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CONTEST: Holiday Story Writing Contest
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Breitkat
Breitkat
Pinball Amateur

Dec-12-2009 22:43

Holiday Story Writing Contest

Happy Holidays all!!

We're running a bit late, but as promised, here's one of the two contests sponsored by the people of Wish On a Star. Good luck, and enjoy!! ;-D

The Rules

They're fairly simple. You need to write a holiday story, using the requirements listed below. The *deadline for ALL entries is December 31, 2009 at 11:59PM (ie--server turnover).* Spelling, punctuation, and grammar, as always, do count (and will be looked at by the judges). No, it doesn't have to be set in the Noir-era necessarily (though that will probably earn you bonus points with the judges). And no, it doesn't have to be mystery- or Noir-themed for a plot (though again, if you do manage to work some element of that into your creation, all the better ;-). There is a *4000-CHARACTER limit* on all entries (ie--2 posts). And you're only allowed one entry per person/double. Other than that, sky's the limits. See? Piece of cake!! ;-D

Oh yeah...Remember those 'requirements' I mentioned before? There's two small components that you MUST include in your story. (Well, we couldn't make things THAT easy for ya, now could we?? ;-)

Requirement A:

You MUST include ONE (or more) of the following holidays in your story, and build your story round that/those day(s):

Hanukkah
St. Nicholas' Day (and NO, this isn't Christmas, it's Dec. 6)
Bodhi Day (Buddhist holy day in India, Dec. 8)
St. Stephen's Day (Dec. 26)
Boxing Day (also Dec. 26)
Kwanzaa
Chinese New Year
Muharram (Islamic New Year)
Al-Hijra (Islamic New Year's Day
Ashura (Islamic holy day, on the 10th day of Muharram)
New Year's Day (Western world " Jan. 1)
St. Basil's Day (Jan. 2)
Epiphany (usually about Jan. 6)
Lohri (Hindu holy day -- the Bonfire festival)
Pongal (Hindu holy day of thanksgiving)
Australia Day (Jan. 26--Just for Squirrel ;-D )
Losar (Tibetan [Buddhist] New Year)

Yeah, I know. What the....?? It gets better. ;-D

Replies

Molly Maltese
Molly Maltese
Old Shoe

Dec-13-2009 16:51

by the way, do we post it here or send it to ya'll?

Secret_Squirrel
Secret_Squirrel
Safety Officer

Dec-13-2009 17:47

is there a reason amongst all those holidays listed, "Christmas" isn't?

Secret_Squirrel
Secret_Squirrel
Safety Officer

Dec-13-2009 17:47

*why "Christmas" isn't?

David Adams
David Adams
Red-Nosed

Dec-13-2009 21:14

Actually yes, there is a reason why Christmas isn't among the holidays listed. :-)

When the Wish zoo was putting this little smorgasbord of delights together for all of you, we had a look at some of the contests we'd sponsored in past years. And we came to a startling conclusion. The vastly overwhelming majority (like 99.9%) of all the entries we've ever received have been about Christmas. And while they've all been festive, they're getting a bit....

repetitive.

Not in their actual content, but in theme. And while those of us who celebrate Christmas probably enjoy this, this tends to leave everyone else out of the fun, so to speak. Each year, we've named it a 'Holiday' contest to deliberately try and include everyone.

So. This year, we thought we'd throw a monkey in the wrench, so to speak, and take that option out of the running. That way, everyone's included, and many have an 'extra' twist to deal with for their creations. (This is Sleuth, after all. Gotta have an extra twist or two round here. ;-)

So. There you have it. (You may notice the other contest, the Holiday Corrupt-A-Wish, has no such restrictions. Feel free to Christmas away on that one. Or again, any other holiday, as in here. ;-)

Hope to see dozens of great stories!! (Especially yours, Squirrel. ;-)

Thank you,

Breit

P.S. -- Thanks to the hubby for letting me borrow his bod. He's off tree-shopping for the cat at the moment. ;-D

David Adams
David Adams
Red-Nosed

Dec-13-2009 21:16

And yes, Molly, I think it'd be best if entries could be posted here, so everyone could have a chance to read all of them. Be more fun that way, wouldn't it? ;-)

luc pfeiffer
luc pfeiffer
Red-Nosed

Dec-13-2009 22:08

Whew, thank Missy that he didn't rope me into that little expedition.

I think it should also be said that having a Christmas entry won't automatically disqualify you; we will probably just give more brownie points to the ones that use other holidays. So Christmas away here too, but be warned if the goose that stole Chinese New Year walks away with the Christmas goose. Ah nuts, i wasn't going to let that slip about the prizes...

Joseph Zeo
Joseph Zeo
Tale Spinner

Dec-14-2009 21:04

As depressing as it may seem, Joseph Zeo was looking forward to spending another New Year's Day all by himself. Zeo made himself a cup a coffee with a slice of rye toast while listening to a debut album by vocalist Billie Holiday. His cat entered from the window, wearing antlers the neighbor kids put on its head, again. He just found a year-old fruitcake in his cupboard, and was deciding if he should add it to his brunch or throw it away.

