Card Challenge Index

Hello! this page is here as an index for the 84 short stories I wrote from January 1, 2015 – April 1, 2015. A summary post can be found here, summarizing what the challenge produced.

Perhaps you were not around when the challenge was a hing, or you missed the first introduction post, or you are just curious. The Card Challenge was a self-imposed, personal challenge to get me writing daily as a 90 day New Year’s Resolution. Using the illustrated cards from a board game entitled Dixit. You can read more about the game in the introduction to the first post, found here. So, I did it. I had six “skip” days which were used for various reasons (computer died on me, travelling, exhausted, ill, needed a day off, celebration), but successfully completed the challenge. Initially, I was trying to stick with 1-2 page stories, but I eventually opted to change that because, honestly, I was not enjoying the strict limit there. They remained short-ish, usually less than 2000 words, but covered a wide-range of topics and genres.

My favorites? I did say I would reveal them at some point. If I had to choose a top eight, they would be Day 4, Day 21, Day 24, Day 38, Day 53, Day 57, Day 59, and Day 75. I don’t promise they are all expertly written, but either because of the content, style, or execution, those are some of my personal favorites. Feel free to post yours in the comments!  Here is the promised Index, with the day genre, and a brief summary for each story. Happy reading!

Note: I used a great, handy site called Tableizer to create the table here. It is not perfect (like I cannot figure out how to change that first column width s that it is all in one line), but it saved me a lot of html headache. Tables are not particularly hard, but they are totally annoying and time-consuming. So I am grateful for the online help. Please let me know of any incorrect/broken links. Thanks!

