marg

Thanks very much to Rebel for handing on the baton to me, albeit under suspicious circumstances ! [whatever DID happen to the competition ??]

I offer you the following word list (taking into consideration the 5th November showcase):

pavement
rocket
serene
November
goat
murky
raven
river

The word count is not too taxing - let's say 200, give or take 10 each way.

Best of luck and entries must be in by midnight (TD time) on 9th November.

cathyallheart

Like a murky river this town is dismal. A piece of paper tumbles across the pavement, a bandit in a deserted town. I unfold the paper, and then I remembered that words had destroyed countries.

I hope you’re reading this Crystal,
The world may yet be saved. You must get the people to believe you. Do you remember the meadow? You loved the sweet purple flowers. There was a gate, overgrown with ivy. I opened the gate. It took me far away. I tried to get back to you but I’m afraid that it’s a one way trip.

I started crying, Dad why can’t I save any one? Everyone loaded up onto a rocket that was going to crash. I was alone but for a goat.
The November air seemed no more serene than the silence.

One day I met a man he said “ this place is where our people lived then they chose to leave. Find your girl, she will save worlds.” please come Crystal.
The rest was unreadable, covered in ink the color of ravens.

The sky seemed to understand the tone of the letter. Angel’s tears poured everywhere, I run to the meadow -the only place that nothing landed on. I pulled the gate open.

mum23

I haven't looked here for a long while, and am going to rule myself out of contention for hosting the next challenge, but when I saw the word list, the story popped into my head, so I thought I might as well add it to the mix, just to show willing...

..........

She breathed deeply, surprised at how serene she felt. The chill of the pavement was noticeable through her jeans. Not surprising, given that it was late November. Eleven months ago, she’d sat in this very spot with him, watching the fireworks rocket up above them, and joining in the chorus of gasps and exclamations as the myriad colours lit the night sky and reflected in the river at her feet.

They’d seen in the New Year with the crowds, and lingered until long after they’d departed. He’d waited until the last reveller had staggered away, then swept her up in his arms and proposed to her on bended knee beside the statue of Pan, half-man, half-goat. She smiled ruefully at her tiny two month old daughter; his godly influence had clearly been strong that night.

It seemed aeons ago. He’d left her five months later, saying he needed time to think and wasn’t ready for fatherhood. She waited for him, sure he’d return, but she’d finally faced reality, and the pain was unbearable.

The harsh call of a raven turned her attention back to the river. It was deep and murky. There’d be no trace.

Furiously, she flung the ring with all her might, then turned and walked away.

marg

Wowee.. what stunning early entries !

Cathy.. I've just reread your awesome entry loads of times and I'm still entranced and wondering why I can understand something I can't rationalise ? but I just loved it - especially things like 'The sky seemed to understand the tone of the letter.' [how old did you say you are ??]

Mum.. thank you also so much for the brilliant contribution and for NOT having her throw herself in the river - that 'It was deep and murky. There’d be no trace.' chilled me to the bone ! Don't believe that you're out of contention, though

cathyallheart

I'm 12

marg

Yep, Cathy.. I was joshing .. I know your chronological age but your writing is really mature

Hazer

Maria felt the tension in her shoulders start to dissapate as soon as she turned off the icy pavement. The mountain park was deserted on this chilly November afternoon, making it the perfect spot to stop and collect her wits after this mornings run in with her boss. She drove to where she had the best view of the sparkling river with it's shoreline of trees and shrubbery thick with hoarfrost.
She had been fuming when she left the office. Why couldn't the old goat at least have given her a chance to present her plan. It wasn't rocket science as far as Maria was concerned and yet the only other solution brought forward was murky at best. To her amazement her boss had given it the okay and silenced her protest with a withering look.
A lone raven perched on a nearby branch,the movement of it's glistening black wings sending a shower of iridescent ice crystals to the ground. The serene beauty of the alpine forest surrounding her must be protected. Maria straightened in her seat with new resolve. She would do everything in her power to stop the pipeline from going forward until all aspects of it's effect on the environment had been thoroughly examined.
Her biggest challenge would be to convince her father.

marg

Wow, Hazer.. that was really great - I could see the bare winter parkland, with the river below and the black raven...

.. and trust me, I can also empathise with the frustration of a boss that just plays the political angles - and lol, probably with the knowledge that you got to get dad on board first

mum23

Great story, Hazer... the world needs more Marias standing up for what's important. I figured her Dad and her boss were one and the same...

Cathy, I loved your story too. There's a loose and dreamy quality to the way you put it all together... very nice.

marg, I nearly left it up to the reader to decide what happened next...

Good to see some entries... it seems that it's been pretty quiet here for a while! Hope you get some more 'contenders'

Rebel_Sun

Where the hell is that goat? Way out here, there were few options in the way of livestock, and the few goats he had were precious. In the last three years he'd lost two to crocodiles and another to a cottonmouth.
Cletus steered his flatboat through the trees into a deeper channel. Somewhere miles away, several rivers emptied into this swamp, and the murky, brackish water played host to a rich and varied biosphere. Even so, it was uncharacteristically quiet today...the only wildlife he'd seen was a raven pecking at what had probably once been a fish...it could be the temperature, but even in November, it wasn't really cold in the Everglades.
Living out here was a choice few made...the antithesis of modernity. The only contacts they had with the "real" world were the occasional goods they needed, the airline overflights and the odd rocket they could hear thundering into the sky from Canaveral. Cletus liked to joke with himself that he lived 10 miles from the nearest pavement, 50 years behind the present and every day closer to end of the statute of limitations. Big brother hadn't found him for 18 years..he figured he would be safe for another two.

marg

Woah, Rebel.. where did you dig that stupendous 'Cletus' up from ? .. and do you write for a living ? [.. and if not, maybe you should think about it ]

..but hey, I'm awful sorry, but you're gonna have to write another one, because dang it, I can't see 'serene' in ther'at all..

