Discover Challenge

Opening Line

We’re all starting from the same place this week. What direction will your post take?

Last week, we published a collection of original flash fiction on Discover: three tiny tales, all under three hundred words — and all with the same opening line: “The fresh skid marks — a little brown, a little sticky — trailed from the front door straight through to the back.”

It was fascinating to see how these three writers took the same ten words and used them to such varying ends. A dark fairy tale, based on a classic myth. A moment in the life of a busy family. A futuristic, miniaturized drone operator conducting routine surveillance.

The idea for this week’s Discover challenge came from one of the commenters on the post:

This was so fun to read! How I would love to participate in something like this.

Thanks for the inspiration, Fatimah. Let’s do it! For this week’s challenge, publish a post — any kind of post, be it fiction, nonfiction, poetry, photography, illustration, video, or anything else — inspired by this line:

It was the first time, and it wouldn’t be the last.

If you choose to write, use it as your opening line; for those using a different medium, use the line however you’d like.

Maybe you’ll write about a childhood memory, or make up a fictional fable. Perhaps you’ll sketch a child taking her first steps, or shoot a photo of newly-planted flowers springing up in your garden. We’re excited to see all the directions you explore!

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    1. No need to submit anything; if you’d like to participate, just publish a post on your own blog. You can share the post with us either by commenting with the link, as you see a few others doing, or by including a link to the challenge post in your own. And welcome!

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  18. “It was the first time,and it wouldn’t be the last”…
    THE LOVE I THOUGHT I HAD

    I was so broken and lost
    My energy drained,life seems meaningless
    I felt empty as I’ve got a body but no soul
    Surrounded by darkness, overwhelmed with dishonor
    *Then you came

    Finding happiness in your smile
    Was a joy I never knew existed
    Your touch brought me warmth
    Looking forward to the day next
    Was never in my fantasy
    *Until you changed

    Our passionate kisses became slight pecks
    Your rapt attention turned silent nods
    Holding hands became handshakes
    Every minute calls turned rarely every 72 hours
    Your tight hugs became waves
    Faraway waves I never knew meant bye
    *Then you left

    Saying you care was a cold hearted lie
    I said hold my hands but you left
    When you said you’ll love me always
    I never knew it wasn’t forever
    Never want to believe all those days were lies
    But you never for once looked back
    *More broken than ever

    You left me so broken beyond repair
    Those lovey moments between us, made me wish I never met you
    I’m so pained I want to shed uncontrollable tears
    But they ceased to pour
    Because my face is stained with due tears
    In my mind,the memory of you will stay
    But wounds heal and I’ll move on
    The love I thought I had…

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  21. It . . . last. I prayed and prayed and prayed some more. Would my supplication be received? Would it be answered? Would there be intercession?

    I prayed again. And not for the last time.

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