Extra hour writing contest RESULTS

These writing contests always cheer me up! Reading your work, and seeing your really twisted minds at work is one of the great pleasures of this blog.  This week you rose to the occasion again!


One of the best lines EVER in these contests
Jeanette Lee 11:00pm
What you know, you know, she purrs her Iago to his Othello.

Talk about a tale of pure horror!
Colin Smith 1:49am

One of my favorite lines of all time
Maximilian Forscher 9:48am
Gangsta reading club start noon sharp.

This is a sentence that should start a GREAT thriller
Manda Zim 11:52am
“Get moving Alice. You got IDs to burn and a fucking armadillo to see about bad intel and one hell of a favour.”

Words I had to look up
battailous Michael Seese 11:36am
avgolemono Claire Bobrow 12:59pm

Invented words that I intend to use as often as possible
ornitho-moron Kregger 6:42pm

Very meta!
LynnRodz 5:22pm


And here are the finalists!

Cynthia Mc 8:59pm

"Hell of a fire," Chief said.

"Who do you think started it?" Benny asked.

"Couldn't've been the wife. She was at work - came screaming at us to save that cat."

Pudgy stared...blinked.

"Not the husband."

The air tasted of soot.

"Ya think the cat did it?"

"Don't see how."

It was easy, Pudgy thought. Bastard drank himself to sleep, Cuban cigar burning.

Paw flick - whiskey bottle - oopsie.

Tail flick - cigar - whiskey - WHOOSH!

Pudgy yowled himself hoarse until the firemen came.

Alayna kissed him on the nose.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"You're welcome," Chief said.

Pudgy purred.

Very adept use of prompt word hello, which is always fun.
And I love that little twist in the final three lines.
Very elegant, not a wasted word, storytelling here.


Steve Forti 9:03pm

Grinch stared at the TV, no sense to be found there.
Just candidates lying, or trying to spread fear.
The pundits, the scandals, the soundbites a-plenty.
And those that dropped out are now prepping for ‘twenty.
When out catching breath (for he found the Hill airy),
Some Trumpets were blowing, and made him feel wary.
So up on Mount Crumpet, he detailed some smitin’.
“I’ll steal all their ballots, and fill ‘em with write-ins.”
They said that to end it, “you’ll just have to vote us.”
But Grinch thought that he’d make one hell of a POTUS.

This made me laugh out loud. "Detailed some smitin'" is one of the great phrases of all time.
And of course, this is Steve Forti, so the prompt words are used so deftly I have to search by letter to find them. Brilliant stuff here.


Dena Pawling 10:37pm

CAT – After midnight comes the social worker. One suitcase for 12 years' possessions. Cole leaves his mom. His dad. His cat Lucky. Tears for Lucky. Goodbye.

NOSE – First placement. Cole wrinkles his nose. Pine-Sol. Foster care - a disease to eradicate. No tears. Goodbye.

TAIL – Second placement. The revolving door. Cole's portion, the tail end of everything – clothes, food, sleeping accommodations. No tears. Goodbye.

STARE – Third placement. Three strikes you're out, or three times the charm? The lady embraces Cole. “I'm so glad you're here. Welcome home.” He stares – smiling lady, purring kitten.

HELLO

I liked the innovative use of the prompt words, as "chapter headings" so to speak. And of course, it tugs at my heart strings. Did you know there is a place you can contribute to that helps foster kids get suitcases for their stuff, not trash bags? It's here. Check it out.

FlashFriday 9:12am

“You shouldn’t—”

Juicy steak!

Come-hither stare hello

All for me??

Nose wriggles

No smell. Oh well!

Tail wags

Here goes!

Body hurtles joyfully through air at TV

“—have done that,” said the cat.

This is a mastery of what to say when. Notice "the cat" comes at the end. It gives the whole story the delightful twist.  The story would have been utterly ruined with "The cat said" at the start. 

And of course, the actual image of the dog throwing himself at the television is hilarious and I can see it happening clear as day here.

Very evocative story telling.


The Noise In Space 12:26pm

I’ve watched her sleep every night since she came home from the hospital. Four years now. Hell, only four? It feels like a lifetime.

There’s something cathartic about the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest. Her pretty little nose twitches as I stare at her face, aglow in the moonlight.

3 am. I should get some sleep myself. I get up from the rocker and start putting everything back into place-- stuffed elephant on the nightstand, pink blanket draped over the chair.

The devil’s in the details.

Wouldn’t want her parents to start locking the windows, too.

I gasped aloud at this one.
Had to lean back in my chair and breathe for a minute.
It's a very good story, right up till the end. Then it's perfect.


Rkeelan 5:10pm

Susurrafax lowered his head and wrinkled his nose. "Hello there."

The intruder stared back defiantly. He had a thimble-helmet pulled low to his eyes, a bottle-cap-buckler strapped to his arm, and an xacto-sword held before him.

"My name is August St-George," he said. "Today, you meet your doom."

Susurrafax swished his tail then padded away. Metal foes were not to his liking.

St-George followed.

They stopped in front of a bowl piled high with food.

"Tribute, delivered daily," Susurrafax said.

He indicated a nearby contraption of wood and cheese and metal wire bent at right angles.

"And there is yours."

I love the subtlety of this. I couldn't figure out if the name Susurrafax had any hidden meaning, but it's a great name even if it doesn't.  "And there is yours" is just sublime. The imagery for St-George is brilliant too. This is a terrific story.




I was sure one of these entries was the winner right up until I read one that took my breath away.  Can you guess which is A and which is B?



A was of course Steve Forti our resident prompt word magician. I loved the entry for it's content and style. And it made me laugh. I wasn't sure how anything could make me laugh more!

Then here comes Noise In Space who didn't make me laugh at all! A complete 180.

This week's winner is clearly Noise in Space. All the entries were terrific; that one blew me away. 

Noise,if you'll email me your mailing address, and the kinds of things you like to read, I'll send you a book.

Thanks to all who took the time to write and enter the contest.  I love reading your work (even if you never get mentioned.) 

I'll announce the winners later today.

And there's a very special blog post coming today around 6pm. Stay tuned!