The 149 Word Challenge
The Results Are In!
The challenge this week was to write a 149-word poem or story using all the following words: vegetarians, commoner, fulfill, spoonfuls. From the entries, here are your top two picks + one runner-up. To read all the amazing entries, please visit here.
The Beef Eater
Flash Fiction by Diane Kimbrell
When fitness freak, Gerard, president of the “I am not a Commoner Club,” an organization of devout vegetarians, heard about virtues of beef bone broth, he secretly decided to try it—fulfill his desire to remain healthy. Disguised in wig and baseball cap, he strolled into the restaurant confidently. With one sip of the liquid, he fell madly in love. Then, as luck would have it, he spotted Betty, a member of the Commoner Club. A big mouth! Should he be found eating anything made with meat, he would be ridden out on a rail, so he began gulping down spoonfuls, splattering the brown substance all over his shirt and tie, but he didn’t care. Beef bone broth was delicious! The more he gulped, the stronger he became. To heck with kale, and seeds, and Betty! he decided, if eating this delicacy makes me a commoner, so be it.
Inside Out
Poem by Indra Raj Pathak
in a quaint village, amidst fields of green lived a commoner, humble and serene with every sunrise, his hands toil the soil in harmony with nature, his simple life’s foil but whispers spread of his peculiar choice shun meat, embracing a veggie voice vegetarians scoffed, “He’s not one of us!” yet he found solace in his garden’s lush with each harvest, he felt a joy untold nourishing his soul, not just for gold for him, fulfillment came in spoonfuls sweet of earth’s bounty, his daily treat the commoner smiled at their disbelief for his heart knew the beauty of a leaf in a world of noise, he found his tune embracing nature’s grace under the moon in nature’s embrace, his soul enlightens, his troubles release in the moment of ecstasy and eternal peace, gets new lease let them talk, those who fail to see his joy in living cruelty-free
The Hobby
Flash Fiction by Jackie Chou
In my early thirties, I found myself roaming the streets in my neighborhood during the day, with nothing to do and nowhere to go. All my friends from school had settled into stable careers by then. Most of them had gotten married. My driver's license was revoked due to a mental condition, so my freedom was limited. I couldn't apply for jobs that were too far away or that required driving.
So I decided to take up a hobby. I became a vegetarian and joined an animal rights group. I thought that would fulfill my quest for meaning in life, though that kind of thing was mostly for leisured folks with time and money to spare, not a commoner like me.
Within a few months, I lost interest in fighting for humane treatment of animals, and went back to eating meat, after downing spoonfuls of mushroom tofu with rice.
Great poem. I especially like the use of a rhyme pattern. So much of what we see these days is free form without any pattern. I think the pattern makes it even harder to convey your meaning, or the picture. I can easily see the commoner in his garden. I have a small one, and like to get my hands dirty and eat the bounty, too!
I've written the following piece published at my account ( https://anabkhan.substack.com/ ). I really wanted to take part in but missed the opportunity so decided to publish here. I really would like not to miss the next competition.
A Social taboo
Evading the constant gaze of the panel of fifteen-seasoned gentlemen who surrounded him as if he were seated at a round table, the adult-teen stared at his lap persistently for half-an-hour during the jury’s proceeding.
The jury was led by the village Imam with the recitation of the Holy Qur’an. After a Pashtun-cum-Islamic speech, the Imam prompted some statements. The boy repeated them, keeping his right hand on the Holy Qur’an and his left hand on his heart. ‘I swear upon the holy Qur’an that I am innocent, and I have no relationship, of any kind, with Sara,’ he declared, his voice wavering under the intensity of the panel's scrutiny.
After the final address by the Imam, the elders embraced each other. At the same time, the boy’s father exchanged a peace-hug with the girl’s father and handed him a pouch filled with five-thousand-rupee notes. And the jury suspended.