What a week! The #fiftywords community soared to new heights with some powerful stories that made my jaw drop. This post shares the highlights of the week and provides a new prompt for the week ahead.

What is the 50-words challenge all about?

This is a weekly challenge that starts with a one-word prompt. The challenge is to write a flash fiction (aka "micro fiction") story in 50 words, based on the prompt.

We are continuing the #fiftywords story challenge launched by @miniature-tiger who has been developing a seafaring strategy game called Archipelago for the Utopian.io open source community. And I see a message in the linked post that it has been approved. Congratulations, @miniature-tiger!

(Image credit: Original image by pixel2013, Pixabay)

Last week's 50-word wonders

I love prompt words that can be interpreted multiple ways. Last week's prompt was field, and I had no idea what people would come up with. We had fields of battle, sports fields, fields of vision, fairy fields, women dancing naked in fields, fields on remote planets, and more.

I know, I know… I said I was only going to mention the top pick each week. But I just have to list them all, at least for now. (On average, we have about 20-25 stories come in each week, so that’s manageable.) And here are last week's masterpieces:

• The rookie, by @anixio
• Fields of Madness, by @kaelci
• Fair warning, by @deirdyweirdy
• Siren, by @ducksaplenty
• Low-Tech Solutions for High-Tech Problems, by @preparedwombat
• One man’s mountain is another man’s field, by @ablaze
• Field of battle, by @spalatino
• Backyard, by @ahmadmanga
• The Field, by @eaglespirit
• “Wheatfield with Crows”, by @clacrax
• Field, by @dirge
• One Step Ahead, by @yimiipsa
• Fantastic, Futuristic, Floating Flyer, by @creatr
• One Less Dream, One More Nightmare, by @negativer
• Continue from where I stopped, by @botefarm
• An eternity at the infield, by @ficciones
• The feast, by @marie-jay
• Delicious Torment, by @eroticabian
• A Surprise on the Field, by @luiskrupaz
• Twin armature field is haunted, by @qira
• A Familiar Face, a Comforting Smile, by @thatlovechild
• Just a tree in a field, by @jayna

Fantastic work, everyone!

A note on comments and community

I want to commend everyone who read and commented on other people's stories. You guys rock! Everyone wants acknowledgement for their efforts, and you guys have been great at supporting one another with upvotes and comments. It's wonderful to see some of the comment streams take on a life of their own. For example, here are a few posts that launched lengthy conversations:

• @eaglespirit's post
• @ducksaplenty's post
• @deirdyweirdy's post

The #fiftywords shining star(s) of the week

This part gives me fits each week, and with so many excellent entries, I just couldn’t decide on a top entry. This week, the “shining star” spot is shared by three authors who all wrote stories on themes of war. While this is not perhaps my favorite topic, what amazed me about all three of these stories is the depth of meaning they achieved and the powerful way in which they showed mastery with their word choices.

This week’s top picks:

• Backyard, by @ahmadmanga
• One Less Dream, One More Nightmare, by @negativer
• Low-Tech Solutions for High-Tech Problems, by @preparedwombat

It is incredibly difficult to convey an entire story in 50 words. These three stories demonstrate that it can be done, and that the result can be absolutely stunning.

Well done, guys!

This week's 50-word story prompt

The prompt for this week is “lens.” Let’s see where your imagination takes you, #fiftywords friends!

Guidelines

Please review carefully. Images must not be pulled from any Internet site.

1. Write a story in 50 words. (It's especially cool if you can hit 50 words exactly!)
2. Use the #fiftywords tag, and post the link in the comments of this post.
3. Be sure to read and upvote the work of the other participants. It's all about community!
4. Use only artwork that you have the right to use, and attribute it properly. See the “Proper use of images” topic below.

Proper use of images

Proper use of images means one of the following:

1. It is your image.
2. The image is public domain, or under creative commons licensing rules.
3. If it is not one of the above, you have actual permission.

Be sure to mention that the image is yours, or attribute its source. And if it's not public domain or creative license, be sure to state that you have permission.

I have two resources for you, from my friends at @thewritersblock:

• Image licensing, by @rhondak
• Creative Commons Resource Library, by @therosepatch

And speaking of #thewritersblock, if you would like editing help for your stories before posting them, follow the tag to find them on Discord.

Deadline for this week: Saturday, April 22nd

Have fun!

The 50-word story clan

I'm mentioning you here if have participated in the #fiftywords short story challenge in the past. Please let me know if you would like your tag removed in this or future posts. (And psst, I am starting to reduce the list. Those who have not participated for a long time or are not active on Steemit will eventually drop from the mentions.)

@ablaze, @adigitalife, @agmoore, @ahmadmanga, @aksounder, @alheath, @andyartland, @anixio, @anjkara, @awhsarada
@beginningtoend, @bentheredonethat, @bhop42moro, @bitsendpieces, @botefarm @brandonsadventur, @bryarose23
@caleblailmusik, @carlosparejo, @carn, @charlesmackenzie, @cizzo, @clacrax, @creatr
@damianjayclay, @deirdyweirdy, @diebitch, @dinavice, @dirge, @divineinyang, @douglasbalmain, @ducksaplenty
@eaglespirit, @ebitularmbert, @elementm, @emwalker, @enjar, @eroticabian
@feebie, @felt.buzz, @ficciones, @fireawaymarmot, @fitinfun, @freewheel
@godwine
@hope-k
@iamthegray, @ilt-yodith, @isa93
@jadams2k18, @janine-ariane, @jakeybrown, @jayna, @josecarrasquero, @joyyrush
@kaelci, @kainos-success, @kamalkennedy, @kingernie, @ktfabler
@ldacey-laforge, @luiskrupaz @lonestarpoet, @loraine, @lucylin
@Mammasitta, @marie-jay, @mark-dahl, @metzli, @mikesthoughts, @mineopoly, @miniature-tiger, @momzillanc, @mydivathings
@naquoya, @naso, @navaneeth, @negativer, @niallon11, @nicolexu1337
@onewithearth
@paintingangels, @photovitamin, @pixiehunter, @poeticnest, @preparedwombat, @prydefoltz, @purpledaisy57, @pyrowngs
@qira
@rodgriocabrera
@saoirseronan, @sciencevienna, @sharoonyasir, @skoolielove, @spalatino, @stayoutofherz, @steemitdiversify, @sukhasanasister, @superjongky
@tanglebranch, @thatlovechild, @theblackcrow, @therosepatch, @tiatu, @tibra, @tin-tin, @tony-duke, @tygertyger
@udayakumarage, @upen-srv
@vaitelavicius, @vivek-g
@whitewizard, @wilfredn, @wordsalmighty, @wylde
@yimiipsa, @yomibolo
@zen-art

Thank you to all participants!