The Second Annual Writing Contest

[Darth Marsden]

I'm bored and I'm having trouble finishing that damned South Park story, so let's have another writing contest to get back into the swing of things.

The rules: Having learnt from experience, there's no limit to the number of words you can have in your story this time. However, that's not to say I'm just giving you free reign. Far from it. Instead, your story must contain at least 5 of the following words:

plague
reward
caramel
gambit
offend
present
unit
border
night
squeak

Any less then 5 and your story is automatically disqualified from the competition. Remember, it's supposed to be challenging, so give it a go.

The awards up for grabs:

Teh Winnar! - Best overall entry
Dead End - Worst entry
Side Splitter - Most amusing story
New! Wordsmith - All 10 must-use words included (this can be won by multiple people)
WTF, man? - Most bizarre story

I'll set a deadline for the end of the month, but if anyone needs more time, let me know and I'll think about extensions.

...go!

[Pineconn]

Once upon a time, there was a terrible plague. The reward for anyone to get rid of it was a lot of caramel. Some villagers designed a gambit to offend the unit who is creating the present plague. One night, the border patrol heard a squeak... It was a terrifying sight! :D

No, I'll write a real story later. I'll have to think about this.

[Darth Marsden]

Well, this died a slow, pitiful death.

[Skulkraken]

...Huh? There was a writing contest? o_O

[Darth Marsden]

The first one went pretty well, but this one... eh.

[Russ]

The first one went pretty well, but this one... eh.
Just give it time. You never know.

[phattonez]

After two weeks, it seemed pretty much dead.

I think that I would have done it, but when I first saw it I had a 6 page lab report, 5 page philosophy paper, a chem midterm, and probably some philosophy homework. It was no time for me to have fun.

[Darth Marsden]

Timing was an issue as well, I think. When I did the first contest, it wasn't as active as it is now, and I don't think people were facing such high amounts of schoolwork.

Ah well. Maybe I'll give it another go later in the year.

[Skulkraken]

Well, if the contest is still open, then here's my entry (which is probably kinda sucky):

On a cold and lonely Christmas evening, Serina was sitting by her window, watching the snowflakes on the pile up on the windowsill like a plague of white locusts. She glared angrily through the glass, and sighed a silent curse at both Santa and her parents. Where was her reward? The games? The toys? The candy, cake, and caramel? (...And she'd actually been good that year, too!) She'd considered writing a letter to the North Pole to complain, but it was clear such a gambit wouldn't work, since she had no idea how to address it anyway.

Serina sighed again. Both her parents had already left for work long before, aiming for the executive's chair, as always. Now she was stuck sitting around the couch, waiting for them to come back. Her eyes drifted lazily across the room, until she noticed an odd sight. Scurrying far off in the kitchen was a kitten. A little brown kitten. She jumped with excitement. Someone had left her a gift after all!

The young girl, not wanting to offend whomever had left such a delightful present, hurried over to the kitchen to get a closer look. When she got there, however, she gasped in horror. Lying in wait was an army of frightening beasts, all marching towards her as a single unit. The poor soul was driven over the border of sanity, and fled. To where? I don't know. All I know is this: Evil lurks in the shadows of the night, and it goes squeak, Squeak, SQUEEEEAK!

[Darth Marsden]

You win. You totally win. Not only have you used all ten words in an interesting story, but you've made me smile. Kudos!

[phattonez]

Do it during Spring Break and you should get a lot of activity. There's a lot of free time there, at least for me, unless I get selected to a jury.

[Darth Marsden]

And when exactly is Spring Break? I get confused on the exact dates.

[Russ]

And when exactly is Spring Break? I get confused on the exact dates.
I think it is different everywhere, depending one whether or not you are in collage, or if not, what school district you're in, and all kinds of stuff.

[Darth Marsden]

Ok... but roughly?

[phattonez]

Starting the week of March 25th for me.

[Archibaldo]

HA HA HA. I'm on march break right now.

[Darth Marsden]

So if I were to try this again at the end of March, would people be more into it then?

[Skulkraken]

Probably. It might also help to either make it a sticky for the duration of the contest or remind people about periodically. Subtle reminders would both help out anyone who might have missed the contest announcement, and keep the idea of story-writing in their heads. Otherwise, the event stands a fair chance of being "out of sight, out of mind."

[Pineconn]

Plus, there's no way it's been an entire year since the first annual writing contest. I think you lathered this contest on too quickly.

[Darth Marsden]

One. Reminders. Check.

Two. Annual means 'whenever I feel like it'.

Three. Shut up...

[Mitsukara]

I wasn't aware this happened, thus my complete lack of participation. Sorry. :X I hadn't been keeping up with AGN so good, so it's entirely my fault on that.

If you give it another go and I don't do that again, I'm still intent on giving it a go. Perhaps it needs more announcement/forewarning? Or a really long deadline.

It seems that this contest gambit was struck with a plague. I do not mean to offend by having nothing to present, but a unit of time seems to pass quickly when one is awake all night and sleeps all day, trying to squeak by with a job they're awful at. Perhaps another attempt will offer more in the way of reward, although if it's not advertised much it may start to border on ridiculous. Caramel sucks, nougat wins.

[Darth Marsden]

Ok, that's it. No more caffeine for you.

;)

[Russ]

It seems that this contest gambit was struck with a plague. I do not mean to offend by having nothing to present, but a unit of time seems to pass quickly when one is awake all night and sleeps all day, trying to squeak by with a job they're awful at. Perhaps another attempt will offer more in the way of reward, although if it's not advertised much it may start to border on ridiculous. Caramel sucks, nougat wins.
That story should definitly win! :D

[Jenny]

Last night was the best night I’ve ever had. I was eating dinner at my friend’s house, with just me, him, and his pet mouse. While we were eating and chatting, the little mouse kept going squeak. It was annoying! I wanted to kill it, but it might offend him. It was too big a gambit to think about, so I just ignored it. We ended up chatting about the border of China, and its great wall. How it was suppose to protect them from the plague of enemies that were invading. It was just then I had an idea. I took the jar of caramel and covered the boy’s unit with it. What a sticky mess! He told me to clean it off, so I did. Who knew “unit-caramel” tasted so good! That was my reward for cleaning it off, I guess. Still, it got even better! He gave me a present before I left, so I opened the box, and inside it was a worm! I always wanted a worm for a pet. When I got home, I put it in the microwave and ate it. Yummy in my tummy!


theres my story lol :)

[phattonez]

"WTF, man?" - There's the winner right there.

[Russ]

"WTF, man?" - There's the winner right there.
I second that decision.

[Darth Marsden]

Thirded. See, isn't this fun!