Micro Fiction Contest: They Lived and Laughed and Loved and Left
Posted by David Duhr in 
Discussion questions: In fifty (50) words or fewer, write a scene or story that includes the phrase “They lived and laughed and loved and left.” Write or paste your story into the comments. The winner will get his/her choice of books from the WriteByNight library.
Finnegan’s Wake is not on the list of Joyce novels I’ve read. While we’re at it, neither are Ulysses and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Someday.
But there’s a line from Finnegan’s Wake I’ve come to appreciate lately, and it goes like this: “They lived and laughed and loved and left.”
And I think it will make for an excellent Micro Fiction Contest, maybe even better than our last one, “I wrote till my heart broke,” from Malcolm Lowry’s Under the Volcano.
What Is This Contest and How Do I Enter?
In fifty (50) words or fewer, write a story or scene — or even a moment from your own life; these don’t necessarily have to be fiction — that includes the phrase “They lived and laughed and loved and left.”
Enter as many times as you wish.
Write or paste your story/stories in the comments section below.
Submit your entries by the end of Sunday, March 29. I’ll announce the winner in the comments and in the following weekend’s email message (which, if you don’t already receive, you can sign up for in the right sidebar).
My favorite story (stories?) will earn its writer his/her choice of book from the WBN library.
You’ll Choose a Winner Based on What, Exactly?
The usual metrics: style, concision (obviously), humor. Whimsy (mine).
And I’ll take into account the number of thumbs-up each story receives. So if you really dig someone else’s piece, be a sport and give it an upvote.
Good luck!
WriteByNight co-founder David Duhr is fiction editor at the Texas Observer and co-host of the Yak Babies podcast, and has written about books for the Dallas Morning News, Electric Literature, Publishing Perspectives, and others.
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The southpaw, communist clown convention in Fresh Hands, Utah, was postponed due to the “keep a safe distance” virus recommendation. Governor’s orders, himself a closeted right leaning, Republican born-again straight man. He, a Dean Martin groupie, do what all great Americans do in the time of crisis- live, laugh, love…
Thanks, Chuck. And way to be brave and go first.
They reunited after 15 years aboard the S.S.Eureka. For the next five days, they lived and laughed and loved and left.Perhaps they would meet again, but only fate would tell.
A story about a ship that doesn’t include mention of CoronaVirus. Well done, Frances!
They lived, laughed, loved and left.
I tread an ocean of theft.
I remain, seeking existence free
of the weight of memory.
Thanks, Christine. I like it.
Really? I am not sure I do, it is simply what came to me. I am working on putting stuff out there for others to read, to get used to the process. Thank you for replying, David.
The time of acronyms. Everything was abbreviated. (TOD) “Trifecta of Death”, (ZAVW) Zombies, Asteroids, Volcanic Winter, (SHOD) “Stay Home or Die” Yet we hungered, needed each other if only for an hour. (LLL&L) Lived, Laughed, Loved & Left. I chuckling softly, sadly as I ate his brains, missing him already.
Well that escalated quickly.. lol
Nice turn at the end. Well done, Dave.
Ate his BRAINS I love it ha, ha.
I think I even miss that goddamn Maurice.
Haha, what?
They lived and laughed and loved and left, slumped in their Barcaloungers, their eyes buried in VR headsets. Midnight snow blew outside, but what a beautiful day for a warm, sunny stroll along La Rive Gauche, where they slowly halted and grayed out as the plague took them away.
————————-
I remember enjoying A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man when I read it in AP English, back in the Pleistocene.
Excellent, as usual.
The worst was over – at least they believed it to be so. Two months of self-quarantine had been like death. So with remains of wine, crackers, four paper towels, and still feverish, the couple set out for the beach where they lived and laughed and loved and left.
“and still feverish” is what really makes this one sing.
A ragamuffin youth group came into town raking yards, running errands and helping with small home projects for us retirees and handicapped. They shared meals with us and listened to our stories.They lived and laughed and loved and left. What a difference they made in us.
Reminds me of some of the anecdotes we’re seeing come out of this Corona thing. Thanks, Deb.
