Ok this is inspired by Dave William’s experiment with random generated words and AI written fiction. I had to see if I could do anything with the random words: runner, announcement, first-hand, soldier, lily. Thanks Dave for the inspiration to write something. -Megan
You can follow Dave’s AI Experiment here:
The Letter
Lily gazed out the rain streaked window, the handwritten letter clutched in her hand. She let her memories of Owen play over and over in her mind. Lily and Owen had been married for only a year when Owen was deployed overseas. She always knew that there was a possibility of him not returning. The letter was kindly written by Owen’s friend Nathan telling her the series of events that led to her beloved’s demise.
Dear Lily,
It is with a heavy heart that I write this, but you need to know what happened. We were on maneuvers, five of us patrolling through the night. There was no moon, the air was thick and warm. We moved up the trail through the underbrush, wading in swamps and being eaten alive by the mosquitoes. When we came to the bank and exited the water shots rang out all around us. We engaged with our enemies, shooting back and moving into the dense forest. Owen and I got separated from the others. The enemy was closing in and we ran, holding our guns to our chest, running through the trees to gain some distance from them. Sweet ran down our backs, our breathing became labored in the heavy moist air, and then it all went wrong. I stepped wrong and rolled my ankle hearing a loud pop as I found myself on the wet ground. Owen, your Owen stopped and came back to help me. He got me up and we hobbled over to a large tree to take some shelter. We could still hear distant shots ringing out. As Owen was checking on my ankle an enemy approached from behind him out of the darkness. He shouted something neither of us understood, aiming his gun towards Owen’s back. Owen made eye contact with me and then he turned towards the enemy and shot him, unfortunately the enemy shot as well. I tried to stop the bleeding, I tried to save him. My efforts were not enough, Owen gave his life to save mine. I will forever live with that guilt and gratitude.
Sincerely Yours,
Nathan
Other Flash Fiction Creations by me:
cch217 
Neat that you were inspired by the experiment and the random words to write a story! I liked that you included the letter, which is an interesting device to add to stories. And the letter was quite moving with Nathan’s experience about Owen saving his life.
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Inspiration can occur from the strangest places. It sat in the back of my mind for a while before deciding to just write what felt right.
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Wow
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