Rebel_Sun

Sorry 'bout that...musta slipped my mind...here's a corrected version:


Where the hell is that goat? Way out here, there were few options in the way of livestock, and the few goats he had were precious. In the last three years he'd lost two to alligators and another to a cottonmouth.

Cletus steered his flatboat through the trees into a deeper channel. Somewhere miles away, several rivers emptied into this swamp, and the murky, brackish water played host to a rich and varied biosphere. Even so, it was uncharacteristically quiet today, hell, it was nigh on serene...the only wildlife he'd seen was a raven pecking at what had probably once been a fish...it could be the temperature, but even in November, it wasn't really cold in the Everglades.

Living out here was a choice few made...the antithesis of modernity. The only contacts they had with the "real" world were the occasional goods they needed, the airline overflights and the odd rocket they could hear thundering into the sky from Canaveral. Cletus liked to joke with himself that he lived 10 miles from the nearest pavement, 50 years behind the present and every day closer to end of the statute of limitations. Big brother hadn't found him for 18 years..he figured he would be safe for another two.

cathyallheart

Thuds on the pavement. Not seen,
Is the foreshadowing in the serene air like an eclipse.
In the murky sky, the moon shines pristine.
A goat is playing by a river when it trips.
A voice rings out “This against the contract!”
“That was before Raven proved it exists!”
Like a rocket before impact,
I wish that someone had his or her wits.

I rise and enter the hut. “Why must you bicker!” I shout, my black hair falling past my shoulders.
“Will any of you think? After them it will be us.”
Father looks at me wearily; “you are going to tell them, aren’t you.”
“What?” Carmon asks.
“On a night like this in more ways than one. 5 wise men argued what to do with a babe,” I say.
“Out of the shadows a dwarf appeared and told them that he would take the child.” Father continues.
“What does this have to do with anything?”
“That child became Raven,” father says quietly. “The dwarf came to me saying that she could see things that others could not. That includes the monster our people created.”
I turned my head, “it’s here” I grab my sword and walk to the demon.

cathyallheart

sorry i left out November- it was there before! any ways here is it with it.


Thuds on the pavement. Not seen,
Is the foreshadowing in the serene November air like an eclipse.
In the murky sky, the moon shines pristine.
A goat is playing by a river when it trips.
A voice rings out “This against the contract!”
“That was before Raven proved it exists!”
Like a rocket before impact,
I wish that someone had his or her wits.

I rise and enter the hut. “Why must you bicker!” I shout, my black hair falling past my shoulders.
“Will any of you think? After them it will be us.”
Father looks at me wearily; “you are going to tell them, aren’t you.”
“What?” Carmon asks.
“On a night like this in more ways than one. 5 wise men argued what to do with a babe,” I say.
“Out of the shadows a dwarf appeared and told them that he would take the child.” Father continues.
“What does this have to do with anything?”
“That child became Raven,” father says quietly. “The dwarf came to me saying that she could see things that others could not. That includes the monster our people created.”
I turned my head, “it’s here” I grab my sword and walk to the demon.

marg

Another great contribution, cathy - makes me wish that I could read the full story ! I really liked your first entry, but loved this one even more.

Thanks very much to cathy, mum, Hazer and Rebel - there may not have been many entries, but the quality was superb ! I've only just realised that I didn't actually contribute something myself, so sorry for that and I'll make double-sure I enter something next go.

In the meantime, I'd like to hand the torch to cathyallheart, for two of the most imaginative entries I've read since some of midnightpoet's early ones !

Congratulations, cathy and I can't wait to see your word selection !

randylynne

Hi all. Cathy and I have been experiencing technical issues---haven't been able to post on the site. If this actually sends, I'll see about getting up the new challenge for her ASAP. Just wanted to try to let you all know why the delay.

randylynne

Hmmm. It seems I can reply, but can't start a new topic in the forum (same with Cathyallheart). It says something about needing to activate the account before being able to post, but...our accounts are years old by now and we've both posted plenty before. Did we miss something? At any rate, here is the next challenge, as created by Cathy. If someone who can start up a new thread could give this challenge its own home, that would be appreciated. Sorry for the inconvenience. It's frustrating.

This is the challenge:

Word limit: 300 words or more
Word list:
Lark
Tattered
Identity
Undermine
Idealism
Forward
Keep
Solstice
Jealousy
Prince ss

Plus, you can replace any one word from the list with "sluggish" (bonus points for using all 11!)

I'm going to give 2 weeks to work on this, so lets say Dec 1st as the deadline. Thanks!

marg

Well.. I tried and got the same silly message:

Sorry, your topic was not added to the forum.
Please note your account must be activated in order to start a new topic.

I've asked ThinkWrite to fix it (via Feedback), so hopefully all will be resolved very quickly.

Brilliant word list, by the way - but while we wait for the 'official' start, can cathy please explain what the 'Prince ss' means ?

Hazer

I'm guessing either a Princess typo or an option to use either gender. Looks like an interesting word list. Hope things get straightened out soon.

randylynne

Oh, that was me typing late at night. It should be "princess" Sorry.