I love it! Sounds like a mission trip my granddaughter (a college student) took on with her friends one summer.
The hostess seated a party of seven in a dark corner where each immediately brought out earbuds and smart phones, lighting up the table. Peering down for the ninety minutes even as they were together, in loneliness they lived and laughed and loved and left.
I love this. Good work.
The first thing Casey saw was the pencil lying on the floor. Next, she noticed the note crumpled into Rosemary’s hand as she lay sleeping next to Ralph who had obviously died sometime during the night. It simply read, “They lived, and laughd, an lovd, ad l e ft ”
Thanks, Fred. This one is begging to be expanded!
They died only hours apart. In those last few precious moments, they shared thoughts of their wedding, children, grandchildren, friends, and adventures. It was a life filled with love and happiness and one they were ready to depart. They lived and laughed and loved and left.
This is sweet, Larry. Thanks.
They lived and laughed and loved and left. Earth’s people were gone. “Well, it was about time,” one cockroach said to another. “All those years, the revolution paid off. And to think, just infect some toilet paper. Ha, don’t touch your face, no one thought about the other end.”
This really hits the spot, Bru. A clear contender.
thank you
very clever … thanks
God had come, and gathered his jewels. Billions, strewn about His feet, diamonds, rubies, sapphires…Each soul’s stardust remains had been compacted into gemstones. They had cried, sighed and died. They lived and laughed and loved and left, now to exist as shiny trinkets for a bored emperor.
Wow!
Wow, indeed. Well done, man.
The vastness of the desert lay silent, only a desiccated tumbleweed moved, bowling along in the dry wind. The revellers arrived. The dusty desert pulsed with vivid life for two days. They lived and laughed and loved. The silence returned. Only a plastic bag tumbled along in the dry wind.
Good! This is one of my favorites. Thanks, Anne.
Just noticed that I left out”and left”. I’m posting a revised version.
The door latch clicked. I dove into my blanketed corner in the closet. Loud whispers. Faltering steps. Eight squeaks with accompanying grunts. Silence. The door opens and is locked again. They lived and laughed and loved and left. I crawl out to pee and make toast before the next one.
Wow, Deb. I’d love to see what would happen with this one at, say, 100 words.
this is brilliant … thank you
Thanks, Fred.
“They lived and laughed and loved and left.” That’s what their eulogy said. It implies they had a well-rounded experience as human beings. They did everything they were supposed to do. It sounds like it was entirely up to them to carry that out. Even their death…they just left home.
Thanks, MC. I like it.
They lived and laughed and loved and left. It’s going to take days to disinfect the deli case.
This strikes me as very Jerry Schwartzian. By that I mean I enjoyed it.
I was glad to see them go. They lived and laughed and loved and left. AND ate all our food. AND we heard them through the walls going at it. Who knew my lost cousin was an old man (with a child bride) undermining God’s plan with that Viagra stuff.
I desperately hope this is based on a true story that you can share with me in private.
(“Egrets, I’ve had a few…”)
Vinnie Boy was in trouble. He wasn’t much of a Sinatra impersonator to begin with, but forgetting the words to Frank’s biggest tune, forgettaboutit.
(“They lived and laughed and loved and left…”)
The patrons wore blank stares.
(“But what is a flan, what has stugotz…”)
I always appreciate your versatility, for whatever that’s worth.
“I’m dead, let me sleep.”
“Charlie…”
“I SAID, I’m dead, let me…”
“Charlie, they lived and laughed and loved and left, so can you.”
“Fuck you. I don’t even know what any of that is.”
Her tears welled, “Dammit. Charlie…”
“I’m done, I’m dying, I’m dead. Let me sleep.”
I’d love to know the genesis of this one.
A tea-stained photo in a tarnished frame. It’s my mother in a borrowed wedding dress kissing Dad in his army uniform. Children of the great depression who grew up to fight in a far-away war. They lived and laughed and loved and left, but in between, they saved the world.
Good work here, Adrienne. Thanks. Because we are, in fact, twins, this story really hits home.
That warms me…really.
Lines like Black Friday as people buy in masses,
Looks like hot toy item is toilet paper I assume to wipe a lot of asses.
