One of the most challenging things for a writer is to tell a story in a limited number of words. The fewer words you have to tell it in, the more difficult the task. That is why the weekly writing prompts by Lance at My Blog Can Beat Up Your Blog are so interesting, because it challenges a writer to write something in only 100 words.
To do this in a poem isn’t as difficult. I had a rather successful attempt at that months ago when I wrote Revolution. Some participants choose to take the prompt and write a 100 word installment in a current on-going story. But to take the 100 word limit and generate a stand-alone story can be quite the task.
When I saw this week’s prompt was “Faded”, I was immediately drawn toward it in the same was that I was initially drawn to “Revolution”. My mind started to turn over ideas that could fit within that idea. So here is my second attempt at Lance’s 100 Word Song:
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He ran his hand along the faded fabric, longing for the good old days to return. Each tear was a permanent battle scar, a reminder of what he sacrificed. There would be no more scars.
He hung up his battered costume, wondering when the world stopped needing heroes like him. In his youth they had praised him for keeping their city safe. Evil still flourished so why had superheroes become a thing of the past?
He walked out the door and into the streets, unrecognized by all. Just another face among the crowd, his name and deeds a faded memory.
Author David Wiley 
Well done on the song. It stirred up a memory from my youth of Superman’s Song by The Crash Test Dummies. It was one of my favorites at the time.
I don’t think that I could do a post in 100 words. I have so much trouble with Twitter because of the 140 character limit. I think I’m too wordy.
You’ve impressed me.
Well done, as we age we do become a faded memory at times, but with talent like this you are not fading any time soon my friend.
Thank you very much for the compliment!
Nice work! I’ve thought about entering the 100 Word Song and had actually avoided it for the longest time because I thought it was about writing a song, lol.
100 words is pretty short, but you didn’t waste any.
WG
I thought the same about it for the longest time. I think you last sentence really hit upon the idea of it, because you can’t waste a single word to tell the story. It forces your language to be intentional and to think of alternative words and phrases to describe things.
Nicely done sir, and welcome to Dude Write!
Thank you!
Well done sir. Brevity doesn’t always come easy to us writers, so managing to send a message in so few words is always impressive.
Brevity is a challenge that we all face. It seems impossible at times, but it turned out to be a little easier than I anticipated.
It’s true… where have our heroes gone? Well done.
The world needs more heroes!
we see this written about athletes. This was even more poignant.
I love the last two lines. Thank you for playing
Thanks for hosting the awesome prompt each week. I’m glad you liked the final lines – those were the only ones that didn’t really change during my revisions.