Just then, there's a knock on the door. It opened to reveal a young lady with light blonde hair in a blue velvet dress. She looked as if she was about to cry. "My grandmother is missing!!" The attractive girl sobbed. "I heard that you're the best and available detective around."

"Well, in terms of availability…" Zeo mumbled.

The girl wailed, "She's the only one I've got!" Zeo sighed, knowing full well that his quiet day was over.

Zeo put on his long coat and they headed for the place where she was last seen - the bar. Cyrus managed to put on a string of twinkling lights, some paper firecrackers and an inflatable palm tree for holiday deco, and they were serving purple potato pancakes. Zeo decided to leave the bartender's taste for others to judge, and went on with the investigation.

"A granny…" Cyrus searched his memory. "… with blue hair?" The girl nodded. "She was babbling about the good old days, about how all had ended for her, and so forth." Cyrus said.

"Is there a place which reminds your grandmother of her yesteryears?" Zeo probed. The girl thought for a while and then nodded.

The two exited from the bar. The snowman with a tomato nose by the shop was melting quickly in the afternoon sun. Zeo noticed what looked to be a drunken reindeer in the back alley, eating a pile of unpeeled turnips. Zeo shook his head, knowing that Christmas was over and people just let loose their holiday gimmicks.

The girl took him across town and finally came to an abandoned mansion. Weeds were poking through the thin snow. The sun was

Joseph Zeo
Joseph Zeo
Tale Spinner

Dec-14-2009 21:07

setting and a flock of honking geese flew pass them.

"My grandmother grew up here." The girl explained as they trotted down the hall. The broken chandeliers and rusty candelabras told the story. "The great depression took away everything, including part of her sanity…" She then stumbled across a spinning top and almost fell. Zeo grabbed onto her just in time.

"Thank you," She said, her face flushing red. The young lady picked up the toy, along with a pair of clown shoes from the floor. "Granny was here!"

The girl rushed up the grand staircase, Zeo trailed after her. They could hear someone singing a medley of Broadway tunes. They followed the sound into a dark chamber. An old silent movie projector was showing a troupe of dancers on the wall. Zeo could see the silhouette of an old lady sitting on the floor, mesmerized by the images. Her hair was indeed blue.

"Granny?" The girl approached the old lady.

Granny stopped her singing, "All is gone." She pointed at a vibrant girl in the film. "I was so beautiful, with blue hair, dancing in the New Year cabaret. But now, every year as we celebrate the day, it just brings me one year closer to death…"

The room became silent. Zeo searched his mind for words, but found none. Then he remembered the sample his friend gave him. He searched his coat pocket and was glad it was there.

He took the object out. Both ladies stared. "Well, and they say there's nothing new under the sun…" Zeo stumbled over the words, " The shop my friend was managing plans to mass-produce this… thing… Well, I thought, as long as we're alive, there's always something new…"

Zeo was holding an awful looking rubber chicken, and the old lady couldn't help but break into a laugh. "Perhaps you're right, young man. As long as we're alive." Granny said, smiling.

The girl thanked Zeo with a kiss in the cheek. It was his turn to flush red. The old lady offered to treat them to dinner. Perhaps spending New Year with people wasn't that bad after all.

Breitkat
Breitkat
Pinball Amateur

Dec-14-2009 23:09

*ROFL*

That's great, Zeo!! Thanks for a wonderful story!!!! ;-D ;-D ;-D

Breit

Molly Maltese
Molly Maltese
Old Shoe

Dec-15-2009 03:15

It started with the cat.
It is widely recognized that black cats crossing your path are an omen of bad luck to follow, but it doesn’t take a genius to realize that an irate cat with store-bought plastic reindeer antlers tied to its skull probably symbolizes a holiday-related brand of bad luck . And indeed it did. For no sooner had I gotten home when I found a note taped to my door, signifying that not one, but twelve days of torment were to come, in the form of the loving and ‘creative’ attentions of my then boyfriend, Victor. It read, ON THE FIRST DAY OF CHRISTMAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME…and the second half of the message was on the other side of the door. Immediately the monstrosity had leapt for me and I reflexively fired a shot before turning on the lights.
“What in the world?” I asked myself, as I saw what appeared to be an enormous inflatable palm tree leaning drunkenly towards the wall, while a google-eyed rubber chicken dangled limply from one of the fronds, affixed to the tree by a strand of now-ruined lights. I neared the unfortunate poultry and saw a card extending from its neck, and turned it over.
A PARTRIDGE IN A PEAR TREE!
Right on cue, the phone rang. I reached round for it and held it to my ear, watching the tree slowly slide down the wall into a puddle of defeated synthetic fabric. The chicken stared up at me accusingly.
“Did you like it?” It was my then-boyfriend Victor. “I utilized all my ‘creativity to twist a traditional Christmas carol into a new and exciting piece!”
“Victor…forgive me if I am correct but you represented the metaphorical Jesus as a rubber chicken on a palm tree?”
“Don’t you love it?”
“Good night, Victor.”
The next morning, while having coffee and butter on rye toast, I opened the ice box to have two gigantic paper-mache turtledoves spring at me from where they had perched in wait on a carefully wrapped fruitcake that had been given to me by my grandmother (who insisted on dying her hair blue) just about a year ago.

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