At my local Writers’ Group, we were given the challenge of producing a story that had to contain the following six words: rules, postman, lamb, cripple, shotgun and sixpence. To make it harder, I thought I would try and do so within the constraints of 100 words. Here’s the super-short story output (99 words):
When the Postman delivered mail to ‘The Lamb and Flag’, he always did so remembering the past. He had been there all those years ago when the argument broke out about the rules for Cheese Skittles, Jack and Tom getting overheated about a friendly game spiced up by their traditional sixpence wager.
Tom’s departure and subsequent return with his shotgun took them all by surprise, none more so that Jack who, fielding a fair chunk of Tom’s first round, ended up a cripple. Tom is no longer able to drink, shoot or play skittles where he is current incarcerated.
Ian Gouge - Writer 