Finally, essentials left for others,
All are home now under their hoard to smother.
They lived
And laughed
And loved
And left
Thanks for the laugh, Robert. We all should’ve bought stock in Charmin, Scott, et al.
A tea-stained photo in a tarnished frame. It’s my mother in a borrowed wedding dress kissing Dad in his army uniform. Children of the great depression who grew up to fight in a far-away war. They lived and laughed and loved and left, but in between, they saved the world.
Good work here, Adrienne. Thanks. Because we are, in fact, twins, this story really hits home.
I eyed his grip on the velvet box as he hugged me. He lingered there longer than I liked; it was as if letting go of either would be a final surrender he wasn’t ready for. It was true we loved, we lived, and we laughed but now we left.
Thanks, Rose. I appreciate in particular the creative use of the phrase.
The Mutant One arrived and claimed what was rightfully his—La Corona. The ancestors revered him. A heedless host was chosen. The One became Legion. They lived and laughed and loved and left upon inoculation, but reveled in their spoils and vowed to return more viral, more virile than ever.
Yes. “more viral, more virile”! Nice.
David, I wonder if that ugly little virus feels self-conscious about being called “novel”.
Susan, keep politics out of this…
? Because I called the virus ugly?
Would’ve been a good time to use “fugly.”
I, of course, have yet to address it as such, because of my own self-consciousness over the way I pronounce “novel.”
See, we have something in common with the fugly thing. Maybe it’s just looking for love. Seriously–all you people here with your vocabularies are too smart for me. Once again, I actually had to look it up. Fugly is actually a word! The fugglies would make good characters.
I had no idea this was actually a word. From Merriam-Webster: “probably a euphemistic contraction of fucking ugly.” lol. Probably!
The Fuglies. Do I smell a TV show? Or do I just smell?
David, have you read “Riders Of the Purple Wage” by Phillip Jose Farmer? There’s a neat twist on “Finnegan’s Wake” in the funeral scene at the end. Great example of 60s science fiction or sentient affliction or speculative frisson…
Or seance fiction, all set in the afterlife. Hey, I think I have my new genre there. Oh, here come many prompts.
If you want fiction set in the afterlife, chase down this book: Ubik by Philip K. Dick. Among other things, it has a character whose name I just love: Herbert Shoenheit von Vogelsang.
Okay, looked up “shoenheit” “schoenheit” Means Beautiful? Vogelsang was a pretty easy guess, I think, as I already knew Vogel was bird, so Herbert Beautiful Birdsong? I love that too. That is a good way to come up with character names, actually, thanks for a new idea on that. I will look for that book. Thank you!
PKD had a way with character names. “Roy Baty” (Batty) for a crazed clone, “Dr. Bloodmoney”, or my favorite “Horselover Fat”.
I’ve always thought of it as meaning “Beauty of Birdsong,” and that may be what Dick intended; but a construct like that usually designates a family origin. There are parts of Germany named Vogelsang. Who knows? Vogelsang is also the name of a company that makes industrial equipment.
I haven’t, but after reading about it, I’m interested.
Such fatal loyalty. Even when contagious disease placed his sisters palm into Death’s crooked fingers, he followed. Clutching the Reaper’s other hand. If you saw how they lived and laughed and loved and left the world behind, you too would believe he never once abandoned her. In life or afterlife.
I am a compulsive pen klepto. Or they appear magically in my pockets every day. I might have some of yours. Great screen name.
Thank you for the feedback, Susan. Good theory, I do wish they’d magically appear back in my pockets the same way they disappear.
I love finding random stuff in the pockets of pants I haven’t worn in awhile. Finding cash is next-level, though. You ever find a twenty in your pants pocket? There should be a word for that feeling. Maybe there is.
Maybe thats it. The feeling is so indescribable that they simply couldn’t find a word to fit it.
Wild Bill saw the crowd enter on his land. He turned to his loved ones He bowed his head and said as he wept .My Family We have lived and loved, laughed and now we shall fight together. The Glick’s all charged, guns and knives drawn. toward the virus crazed infected mob .I have writing angry for three days now I cannot stop.
