“Okay, now which way do we go?” Shannon consulted the homemade treasure map and then gazed down the street.
“This makes no sense,” she stomped her foot in frustration. The interlocking lines, circles, and squares looked like so many scribbles to her eyes and they certainly didn’t align with what she saw before her.
“Um, Shannon?” Miley pointed to the arrow at the bottom of the page next to the words, This End Up. “I think I know why.”

(I hope you enjoyed today’s story. I write these micro-stories from a prompt word in one minute. I can edit as much as I want after the one minute, but the bones have to be there before the alarm rings.

The challenge behind today’s story was the actual plot. At first, I thought Shannon had stubbed her toe on a stick buried in the ground but pointing up. I realized almost immediately I had nowhere to go after that. So, Shannon was still going to be unhappy. She was just going to have a different reason. Is Miley a bit of a smart ass? Yep. I have a feeling I would like her. 

I did this same, “micro-story a day” skill-building project in 2010. It revolutionized my writing and prompted the development of my “Flash Your Fiction” workshop for writers. To see the stories from that project, go here.”)