To Flash or Not To Flash? ... Flash!

Here at National Flash-Fiction Day we have asked you to do many things - enter competitions, organise events, buy things, sell things, all sorts of stuff - but one thing we have not yet done is that which is at the heart of flash-fiction writing; namely, we have never given you a prompt, a short span of time, and told you to sit down and write something.

Well, today that all changes!

Monday is 23rd April. It is St George's Day. But also, and perhaps more importantly for us writery types, it's Shakespeare's birthday.

So, your task is this. Sit down and write us a Shakespeare-related flash. It could use old Bill himself in the story, or it could be based on a character, event, scene or plot from one of his plays. The specifics are up to you, but it should be a recognisably Shakespearian flash.

And, as the man wrote 37 (confirmed) plays, let's make the word limit 370 words.

This is open to anyone anywhere in the world, and you have until 5pm on Sunday (BST).

Send your completed stories to us at nationalflashfictionday@gmail.com (with 'Shakespeare' in the subject line) and they will be posted on our story blog at nffdflashes.blogspot.co.uk on Monday.

And that's it. What are you waiting for? Lay on MacFlash-Fictioneers, and get writing!