Release the Genie- Lockhouse Escape

I love escape rooms. A holiday isn’t complete unless I’ve been locked in a room for sixty minutes while I yell for more clues. I’ve done various themes: spies, averting nuclear missiles, serial killers, robbing a bank amongst others.

It’s been a while since I’ve been in one. Certain…global events…shall we say, had stopped me from going in them recently. So imagine my delight when Lockhouse Escape Rooms in Cambridge (one of my favourite escape room establishments) ran a flash fiction competition! 1500 words max on the theme of escape. Well I wasn’t going to miss that one was I? Especially when an escape game was the prize!!

That of course brought me to my next issue. Escape…escape…but where to start, and what genre!?! I’m always nervous about genre-less competitions. As you know, my writing falls into a few categories that don’t always hit the mainstream. There are some open competitions that I just know there’s no point entering; they may say they welcome any genre but you know that drama that pulls the heartstrings will win everytime and my spell wielding demons in a dark alternate 50’s Chicago won’t stand a chance. (Oooh, I like that..rats, now there’s another one I have to write, I haven’t finished the other seventeen.) But I digress.

Long story short (because yes, I went over the word count…again) I went for it. And yes, there was a different entry first time round but once I hit double the word count I realised that one was never going to be able to be cut down. So cue a foray into the world of artificial intelligence and futuristic sci-fi. (I’m in a bit of a cyberpunk phase at the minute.) I must say I was rather pleased with the result. And more than a little shocked when it actually won!!! So I sit here, revelling in my moment of glory and practising opening those directional padlocks that all escape room enthusiasts know and love because Lockhouse here I come!!

Oh..the story… you want to read it? Be my guest…just follow the link, and be careful you don’t get trapped over there… mwahahahaha.. https://lockhouse.co.uk/flash-fiction-winner/