FLASH FICTION:-- HORROR, SCI-FI, HUMOUR, CRIME, SLICE OF LIFE, ETC.

Tuesday, 8 May 2012

42 The meaning of life

I wrote this very short piece for the competition that Alison Wells hosted to celebrate the launch of her novel:- Housewife with a Half-Life.

The challenge was to write a story of exactly 42 words, prompted by - “The meaning of Life, The Universe, and Everything.” - from Douglas Adams' - The Hitch-hiker's guide to the galaxy.

The competition received a very good response of fifty submissions, and you can check out all of the entries, and the competition results here:-

Competition entries:-
Competition results:-

* * * * * * * * * *

42 The meaning of life.

In my prison, life has no meaning.

Forty two goddamn centuries they gave me.

You've heard the story of the man who sold the world?

An amateur.

I stole the meaning of life, the universe, and everything.

Trouble is, I got caught.


©2012 Stephen. J. Green.
Posted by at

43 comments:

  1. tom gillespie9 May 2012 at 11:11

    "I stole the meaning of life".. Now that's a great line!
    Good one Steve

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    1. Steve Green9 May 2012 at 21:31

      Thanks Tom, they'll steal anything these days, won't they?. :-)

      Delete
  2. Helen A. Howell9 May 2012 at 13:08

    Ha I love the closing line! ^_^

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    1. Steve Green9 May 2012 at 21:33

      Thanks Helen, serves him right too, we'll never find the meaning of life if people keep pinching it, will we? :-)

      Delete
  3. Katherine Hajer9 May 2012 at 16:25

    I love the idea of stealing the meaning of life... and getting caught.

    Also, although you posted yesterday, I read the story today -- on my 42nd birthday.

    So all the lines had that much more heft. Nice synchronicity.

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    1. Steve Green9 May 2012 at 21:37

      Hi Katherine, and thank you.

      I posted this weeks story early to coincide with Alison's book launch.

      Happy birthday, I hope it's been a really good one. (Throws glitter) :-)
      •。★ 　☾ °☆ 　. * ● ¸ .　　　★　° ☆¸.✶*¨`* •.¸¸❤¸¸.•*¨*• ¸.¸.☆¨¯`♥´¸¸.☆¨¯`♥´ ¸¸.☆¨¯` •*¨`*•. ☆ .•*¨`*•. ☆‿↗⁀↘‿↗⁀☆‿↗⁀↘‿↗⁀☆ 。☆‿↗⁀↘‿↗⁀☆‿↗⁀↘‿↗⁀☆ 。¨¯` •*¨`*•. ☆ .•*¨`*•. ☆‿↗⁀↘‿↗⁀☆‿↗⁀↘‿↗⁀☆

      Delete
    2. Katherine Hajer9 May 2012 at 22:46

      Coinciding all around -- there's a writing idea.

      Thanks for the glitter!

      Delete
  4. Danielle La Paglia10 May 2012 at 06:06

    I LOVE this! I know I write short stories, but damn Steve! I don't even have any that are 42 words. Excellent job, my friend!

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    1. Steve Green10 May 2012 at 11:26

      Thanks Danni, this is very short even by my own standards, it is certainly a challenge trying to keep within such a low word count. :-)

      Delete
  5. Stephen11 May 2012 at 09:01

    Hi there Steve -- like your inclusion of the HHGTTG themes (42 centuries, meaning of life) and a nice, compact premise for the word count. I like the idea of trying to steal the meaning of life the universe and everything. I suspect that may already have happened. lol. St.

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    1. Steve Green11 May 2012 at 10:33

      Thanks Stephen. Haha! It could end up like the shotguns in "Lock-stock", being stolen from the thief by another thief, ad infinitum, we'd never get to find it then. :-)

      Delete
  6. John Xero11 May 2012 at 11:52

    A metaphysical Prometheus? Really like this, tiny and huge at the same time. =)

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    1. Steve Green11 May 2012 at 21:14

      Thanks John, I really like your comparison, the guy would have to be pretty much an immortal just to deal with the prison sentence he got, and have strong powers to do the heist in the first place. Pity he wasn't quite as smart as he thought he was though. :-)

      Delete
  7. Anonymous11 May 2012 at 12:15

    That's great Steve, the idea of stealing 'the meaning of life...' has a nice Adamsesque absurdity to it. Love the idea of the 42 word limit - almost a Hitchhaiku's Guide To The Galaxy.

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    1. Steve Green11 May 2012 at 22:09

      Hi Howard, and thank you. It is an odd and amusing concept.

