Nano story contest

I imagine it must be even harder when working in another language. In your story, replacing "jumped out of the van" with "escaped" will do it. :)

A remembrance should work with Calidore's suggestion, Danik.

Thank you both very much. I included the suggestion.

Submiting to the new topic.


Mildly Distopic

Two years ago their winter turned into summer, 50ºC shadow temperature. Fault of one of these naughty children, El Niño or La Niña.
Humans and animals sought desperately for water. There were deadly disputes around the smallest water puddles.
Until the insects took over, destroying all the rest.

Nice one for summer, Danik! It looks like two weeks is up for this contest, but I will extend this two more days to see if we can get another story on the subject of summer.

It´s about 8ºC now, Yes/No :cold:. According to the news this is the coldest winter day in the last four years. I had to adapt the theme.

I'm afraid that I've completely blanked on the topic of Summer, though I'm also preoccupied with my upcoming trip to San Diego to visit my dad, among other things.

I thought I had an idea for the hundred word contest thread, but it turns out that I misremembered the subject as a momentous rather than intriguing event, so my story isn't quite on topic. Next time I turn my computer on, I'll have to see if I've jotted down an intriguing event idea.

Maybe you can change your idea a bit to make the event intriguing. Looking forward to your contribution anyway.

I keep forgetting that in the southern hemisphere, it's winter. It was warm here and raining again.

It looks like time is up for this contest. Danik, you are the winner! Congratulations!

Thanks, Yes/No. Of course you don´t have to remember the differences of the seasons.

And our next subject will be "Dreams". Hoping for good entries.:lurk5:

Ah, dreams! A good topic.

How much misinformation does it take to turn reality into a dream?

Jason wondered about stuff like that.

He wanted to wake up. Every clue revealed more mysteries.

When he surrendered to Melinda she made him drink the tea of forgetfulness. This helped him sleep so he could freely dream.

Lol! Good story, Yes/No!

Let´s give it two weeks from now. Deadline August 4º.

Thanks, Danik!

How may words is your deal?

This thread is up to 50 words, DJ. There are other ones of 100 or six words.

Welcome back, desiresjab! I hope you write a story for this.

Feeling a bit rusty , not been on for a while so had a bit of a warm up go on this one ....

Dreams.

I'm too good at dreaming , seems to take over reality , to become solid but no one else can see. Tonight l drempt up a monster in our house. I swiftly attacked with the biggest kitchen knife , finaly it looks mortaly wounded , slumped.

If Mum can't see , why is she screaming?

A dramatic story, Bluehound!
And now that we have a contest, let´s extend the deadline to September, 1st.
Ladies and Gentlemen, share your dreams in 50 words!

Nice story, Bluehound! I am going to have to make sure I don't harm anyone even in my dreams.

Two stories where the dreams take over reality.

Yes/No - Jason broods about reality and dreams until he is able to sleep and dream freely. Love as oblivion and source of dreams.

Bluehound´s nightmare "Dreams", draws it´s effect from the perspective of the dreamer.

Congratulations to both. And the winner is Bluehound.

Congratulations, Bluehound!

Thanks!

Congratulations on your winning entry, Bluehound. :)
All entries were exquisite I must say!

I'm curious about the next prompt, Bluehound!

Yes, we need a topic for the next round, Bluehound.

Here's a very short story I wrote last week. It had to be no more nor less that 81 words (excluding title) for the anthology "81 Words". When Chris Fielden gets 1000 stories he will publish it and hope it will win a Guiness Book of World Records for a collection with the most individual authors. I am just doing my part for a worthy cause. http://www.christopherfielden.com/wr...es/81words.php


I’m Rooting for the Ghost

After Michael saw the ghost he understood. What he understood he would not say. True knowledge should not be made so literal that any monkey could understand it.

Anne sympathized with him but she thought his deranged prefrontal whatchamacallit generated the ghost. Otherwise why was he locked up with her?

Michael told her she could escape with him through the skylight of the cell. Anne said she would consider it. That was the only reason Michael told the ghost to wait.

Interesting project, Yes/No. I´ll see if I manage to write a good story.
I read the story on your blog, but was a bit puzzled about it. I didn´t understand why the couple was in a cell.

I´ll PM Bluehound, but I don´t know if he is still participating.

They were in a mental institution. Michael's "deranged prefrontal whatchamacallit" was intended to suggest that.

I have been reading some of the other challenges that Christopher Fielden has on his sites. I am also reading the contest results from his 2016 To Hull and Back competition. He is hoping anyone that contributes will purchase an ebook or physical book of the final product which I don't mind doing. The profits go to charity. He doesn't sell many books. Also one of the good things is that he doesn't require first publication rights on submitted stories. So I can post them on my blog or here at the same time.

I think, having one book for oneself, family and friends will be nice. One only must be a bit carefull, some of these publishers devise funny ways to make money out of these contributions.

