There’s a cold front on the horizon. Clouds are gathering. Distant thunder is infrequently rumbling in counter cadence to vague flashes behind slowly thickening clouds. It is near nightfall and the soon to be storm-swallowed moon is full and showing in the twilight.

Something is moving in the sky. It is silent as a ghost until it suddenly erupts in a roaring burst of flames, then wanes into stillness again. Silhouetted against the uneasy dusk, it is a balloon, occupied by a single person, a man. It lands hard in an open field outside the small town in which the story is set.

Against these givens, set your ficly. Pick an aspect of this stranger on which to focus and if you are a subsequent entry to entry #1, consider the info provided in that ficly as info to build the story upon.

The “mysterious stranger” is a foundation stone to drama. The forboding is already in place. Now tell his story.

I will set the timer for 10 days.

Bragging rights go to the best interpretation and execution.