a cliff, it sounds funny until it’s you, amd then it’s terrifying.
lol – yes it is like that… no really I stopped for a minute to think about what you are saying and it makes perfect sense..funny til it;s you… then yoiu gotta pee really really bad…
This was really scary. I love camping, but I swear I won’t go to the bathroom after dark because of all the crunching leaves and twig-snapping. Not good for my bladder, I’m sure…but at least I’ll live to find out.
Unless they break into the camping trailer…
see I totally understand that! we used to have land in the mountains when I was small and my mom would send my brother and I up to the outhouse – up over the hil in the dark to go to the bathroom before bed..my brother would get 50 ft from the tent and do his business and I never could go to the outhouse by myself… after watching Pocahantas I thought it was kinda trippy too that the settlers were probably watched all the time and didn’t even know it..
Thanks so much for linking up with Trifecta this week. Hope to see you back on Monday (10 am Eastern) for the new prompt and some exciting news about the changes Trifecta is making to spread the word about our writing community.
thank you. I will do my best to keep participating.
I love your example horror story. I’ll have to think of what to write and come back.
thanks – yes do! I would like to see that…
Oh this makes me scared and I never want it to hapen in real life! Good job Lizzie!
thanks…yeah I scared myself a little.. I always love yours you come up with the coolest things … the fork was priceless.. PRICELESS!!!
Ah thanks Lizzie! 🙂 Are you going to do the 333 word challenge? I hope EG does it since the word is brain. Maybe he could change it somehow to his signature brraaaiiinnns.
Dear god, I didn’t even make that connection, Linda.
Hmm…perhaps a blog-biographical piece…
Yes! For sure a blog biographical piece — just think, you’ll be inventing an entirely new genre!
I know right? She is quick! do it! I missed your participation too..and Hobblers..
Braaiinnnssss… which reminds me? did I vote yet on Friday Foolishness? hmmmmmmm….
yup I am gonna give it a go for sure.. wow..that was a good connection if they had said braaiinnnnss I would have thought of him right away.. that’s why you write such clever and funny and cool stuff cause you see the connections that most of us miss.. I wanna be just like you when I grow up… which is a double bonus cause then I get to be a kid too… 🙂 (and that is said in the utmost admiration.. )
Oh thank you Lizzie, that means so much to me. I am honored that you want to be like me when you grow up. Now I’m feeling warm and fuzzy and what a great way to start out my day with such a sweet wonderful comment. You are a darling daughter! (hugs!) ❤
I couldn’t do your horror story challenge as I have bad nightmares quite frequently…I can imagine it coming to visit me in the middle of the night ;(…maybe next one Diane
yeah it actually got me a little more than I thought it would too.. but you should def check out the Trifecta page and jump in on them.. it has been fun and they are always different.
Woah! That gave me the chills! Great story!
thanks 🙂