Welcome to a new week of the 50-word challenge. Thank you, Fifty Worders, for your fabulous stories this past week! In this post I will provide links to the full collection, along with a few special highlights. And then I'll launch a new prompt.

I had a wild week! The very entertaining Ms. @diebitch nominated me to write a Comedy Open Mic post. I decided to rise to the challenge with Doctor! Doctor! Give me the news!, and received a @curie upvote and a top-ten prize! Those of you who like to get silly, be sure to check out the posts by @comedyopenmic, and join in the fun.

How was your week? Feel free to share something from your blogging adventures, in addition to your 50-word story.

Okay, let's survey the week in #fiftywords!

(Image credit: Original image by pixel2013, Pixabay)

Last week's 50-word stories

First, a hearty welcome to new members, @girlbeforemirror, @esttyb, and @akdx!

Last week's prompt was “bait.” You guys went nuts with this one. The story collection below includes everything from fishing stories to tales of using people as bait in a range of intriguing and frightening scenarios.

Another thing that was remarkable about these stories was the amazing titles. Many of these positively beg you to read the story, don’t they?

Here is the complete list of stories inspired by the “bait” prompt:

• Her Story, by @mizdais
• To Prey, by @anikekirsten
• The Perfect Bait, by @cizzo
• Poker, by @negativer
• Bait, by @foxfiction
• AI BNB, by @sue-stevenson
• The deadly blow, by @botefarm
• Fishing, by @anixio
• Bait, it’s easy to do, by @theironfelix
• The special one, by @clacrax
• Gone Fishing, by @preparedwombat
• Bait, by @tygertyger
• The Deadly Blow by @botefarm
• The Bait, by @esttyb
• A worm’s life, by @ablaze
• Dark Alley, by @jadams2k18
• The priest and the Innocent People, by @akdx
• The regret, by @donnest
• I am, by @girlbeforemirror
• Stay safe, Papa, by @ahmadmanga
• The hunted girl, by @desmoniac
• Immovable vs Irrestible, by @creatr
• Rod’s Bait and Tackle, by @jayna

Highlights of the week

Here are just a few stories that were particularly well-written and impactful:

Bait, by @foxfiction

A little sci-fi drama....

“Another flight through the wormhole.
Those before me, lost.
On the other side, a gaping maw, opens and closes.
So now I understand the starship's design. The tether.
A fish hook, for the thing bearing down.
The bastards are trying to pull it through.
They know.
And I'm the bait.

A worm’s Life, by @ablaze

From the perspective of fish bait….

Darkness to light - the stone turned over.
I made for the hole, the pincer pinch of my captor too fast.
I was tossed into a jar with the others. Small air-holes pierced the lid, escape impossible.
I'd heard about these savages - they'll hook me, then feed me to the fish.

The special one, by @clacrax

A dark tale in which an innocent child is bait….

'My mission is the most important in the world. I'm in charge of capturing the bad ol' man. I'm special because I'm a child and they say I'm his weakness. But as he's pushing me over towards the bed, I realize I'm not special. I am the bait.''

Poker, by @negativer

When one person relentlessly baits another….

I hunched low at my desk, as if it would somehow make me as invisible as I wanted to be.

The kid behind me kept poking with a pencil. Kept shoving my chair. Whispering. He was baiting me into reacting.

But I kept my poker face. I’d get him later.

Gone Fishing, by @preparedwombat

Another human bait story, with a twist….

The .22 bounced off the second bone it hit and lodged in his occipital lobe.
“What should we do with the body, boss?”
“Carlo was always saying Fish or cut bait.”
“Yeah, that got old. But what’s it got to do with our situation?”
“Let’s see if Carlo attracts muskies.”

The Bait, by @esttyb

When a person is drawn to another person like a fish to bait….

I am in between two emotions
I want to hate you but I love you
I pray to be free from this hurt
Yet, I look forward to seeing you again
You are my bait, wish I can escape
The trap I can keep falling into
Over and over again.

Nice job, everyone! There were so many great stories, it was honestly difficult to pick highlights. Please read them all!

This week's 50-word story prompt

The prompt for this week is “light.” I know you will have some fun with this one, Fifty Worders!

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, June 9th.

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. (Note that 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, @aggroed, @agmoore, @ahmadmanga, @akdx, @aksounder, @alheath, @anikekirsten, @anixio
@beginningtoend, @botefarm @brandonsadventur, @bryarose23
@caleblailmusik, @carn, @cheekah, @cizzo, @clacrax, @creatr
@damianjayclay, @deirdyweirdy, @desmoniac, @diebitch, @dirge, @divineinyang, @donnest, @douglasbalmain
@eaglespirit, @elementm, @emwalker, @enjar, @eroticabian, @esttyb, @evgsk
@feebie, @felt.buzz, @ficciones, @fitinfun, @foxfiction, @foxyspirit
@galactichunter, @girlbeforemirror, @godwine
@hope-k
@iamthegray, @ilt-yodith, @intheory, @isa93, @isufbakaj
@jadams2k18, @janine-ariane, @jakeybrown, @jayna, @jonknight, @josecarrasquero
@kaelci, @kally, @kimberlylane, @kingernie, @ktfabler
@ldacey-laforge, @lightoj, @lucylin, @luiskrupaz
@Mammasitta, @marie-jay, @mark-dahl, @mgaft1, @mikesthoughts, @mineopoly, @miniature-tiger, @mizdais, @momzillanc, @mydivathings
@naquoya, @naso, @navaneeth, @negativer, @niallon11
@onewithearth
@paintingangels, @phillyc, @photovitamin, @pixiehunter, @poeticnest, @preparedwombat, @prydefoltz, @puppetmaster1111, @purpledaisy57, @pyrowngs
@ravencorinn, @rodrigocabrera
@sciencevienna, @sharoonyasir, @spalatino, @sue-stevenson, @sukhasanasister
@tanglebranch, @thatlovechild, @theblackcrow, @theironfelix, @therosepatch, @tiatu, @tony-duke, @tuwore, @tygertyger
@vaitelavicius, @vivek-g
@wa2qr, @wales, @whitewizard, @wilfredn, @wordsalmighty, @wylde
@yimiipsa
@zen-art

About the 50-word challenge

This weekly 50-word challenge starts off each Sunday with a one-word prompt. Participants use the prompt to create a micro-fiction story in just 50 words. For more info and inspiration: check out the recent post about this project, Fifty-word challenge: FAQs, ideas, motivation and showcase.

This is a continuation of the #fiftywords challenge started by @miniature-tiger who has been developing a seafaring strategy game called Archipelago for the Utopian.io open source community. Visit the linked post for the latest update.

Thanks so much for reading! If you haven’t yet written a story in 50-words, I hope you'll give it a try!