Here’s one of my 55ers that I expanded to a 100-word summary, then to a 3,000 word short story and later, with the advent of the e-age, to a 5,000 word e-book titled Garden Reach.
* * * *
He loved his Evelyn almost as much as he wanted her dead. He pictured her strolling a foggy cliff, the strangler closing in, the Pacific splashing the jagged rocks below. But she wasn’t central to the plot. A minor character. So he put her aside. He knew one day she would return in another story. (55 words)
* * * *
Recently widowed, Evelyn Richards is having an anxiety attack. A storm rages outside. Her thoughts drift to Lilah, the woman who manages the Victorian residence. It feels good to start over, be part of a family again.
After her nap, Evelyn wakes to music. Lilah’s phonograph. Dionne telling
