Last Line First

Welcome to Last Line First, a flash-fiction-writing challenge.

It works like this:

• Every Monday, I post the last line of an existing story for you to use as a prompt.
• You then have until midnight (BST) on Sunday to write and submit a ≤200 word flash-fiction that starts with the given last line.
• To officially participate, you must submit your story by posting it as a comment to the challenge post.
• You may tweak the last line in whatever way you see fit.
• The story can be in any genre (except graphic horror or erotica) and does not need to reflect the source story in any way.
• There will be no judging as such, but each week I’ll choose my favourite last line from the stories submitted. The author of the chosen last line will receive a Last Line First badge (pictured above) and see their last line used as a prompt in the future.
• To keep things simple: by submitting your story, you’re agreeing to let me use its last line as a future prompt. Thanks!

You can find the latest challenge here and a list of my favourite last lines below.

My favourite Last Lines:

• Week 1: His eyes are full of the things he’s seen, his mouth is full of stories. From Time Enough by Voima Oy.
• Week 2: They will never, ever learn that lesson until it is too late. From The Last of the Battle Queens by Nat Newman.
• Week 3: You’ll know better next time. From Fairground Initiation by Denise Sparrowhawk.
• Week 4: I don’t believe in love at first sight, but … From The Blind Date by Kirsty.
• Week 5: Sometimes you feel like you’ve just saved the world. From Killing to Save by Paul Kohn.
• Week 6: Why do people do what they do? From Why? by Paul Kohn.
• Week 7: My weakness is my biggest regret. From Shadows by Kirsty Lee.
• Week 8: Feather weight champion of the world. From Strength by Nick Black.
• Week 9: If I left tomorrow, would anyone even know? From Nickname by Paul Kohn.
• Week 10: She clutched the book to her breast and cried. From Void by Denise Sparrowhawk.
• Week 11: Some things are so special that they are just indescribable. From No Words by Paul Kohn.
• Week 12: Some days I love this job. From The Indescribable Girl by Voima Oy.
• Week 13: Their screams are music to my ears. From Charlotte‘s story.
• Week 14: Time to turn up the volume. From To Rest by Jacki Donnellan.
• Week 15: Today the still small voice must be heard. From Stillness by Denise.