Let’s hope this remains nonfiction. Are you all hunkered down, Steve?
Rosie crochets, Joe watches baseball in elderly isolation. They’d had a good life. Raising children was the best part. They lived and laughed and loved and left, as children do.
Now loneliness looms, interrupted by occasional calls. Their age seems to advance hourly. Soon Rosie and Joe will leave, too.
Thanks, Ann. I feel like my later years will be 80% made up of watching baseball in elderly isolation, so this hits home.
(No awful, awful pun intended.)
“They lived and laughed and loved and left” was their final posting. The Biggy-Nabobs jetted to their luxury underground bunkers. “The fittest have survived,” they thought, unaware they would remain there for eternity. Above ground, God addressed the enraptured children. “They made their own hell. Now let us create Heaven.”
I hope you’re happy with this one, because I am.
I will have to answer that in secret code. (Toilet paper.)
I was thrilled when the young couple moved in. They established a cozy home and soon charmed me with the delightful chatter of children. They lived and laughed and loved and left. A sad day, but I knew they wouldn’t remain forever. I removed the empty nest from the eaves.
Well done, Ann. I love the twist. That’s so hard to pull off in <50 words.
They mimic the sounds of a fox to gain a free butcher
for this carcass of mine in the yard, crowing
in the trees at their little trick.
This murder, drunk from knowing
they lived and laughed and loved and
left when they had too much.
Thanks, Kelly. I dig this.
Corvus awoke, and searched for Charlie and Mongoose. But they had lived and laughed and loved and left…him alone. He wandered, until…Marjorie started at the chow’s appearance. He looked enough like a teddy bear that she hugged him with her good arm. Not all black dogs bring depression.
“hugged him with her good arm.”
deleted
The vastness of the desert lay silent, only a tumbleweed moved, bowling along in the dry wind. Revellers arrived. The dusty desert pulsed with vivid life for two days. They lived and laughed and loved and left. The silence returned. Only a plastic bag tumbled along in the dry wind.
…
Note: this is a corrected version of my earlier submission
Marco slipped from the Brussels hotel room, leaving Philippe and Magdalene still asleep. Last night was weird, but also exciting. He halted in the lobby, then called his secretary and canceled his appointments. Before returning, he ordered continental breakfast from room service. They lived and laughed and loved and left.
Good. You never know what’s gonna happen in Brussels.
The sign on the shop read: “Stop, IF you care to order, you need to phone us. When the order is ready, the waiter will come to you. “We are doing our best.” It ONLY took a moment before my friend said:”They lived and laughed and loved and left.”
Thanks, Brigitte. That about sums up life right now.
With germs everywhere, there was no time to waste in the hotel. They walked in, took off their clothes, and in a few minutes the man hollered out these words:” They lived and laughed and loved and left!”
Just “a few minutes”? What about her?!
Never thought about her, I guess. But David, you made me laugh. I will need to give that some thought.
Visiting hours at the hospital have been changed.Unless you get upstairs, put on gloves, a mask, refrain from talking and leave 6 feet between you and anyone else then you will need to forget it. A women yelled to the doctor:”They lived and laughed and loved and left.” No worries.
Thanks, Brigitte. I can’t imagine what the hospitals are going to be like in the next few weeks/months. I can’t even imagine what they’re like now, in many places.
I am afraid to even think what the hospitals are like. I just read the NY Times, and NY is not doing well. Yikes. It is scary. Very scary for some people. But fear does not necessarily solve the problem.
It is scary, but it’s also warming to see people setting aside their fears to help others. I’m spending this lockdown in a friend’s apartment, and the first thing I saw when I entered his building was a handwritten sign on the door containing an offer to run errands for anyone who cannot or doesn’t want to leave the building. My own building organized a volunteer program to do the same. People show themselves in times like this.
“They lived and laughed and loved and left.” This was scribbled on a piece of paper discovered near the ashtray. When the women read the note, she choked on her cigarette while questioning the man behind the desk. He handed her a key to a random room without responding.
I like this. Seems a good candidate for deeper exploration!
I am glad that like this one. There might be a need for another chapter.