      I did smile when I read your line "almost a Hitchhaiku's Guide To The Galaxy." :-)

      Delete
  8. liminalfiction11 May 2012 at 18:04

    Good twist on the theme for this contest. Though the bad guy didn't get away with it, I applaud his efforts, that's an awful lot to steal!

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    1. Steve Green11 May 2012 at 21:28

      Thanks Richard.

      One has to wonder though, how he managed to get "The universe, and everything" into his swag bag. (Chuckle)

      Delete
  9. Marianne Su11 May 2012 at 21:46

    Well done. It must be harder than it looks to write using exactly 42 words (I counted and yes, there are exactly 42).

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    1. Steve Green11 May 2012 at 22:53

      Thanks Marianne Su, a limit of 42 words certainly doesn't leave much room for adjectives, or anything else for that matter. (Chuckle)

      Delete
  10. Unknown12 May 2012 at 00:16

    Very well done, squeezing into forty-two. I like how well this is linked to the meaning of life. I'm intrigued by someone who lives long enough to survive for forty-two centuries in prison especially if one contrast that with shorter lived mortals.

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    1. Steve Green12 May 2012 at 18:22

      Thanks Aidan, I didn't have a definite picture of this creature in my mind, but I wanted to give the hint of some kind of super-being.

      Delete
  11. John Wiswell12 May 2012 at 04:52

    Where do they stick you for that sort of business? Purgatory?

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    1. Steve Green12 May 2012 at 18:23

      Not sure John, but possibly imprison him inside his own mind, if that makes sense at all.

      Delete
  12. Tim VanSant Writes12 May 2012 at 09:40

    If I may mix sci-fi metaphors, this story is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. Nice one.

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    1. Steve Green12 May 2012 at 18:24

      Haha! Great observation Tim, a kind of TARDIS among stories, eh? :-)

      Delete
  13. Jen12 May 2012 at 11:04

    I always love a good literary reference. Nicely done, Stephen.

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    1. Steve Green12 May 2012 at 18:26

      Thanks Jen, it's very nice to be appreciated. :-)

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  14. Larry Kollar12 May 2012 at 14:11

    Nice! You know you've got a winner when the commentary ends up longer than the work itself. Excellent job of tying everything together — let the punishment fit the crime.

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    1. Steve Green12 May 2012 at 18:30

      Hi Larry, and thank you. I don't think This story would have worked as a stand-alone piece, but works okay as the other half to Alison's prompt.

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    2. Icy Sedgwick13 May 2012 at 10:36

      Wow, really works hard to get across a lot in so few words. Well done.

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    3. Steve Green13 May 2012 at 11:36

      Thanks Icy, I enjoyed the challenge of it too. :-)

      Delete
  15. Anonymous13 May 2012 at 16:04

    Love this! So much is said with so few words. It made me wonder. I love stories, however brief, that don't always lay everything out in intricate detail.

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    1. Steve Green13 May 2012 at 16:23

      Thank you Inkyheels. much of my work is very short, and often leaves spaces for the reader's imagination to fill in. Usually I tend to work in the 200-500 word area, occasionally longer or shorter, but this is short even for me.

      That said though, I actually have one piece sat in my hard drive of only 33 words, but I haven't published it yet as I think it could do with a bit of a tweak first.

      Delete
  16. Craig Smith13 May 2012 at 20:05

    Brilliant Steve! I think Douglas Adams would have been proud. Recently read his biography Hitchhiker. A very complex and interesting man.

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    1. Steve Green14 May 2012 at 10:33

      Thanks Craig. One of my favourite characters of his was Marvin the paranoid android, he was always so fed up of everything it just made me laugh. :-)

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  17. Anonymous15 May 2012 at 02:37

    Remarkable - so concise and neat! Steve - nice job and definitely well deserved on getting selected in that competition!

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    1. Steve Green15 May 2012 at 10:41

      Thanks Brinda, it was fun taking part in the competition. :-)

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  18. Anonymous15 May 2012 at 11:23

    Just amazing. The praise is justified. I am open mouthed with admiration.

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    1. Steve Green15 May 2012 at 11:37

      Justin, your comment is a real confidence boost, thanks for the very kind words. :-)

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  19. Kath15 May 2012 at 19:06

    Stealing it leads to losing it all, and he has the longest time to think about his actions. Wow. Excellent story.

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    1. Steve Green15 May 2012 at 22:16

      Kath, thank you so much. This very short story has been received far better than I could have hoped for. :-)

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  20. Rebecca Emin25 May 2012 at 07:06

    This is great, Steve. It's hard to write a story in an exact amount of words, but you definitely pulled this off.

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    1. Steve Green25 May 2012 at 20:18

      Thanks Rebecca, it's unusual for me to work to an enforced word count, and it was quite fun to do this one. :-)

      Delete

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