For this year's A-Z Challenge I have selected a word from the dictionary for each day and written a story around it with a 100 word limit. For extra interest I have chosen words that are unknown or unfamiliar to me. All definitions are from the Oxford Dictionary & Thesaurus 2007 Edition. Today's word is Enfilade.
Enfilade: A volley of gunfire directed along a line of soldiers from end to end.
Pierre
escaped the enfilade by ducking and playing dead. English fools never noticed. He
swore vengeance on Napoleon for dragging them into this cursed war. Or maybe on
those damned Englishmen instead.
There
was another band of those vagabonds. Not the ones who killed his amis, but never mind.
“’Scuse
me, chaps! A blasted frog killed my mate and nearly killed me. He let me go if
we swapped uniforms so ‘e could pretend to be on the winning side. Gotta find
the swine.”
“Good
Lord!” said the corporal, turning. “Don’t worry, soldier. We’ll find him.”
Pierre
grinned. Too easy.
Oh, an interesting twist.......
ReplyDeletebetty
Lucky Pierre! I had no idea that 'definition' had a word! Wow!
ReplyDeleteI will not guess what Pierre's "F" might be... waiting until tomorrow! Ha!
Oh nice... I like this piece.
ReplyDeleteLOL - Pierre is a crafty one! A new word on me, haven't heard that one before.
ReplyDeleteTasha
Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)
Too easy and so not right! Love it! Great word too!
ReplyDeleteGreat twist, poor chap-one should never swap places with a frog~
ReplyDeleteI love your challenge~
Love this snippit NicK--brilliant.
ReplyDeleteGood twist!
ReplyDeleteYvonne
Pierre is a canny lad! :)
ReplyDeleteSophie
Sophie's Thoughts & Fumbles
FB3X
Wittegen Press
Good thing Pierre was a linguist. Clever! ☺ Another unfamiliar word. Thanks for the education.
ReplyDeleteHaha :) Smart.
ReplyDelete@TarkabarkaHolgy from
Multicolored Diary - Epics from A to Z
MopDog - 26 Ways to Die in Medieval Hungary
Sneaky!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the education! Nice flash fiction.
ReplyDeletePrecious Monsters
I love the idea for your A to Z. Very creative.
ReplyDeleteGood one. You built suspense, mystery, and cunning into 100 words!
ReplyDeleteHow clever! Great E word for the day. :)
ReplyDeleteI love a good twist!!
ReplyDeleteThat Pierre is one smart Frenchman. I'd much rather have an enchilada than and enfilade :)
ReplyDeleteIn reply to the above comment, I was thinking along the lines of an enchilada too! Much better than an enfilade. Have a great Monday!
ReplyDeleteAwesome word. The Napoleon twist was sweet. I like that time period. Great little piece.
ReplyDeleteI've written a lot of battles, so how did I not know this word? I'm making a note of it for the future.
ReplyDeleteNice suspenseful story with a good twist. :)
Oh those blasted frogs! Nice one again Nick.
ReplyDeleteOh nice! Always like a twist that uses smarts instead of just brute force.
ReplyDeleteGotta love a good twist.
ReplyDeleteGreat word selection too.
I hope you're having fun on your A to Z journey. This was an awesome E post.
Jenny, Pearson Report
2015 A to Z Challenge Ambassador
@PearsonReport
This was smart! Love your theme Nick.
ReplyDeleteI never heard that word. Story shows the poor line soldiers who just want to protect their friends and may not agree with the war conflict at all.
ReplyDeleteHi Nick - I did know this word .. but interesting twist to the story you've written around Enfilade .. Pierre is some bright spark ..
ReplyDeleteCheers Hilary
Excellent job.
ReplyDelete~Patricia Lynne aka Patricia Josephine~
Member of C. Lee's Muffin Commando Squad
Story Dam
Patricia Lynne, Indie Author
Ha! Quick thinking Pierre!
ReplyDeleteQuick on the feet is a minute not wasted...
ReplyDeleteWelcome in the letter "E"... thank you!
Jeremy [Retro]
AtoZ Challenge Co-Host [2015]
There's no earthly way of knowing.
Which direction we are going!
HOLLYWOOD NUTS!
Come Visit: You know you want to know if me or Hollywood... is Nuts?
This was great! It takes a lot of talent to write such a short piece that reads so well.
ReplyDeleteGood word and excellent use in scene. Definitely know the meaning now!
ReplyDeleteCunning plan!
ReplyDeleteAnnalisa, writing A-Z vignettes, at Wake Up, Eat, Write, Sleep
Betty - Indeed!
ReplyDeleteDixie - Thanks! They're one offs, so it's something else tomorrow, but I might well lengthen some.
TF - Thanks!
Natasha - He's resourceful. Glad to share another word.
Mina - Thanks!
Ella - I guess that's the moral.
Melanie, Yvonne - Thank you!
Sophie - He's a quick thinker but you'd need to be to survive.
Debbie - He's good at accents!
Tarkabarka, Alex - Thanks! He is.
Jolie, Vanessa - Thanks!
ReplyDeleteMary - Thanks, and it was the hardest one to edit - down from 150.
Christine - Thanks!
Dani - I like a twist too.
Shell - Um, me too!
Jennifer - Now I'm hungry.
Djinnia - Thanks. I don't do much historical but I enjoyed this.
Chrys - Glad to be of help! It's a good word.
Keith - This one isn't giving up.
Hart - Thanks. He's quite cunning.
Jenny - Thanks, I'm having a blast.
ReplyDeleteRuchi - Thanks!
Susan - Good point. Comes down to a will to survive.
Hilary - With it being French, my mind went to Napoleon, it sounded like it should be from that period.
Patricia - Thanks!
Jean, Jeremy - He had to act fast. He's got nothing to lose!
Shelley - Thanks so much!
Sharon - Thanks. It's a good word.
Sarah - In a good way?
Annalisa - But how long can he keep up the deception?
Uh oh. Guess you shouldn't trust anyone in a war...
ReplyDeleteLiz A. from Laws of Gravity
I am having so much fun with all these words. Enfilade is such a cool word.
ReplyDeleteThat a new one for me! You did a great job integrating it into your flash fiction.
ReplyDeleteInteresting twist and an interesting word. This is one that I have actually heard of. I Like that you have Napoleon in your story. After all I live in Louisiana, and our crazy laws follow the Napoleonic Code, (until some recent changes).
ReplyDeleteLove it! You conjured a whole world, a whole personality, a whole conflict--and in just 100 words. Hat's off, my friend :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping over at Quiet Laughter for my E post, and for taking a shot at the bonus word :)
Interesting twist. He's clever. :)
ReplyDeleteFun twist today! :)
ReplyDeleteVery clever indeed!
ReplyDelete