I once wrote a poem and sent it, because they offered an literary analysis on my poetic potential. Oh, well I thought, it is free. Well, the poem was published on their site, but then it wandered from anthology to anthology because I didn´t pay for me. They offered me to sell all things you can imagine: a cup or a plate with the poem on it, paid conferences (a kind of fake laureating), etc.

As you have several nano stories already, it could be a nice idea, creating and publishing your own anthology, if that is not too expensive,

Yes, I've heard of those publishers. This one seems different. It is more of a humor site, but I am still getting used to it. There is no requirement to buy a copy of the book. There is another place I am looking at: https://www.indiesunlimited.com/


I might as well start a new nano contest. The theme will be "fairy glens". The deadline: one week after the first entry is posted. Word count: under 250 words, but the shorter the better since this is a "nano" thread.

The nano contest is still going on, but to keep this thread active I'll post some of my stories here.

The following story I'm writing for Chris Fielden's Colossal Cliché Writing Challenge: http://www.christopherfielden.com/wr...-challenge.php He doesn't require first rights to enter his challenge and so I can publish the story here that I plan to submit later this coming week. The story has a max of 150 words and requires cliche phrases and character stereotypes. I am still fine-tuning this trying to increase the number of cliches and make sure it is appropriate for school children to read (another requirement).

-----------------------------

Patience

Robert Roketscienski blamed his time machine’s failure on not having an adequate extension cord. He blamed the failure to dump his consciousness into an innocent computer on not having enough consciousness to dump, but he was strong. He would persevere. He would follow his star wherever its dark matter led.

The universe, however, was stronger. Patricia Payninbut, Head, Department of Decoherence, stepped into his office dressed in high heels, miniskirt and enhanced body parts twinkling her baby blues.

“Don’t sit there.”

She sat there and Robert lost it. He jumped on her. She giggled. She only started screaming when she realized he was dragging her outside and bolting the door.

Now what? Should he tell Patricia that a wormhole in a parallel universe collapsed its wave function as she sat on it? Why would anyone believe something like that? No. He would be patient. Nature loves to take its course.

Enjoyed that story, Yes/No. Certain kind of impulses may retard the development of the universe.;)

Sorry, I totally forgot about this thread. 250 is a good number. I'll think of something.

I forgot about it also. That's why I posted something. The nano contest is still going on.

While waiting for some one to enter the contest, I revised the story for Fielden's Cliche Writing Challenge, adding more cliches including one in the title.

--------------------------

Keeping His Cool

Robert Roketscienski’s luck was running out. His students accused him of trying to dump their consciousness into an innocent computer. He told them they didn’t have any consciousness to dump. That’s why nothing happened, but he’ll follow his star wherever its dark matter leads.

The universe, however, had other plans. Patricia Payninbut, Head of the Decoherence Department, waltzed into his office dressed to kill in high heels, miniskirt and enhanced body parts twinkling her baby blues.

“Don’t sit there.”

She sat there and Robert lost it. He jumped at her and she giggled. She only started screaming when she realized he was dragging her outside and bolting the door.

Now what? Should he tell Patricia the truth, that a wormhole in a parallel universe collapsed its wave function when she sat on it? Who would believe something like that? No. He'll keep his cool. Nature loves to run its course.

The contest is still going on. The theme is "fairy glens".

While waiting for entries, here is one of mine:

The Porch as Chair

He used the floor of the cabin’s open porch as a chair dangling his legs. The chickens were safe. The dog was safe.

He figured if he couldn’t see it, it wasn’t there. No fairies. No unicorns. The trees weren’t watching. The sun didn’t care. He was safe.

Then he saw her walk up his long path. She was watching him for some time and decided to make her move. She needed a place to stay. After they spoke his understanding of safety expanded to include her.

Now they both sat on the porch. He promised to make chairs.

This story made me think. On one hand I liked very much the idea of including someone else in one´s safety glen.

On the other hand it is a safety that´s based uniquely in what the narrator sees. It may be an illusory safety like when one decides not to read the newspaper so as not to get the bad news.

I have one idea for a nano story, but it doesn´t fit the proposed theme.

This guy living in the cabin probably doesn't get the newspaper. You're right about his idea of safety being illusory, but it is safety that works for the most part. So he is generous, but his view of reality is limited.

Since no one has submitted yet, I'll change the theme to "fairy glen or anything else you want to write about". Fairy glens are a little odd.

Fairy glens are cute, but my story isn´t. I´ll post it as soon as Ive written it.

Great! Those fairy glens can be too cute although I haven't seen any, cute or otherwise.

The contest is still going on!

Here's another story.

The Funeral

Senor Nanjo Castille sat alone in the church except for his bodyguards. No one else dared attend. They crossed the line this time.

As the Mass for the Dead progressed his business adversary’s money laundering restaurant was destroyed. Twelve dead. The warehouse was next. Fourteen dead. Then the offices. One hundred dead.

In his adversary’s desperation the expected fight around the church began. It lasted ten minutes.

When the service ended Senor Castille walked behind the caskets outside the church and viewed the mess in the street. Then he went to the cemetery to bury his wife and daughter.