On March 28th, I got an email with my 4 elements. Not knowing what to do, I thought about a story while driving to my holiday destination and typed it into an e-mail later that night. After a few emails, I found out it was a mistake on his part, and that I'm still May 9th, and that I'll need to write another 500 word story for the challenge, with 4 new elements, with 3 days to write a story. Now I have an excellent 500 word story with nowhere to go...so here it is :-) Please comment on it. Perhaps I'll send it to an online magazine...
Hunting on the Beach
"Let me guess, you’re a vampire slayer?” The suncreamed brute of a man
stood in his way.
"Why, yes, I am. What ever gave me away? My swarve charismatic persona,
my rippling muscular physique, my…?”
"That 1880 Vampire Hunter Kit slung across your back.”
Tom grabbed the kit and held it in front of his naked body.
"Oh, yeah.” The element of surprise was lost.
"And that’s one hell of a ’wooden stake’ you’ve got there.” The man
pointed down to Tom’s protrusion.
"Ah. Yeah, err, sorry, I’m not really used to this, I guess.” He tried
to hide his modesty with the kit but the strap was too short, so he moved his
bumbag to the front. The man held his ground.
"So, what’s a vampire slayer like you doing in a nudist colony like
this?” The man lifted his sunglasses and gave Tom a wink.
"Err…fishing? Yes, fishing.”
"With a rod like that, I guess so.”
Maybe it was time for Tom to make a quick getaway before things got a
little complicated. He was on a mission, not a pick up.
"Fishing for what?”
Names of fish ran through his mind, but only one came out.
"Carp.”
"Carp?”
"Yes, carp.” As good a fish as any.
"But carp is a river fish.” The man crossed his arms.
"And? Your point is?” Tom tried not to look down, he grabbed his bumbag
for protection.
"This is a beach.”
They both looked around, taking in the scene with naked bodies
sunbathing, playing, dipping in the ocean.
"So what are you really here for?”
Tom raked his brains, and pulled out his mobile phone charger from his
bumbag.
"Looking for a place to plug this in.” He smiled at the man, then
realised that might have given him the wrong impression.
"I can think of one or two places you could stick that.” The man moved
closer. "Come on, what are you really here for?”
"I’m, err…” The secret was out, anyway. "I’m on the trail of a renowned
vampire.”
The man took a step back.
"You don’t say! Well, have you found this ’vampire’ yet?”
"Err, no, not yet.”
"On the beach somewhere?”
"Err, no.”
"In the midday sun?”
Come to think of it, there was something wrong with his initial plan.
"Just how many vampires have you killed, sonny?”
"Tons!” Tom stood proud, but unfortunately the kit still didn’t reach.
"Really?” The man stared Tom out.
"Some?”
"Are you sure?”
"Okay, none…but I’m keen to get started!”
"Yes…hey!” The man suddenly pointed inland. "I just saw a bat! Over
there!”
Tom grabbed his vampire kit and looked in the direction the man had
indicated.
"Where?”
"Over there, see?”
It could be the lead Tom needed! He nodded to the man and sped off
across the sand, following the man’s pointing finger.
As Tom disappeared into the grassy area connecting the beach to land,
Nosferatu turned back to his friends playing volleyball.
"Hey Vlad! Any chance of a game?”
