THE CHAIN STORY

HOST: It was a dark and stormy night. There was a knock on the door.12:00 AM Jul 25th from webOMAR: The rain whipped in gusts against the windows. There was another knock. But louder. She couldn’t remember if she had locked the door.2:43 AM Jul 25th from TwitterFonCOCO: She thought of man who humiliated her last night. She hated herself for giving in to him. For enjoying it. Was it him at door?10:49 AM Jul 25th from webOLAF: The knocking stopped. Then the phone rang. She yanked the plug. It was a stupid thing to do. Almost as stupid as not getting caller ID12:05 PM Jul 25th from webFIDO: wasnt till knocking & ringing stopped she remembered she’d ordered pizza. Damn! Hot dogs again. While squeezing mustard, another knock1:02 PM Jul 25th from UberTwitterTUCK: “Enough pansying around,” she thought. She finished her dog, wiped her mouth, grabbed a butcher knife and went to the door.1:50 PM Jul 25th from webNORA: She looked through the peephole. A girl stood there, alone, soaking wet. She hid the knife in the wall cabinet and opened the door.2:58 PM Jul 25th from TwitterBerryIGOR: As if defying the slanting torrent, stripping the ancient sky gods of power, the girl stood unmoved in her own puddle. She was blind.6:22 PM Jul 25th from webISIS: Willow asked where she came from, who she was. The girl maintained a holy silence. So Willow took her hand, kissed it, and led her in.7:40 PM Jul 25th from webUTAH: Willow walked her to the bathroom, turned on the shower. She then fetched some of her daughter’s clothing. She had kept all of it.8:45 PM Jul 25th from webTESS: The girl took the clothes from Willow. “Your daughter is dead, isn’t she?” There was a pause. “So you do speak,” Willow finally said.9:17 PM Jul 25th from TwitterrificRHAE: “Just because I’m blind, doesn’t mean I can’t see.”11:17 PM Jul 25th from webCOCO: What arrogant girl. I bet she can’t see stains on bed. The tears. The struggle. The pleasure. Children think they know everything.3:28 AM Jul 26th from webNORA: “Yes, my daughter Sarah passed away four years ago,” Willow said. She noticed the girl stiffened. “Where are your parents?”9:18 AM Jul 26th from TweetDeckISIS: “They are resting with your daughter, waiting for us. But it’s not our time yet. We have a journey to go on. Thus spoke the oracle.”1:30 PM Jul 26th from webFIDO: Oracle? Damn this girl was a trip, yo! But willow dug her. So they left the next morning. On the road they met w/ a pack of thieves…3:29 PM Jul 26th from UberTwitterTESS: The thieves bound their wrists and began blindfolding them. “You don’t need to do this,” the girl said calmly. They missed the irony.4:21 PM Jul 26th from web

IGOR: A man tore the blindfolds off them. A cave. Weapons. Loot. Three dozen or so armed men. “This way”, he said. “Ali Baba is waiting.”6:45 PM Jul 26th from web

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Fourth Fiction Dare 1: Write a caption for this cartoon

Each Fourth Fiction pre-contest dare was posted at midnight on the Fourth Fiction Twitter page between July 14th and July 24th. The contestants had 24 hours to respond to each dare. The outside responses by non-contestants are also included (after the contestants’ responses) in many of the posts. For more details about these pre-contest literary dares, see this video.

The 10 Dares

DARE 1 -- Come up with a caption for this cartoon.

DARE 2 -- Tweet a story that involves an act of cannibalism.

DARE 3 -- Write something from the perspective of a sperm.

DARE 4 -- Write an alternate ending to the fairy tale “Three Little Pigs.”

DARE 5 -- Write a sex scene that incorporates a Michael Jackson song title.

DARE 6 -- Make a rhyme that includes the words “Obama” and “Osama” without using any vowels besides “o” and “a” (no “y”s allowed)

DARE 7 -- Write a Twister, a short story of 140 characters, in the style of @arjunbasu (140 char includes #4thfiction tag)

DARE 8: Write a caption that relates to current news

DARE 8 -- Write a caption for this cartoon that relates to current news.

DARE 9 -- Write an elegy to the Taco Bell Chihuahua, who died today.

DARE 10 -- Begin with the words “It was a dark and stormy night”

As of today, July 14, there will be pre-contest literary challenges known as ‘dares’ posted at midnight EST each day on the Fourth Fiction Twitter page. The contestants will now write a maximum of one tweet per day and only in response to the dare. Watch this brief video for details: 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hvr5Wq8pkg

See the YouTube video of the Fourth Fiction Launch for an overview of the reality show. You can also read the initial competition announcement for more details or see the ‘Similar Posts’ links below. Anyone interested in being an outside participant to the competition should read the Open Call post.