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Day	Summary	Genre
Day 1	Michaela mourns the loss of her fiancé, but may ultimately find relief when she least expects it	Supernatural
Day 2	Mark lets himself revel in his daydreams, an escape from an unfulfilling present.	Realistic
Day 3	Kara struggles to stay awake and avoid the woman waiting in her nightmares.	Supernatural/Horror
Day 4	Daryl meets a strange, fellow wanderer on the beach.	Supernatural/Horror
Day 5	Alaina discovers a rose, changing her world in ways she never expected.	Fantasy
Day 6	Charlie visits his grandfather, reminiscing about the wonder the man infused into everyday life.	Realistic
Day 7	A king contemplates his reign, reliving the victories and dogged by those he failed.	Fantasy
Day 8	Marik gives in to hunger and unleashes a cruel curse.	Fantasy/Horror
Day 9	A love letter from a very secret admirer.	Realistic/Horror
Day 10	Cheryl gets a job as a horoscope writer and discovers too late she is more gifted at the job than she realized.	Supernatural/Horror
Day 11	Cindy and Dave look like the perfect couple. Until, of course, they don’t.	Realistic/Supernatural
Day 12	Brenda’s parents leave her home alone for the first time, and she takes the opportunity to bend a few rules.	Realistic
Day 13	Georgette reflects on the life she has lived, its burden of joy and sorrow.	Realistic
Day 14	Daniel and Ashley have a less than stellar first date.	Realistic/Romance
Day 15	Jameson is haunted by cries in the wood, as well as insatiable guilt.	Horror
Day 16	Prince Ajid takes a daring race across the desert to find the man who can save his army.	Fantasy
Day 17	One of the first to embrace the “new stage” of humanity reflects on the weaknesses of her race while extoling the virtues of new life.	Sci-Fi/Horror
Day 18	Tommy walks through the park and is surprised to see his hated statue has vanished from its pedestal.	Supernatural
Day 19	Carter paints an all-too believable monster.	Horror
Day 20	A washed-up singer contemplates who she will be when her plans do not pan out.	Realistic
Day 21	A young scientist discusses regret over one of the greatest scientific discoveries.	Sci-Fi/Horror
Day 22	Sylvia investigates the mysterious music in her small town.	Supernatural
Day 23	Davis loses his treasured notebook.	Supernatural
Day 24	Edmund seeks one last glimpse of beauty before the time comes to pass on.	Supernatural
Day 25	Daion and Trista push for survival in a post-apocalyptic wasteland,	Sci-Fi/Apocalyptic
Day 26	Myra finds herself caught up in a good book.	Fantasy
Day 27	Angie navigates high school and being a teenage werewolf.	Supernatural
Day 28	Marco stays late to finish a report on a controversial new project at work.	Horror
Day 29	Audrey begins a daring project after her beloved husband kills himself.	Horror
Day 30	Teresa and Brian go on a treasure hunt while camping.	Romance
Day 31	Steven walks home, haunted by memories of the night as well as the strange sensation he is not alone.	Horror
Day 32	With nothing left to lose, Peter begins his life as a vagabond only to encounter the opportunity of a lifetime.	Sci-Fi
Day 33	Janine has dinner with her closest friend.	Horror
Day 34	Oliver fights against hunger, boredom, and isolation to achieve his ultimate reward.	Realistic/Humor
Day 35	Jeanie faces her fear of the dark and the back of her creaky closet.	Supernatural
Day 36	Jamie starts fresh after a particularly bad evening.	Realistic
Day 37	Lydia and Matt conduct a ritual to bring them their hearts’ desires.	Horror
Day 38	Renee is shipwrecked and losing hope when a stranger arrives to provide her the help she desperately needs.	Supernatural
Day 39	Gloria and Andre explore and alien world and the amazing treasures awaiting.	Sci-Fi/Adventure
Day 40	Kevin wanders his childhood home, reminiscing and looking forward to the chance to move on.	Supernatural
Day 41	Galen is offered the chance to spend time with the woman he loves, playing a very important game for her affection.	Romance/Supernatural
Day 42	A man flees his captors, seeking safety in a nearby town.	Horror
Day 43	A band of survivor’s take refuge in an abandoned home.	Supernatural/Horror
Day 44	Trevor knows what he shouldn’t and must decide how he will respond to live with himself–or even live.	Realistic/Horror
Day 45	Vernon sets off for Fortune Falls, attempting to overcome the relentless heat and malice of the desert.	Western
Day 46	Lily tries out speed dating, but finds herself frustrated at her struggle to be herself and who society expects, until she meets a suitor with the same problem.	Realistic/Horror
Day 47	Danny Vicars goes missing after he takes something that is not his.	Horror
Day 48	Malcolm gets caught on unsafe streets at night and finds himself in more trouble than he can manage alone.	Supernatural
Day 49	Ryan deals with a hunger that will not be sated, and seeks comfort in whatever will finally end his appetite.	Horror
Day 50	A wife journals about her marriage, trying to discover what love looks like over the years.	Realistic/Romance
Day 51	A girl and her imaginary friend enjoy the afternoon, discussing life and the events that brought them to their current positions.	Supernatural
Day 52	A Lake Wonapango neighbor shares the story of something otherworldly hiding below the surface of the peaceful lake.	Horror/Supernatural
Day 53	Natalie takes a gamble with the Devil to try and win a chance at life for someone she loves.	Supernatural
Day 54	Linette gets involved in a scheme far larger than she imagined.	Spy
Day 55	Nora discovers something baffling and terrifying while she waits for rescue in the midst of an unprecedented flood.	Supernatural/Horror
Day 56	Florence cannot sleep, and gets help from an unexpected place.	Supernatural
Day 57	Opal must live with her sins as the last person on Earth.	Supernatural/Horror
Day 58	Walter tours Europe.	Realistic
Day 59	Lewis and Ilene reflect on their lives and their futures atop a train car and under the summer moon.	Realistic
Day 60	Nathan gets snowed in on his vacation, and appreciates the solitude, but he may not be as alone as he thinks.	Supernatural/Horror
Day 61	Ursula and Quentin work together to banish an old, dangerous evil.	Supernatural/Adventure
Day 62	Ivan explores an abandoned school and finds a staircase going to a floor that should not exist.	Supernatural/Horror
Day 63	Ulrich deals with the doldrums of exploration just before making a striking discovery.	Sci-Fi
Day 64	After delving into the world of magic, one misguided user must make accounts for what has been done.	Supernatural/Horror
Day 65	Henry is stalked by something in the woods he loves so dearly.	Horror/Supernatural
Day 66	Yvonne is part of an exploration party of Old Earth and must learn to adapt to the new setting.	Sci-Fi
Day 67	Xander and Xandi wage war.	Realistic
Day 68	Penelope shows Frank what makes her special.	Fantasy
Day 69	Zach returns home to unsettling news and sets off to find his missing wife.	Supernatural/Sci-Fi
Day 70	Wanda does her best to care for her son during a never-ending winter.	Realistic/Horror
Day 71	Yoren flees his imprisonment and sets off for brighter horizons, but first must make a very important stop.	Fantasy
Day 72	Emily searches for something very important, if only she could remember precisely what it was…	Supernatural
Day 73	The captain must make a quick decision–and live with the consequences–once he finds a stowaway on board.	Fantasy
Day 74	Edwin and Louisa go on a date.	Realistic
Day 75	QN-7995X3 wakes up.	Sci-Fi
Day 76	Brandon has a run-in with the exhausted being tasked with his safety.	Supernatural
Day 77	Camilla finds an odd tree in the woods near her grandmother’s house and sets on uncovering the mystery within.	Supernatural/Horror
Day 78	Vivia is sentenced for her crimes.	Supernatural
Day 79	The world stops spinning and Rufus goes on to live his life in the dark.	Sci-fi
Day 80	Nolan waits for his interview.	Realistic
Day 81	Tasha campaigns for freedom.	Fantasy
Day 82	A doorway to another world appears in a man’s living room.	Supernatural
Day 83	King Torvald tries to figure out what is behind his strange new sleeping problems.	Fantasy/Supernatural
Day 84	Caroline says goodbye to her friend Harold.	Realistic