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Jul-1-2012 17:42

Summer is in full swing, one and all! In honor of this long-awaited time of year, and the slow but steady revival of our beloved community, Dawn of the Dead Agency is putting forth a Summer Story Competition! Much like the Holiday Writing Competition Wish Upon a Star sponsored in 2009, our entrants must adhere to a simple set of rules for their entry to be considered by our dishonorable judges, otherwise known as the zombies of the beloved Dawn of the Dead Agency. The rules are as follows!

1. The story must have a summertime theme. This is a broad spectrum, involving anything one might do on summer vacation or a nice summers day.

2. Entries MUST USE- I repeat MUST USE, all of the listed elements somewhere in their story, although no particular order is required.
The elements are as follows:

-A red kazzo
-a comically large margarita
-an underinflated beach ball
-a blue checkered picnic blanket
-a brilliant display of fireworks
-a very sunburned uncle
-sand between your toes
-a hammock
-a pirate in a hawaiian shirt
-a parrot that only sings medleys of Cher songs
-a fanny pack
-a mysteriously abandoned bikini top
-a sinister volleyball
-three coconuts
-a bottle of Maui Babe suntan lotion

*Once again, you must use all of these items somewhere in your story, wherever and however you see fit.

3. Entries have a 2 post limit (about 4000 characters).

4. Prize will be a special custom item selected by Dawn of the Dead!

5. Have fun with it!

We hope to see a lot of entries from our sleuth community! The contest will run until Saturday, July 14th at which point our agency will begin judging entries!

Happy writing, all!

Jul-1-2012 17:44

(if you have any questions or need further clarification, please PM Molly for details!)

Jul-1-2012 22:21

The Margarita Monster lived up to its name...188 ounces later I found myself sailing towards Cairo singing Cher with a parrot and my arm slung around Pirate Paul Piccalo, while harmonizing with a red kazoo in my mouth. My eyes started to focus on his loud Hawaiian shirt, my teal fanny pack and a Leopard print bikini top swinging from the flag pole only moments before I realized we were in trouble.
The ship heading towards us was flying the Flag of the Dead.
Being stupendously drunk does not come in handy when you are abandoning ship.
The beach ball that saved my life was underinflated and would have been useless if it weren't for my strong survival instincts. As my limp body (and equally limp beach ball) floated toward an island ahead I noticed a brilliant display of fireworks coming from Pirate Piccalo's burning ship and found it ironic that "precious cargo" was actually illegal fireworks. Once ashore I roused myself to gather the remaining items floating towards me hoping that one of them would prolong my life on this dreadful island. Maui Babe suntan lotion, a hammock and a blue checkered picnic blanket later I decided to call it quits and passed out.
I woke not from one, nor two, but three coconuts falling on my head. Snoring loudly next to me was a man whose fair skin was burned badly in the blazing sun. The injustice of all three coconuts landing on my head, and not his, got the better of me and I threw a coconut at him to wake him.
My companion was the uncle of Pirate Piccalo and he was useless. While I was building shelter and capturing food, he spent the afternoon running his toes through the sand and attempting to capture a sinister volleyball from the receding waves.
My madness got the better of me and I stormed into the jungle of this cursed island to plot my escape.
Turns out, no escape was necessary.
After a quarter mile trek, a village of Hawaiian islanders greeted me with a Mai Tai and a lei. Now I'm not a God fearing woman, but how

Jul-1-2012 22:22

our ship bound for Cairo found its way into the surfs of the Pacific I will never know. I do know this, however: if you are ever offered the Margarita Monster, be prepared for any and all emergencies!

Jul-1-2012 22:24

I rather enjoyed that. :)

Jul-2-2012 07:15

;)

Jul-2-2012 08:38

:D Thanks for stepping up and being our brave first entrant, Ruby! Wonderful entry it made me laugh at several parts!

Jul-2-2012 10:21

It all started when I had won a prize in the local lottery, which allowed me to take a cruise on a cruiseship. When I checked the date for when the ship would depart, I discovered it would be today and hastily packed my suitcase and departed towards the docks. Once there, I found my illustrious and very sunburned uncle, who had a fanny pack around his beer belly and told me he had heard that there was a show this evening that would be marvelous. It involved a red kazzo, which was being used by a pirate in a hawaiian shirt, who at the same time tossed three coconuts into the air.

When I had settled onto the ship and the ship had departed, I came out of my room, only to discover a wild parrot flying around, which was being chased by a man. After seeing the parrot fly for a while, I had come to the discovery that the parrot could talk, but in an unusual way. It seemed the parrot had been trained to only sing medleys of Cher songs.

As I explored the ship some more, I had seen that some teens were violently abusing an underinflated beach ball, the details I'll leave out, because they were too shocking (it involved at least a bottle of Maui Babe suntan lotion, but for other... purpouses). Once I had found the bar on the ship, the bartender presented me with a comically large margarita, which I had to drink within 5 minutes, or else I would be forced to walking around with only a blue checkered picnic blanket around my body.

After I drank up the comically large margarita, I discovered that my illustrious and very sunburned uncle was lying on a hammock, when he was rudely awakened by a sinister volleyball, which was thrown a few seconds earlier by a girl with no bikini top. As I searched the ship for the "mysteriously" abandoned bikini top, I had found out that there was some sand between my toes.. (cont.)

Jul-2-2012 10:21

It seemed that I had stumbled onto a large playground in the ship for children, which was being supplied by sand. As I picked up a children's shovel and dug up near the X that marked the spot, I saw something yellow-ish and pulled it out. I was frightened to find out that it was the mysteriously abandoned bikini top, that had been considered a valuable treasure.

As midnight passed, my illustrious and very sunburned uncle rudely woke me up, by intruding into my cabin, and saying that there was a brilliant display of fireworks taking place on the ship. Once arrived at the display, I enjoyed the fireworks.

Now, you should be wondering what the moral of this story is. The moral of this story is: Enjoy your holiday, as much as you can, but don't be scared when your uncle is in your cabin while you're asleep!

Jul-2-2012 19:33

Nicely done, Ruby!

Jul-2-2012 22:19

The Case of the Missing Topless Cousin

"Detective, you must help find our daughter!" My very sunburned uncle and aunt exclaimed as they bulldozed into my muggy office. The electric fan was broken and I had my sleeves rolled up to my armpits. This was the first time ever that they called me a detective. Knowing them, I do not expect that they'd pay me though.

"Where did you lose her?" I asked.

My aunt rummaged through her oversized fanny pack and took out a shiny silver bikini top. The reflection was so glaring that I wondered where I put my sunglasses.

"This belongs to Clara. We found it mysteriously abandoned in the schoolyard where she had summer class. It was hanging on a tree." Explained my roasted aunt. "We've been looking for her the entire day!"

"You made her go to summer school?" I queried. The weather was so hot and sunny outside, I wanted to arrest them for abuse.

"She did have fun though! Last night they had a tropics-themed party. Otherwise I wouldn't have let her wear this thing!" My uncle waved the shiny bikini like a flag. He went on to tell me the address of her high school and thus began my search for my missing cousin.


The schoolyard looked quiet and undisturbed. I carpet searched the place until I came across, what was this? I bent down and picked up a red kazoo. "A-ha! A clue!" I thought. I tried playing it, and lo and behold, a parrot came flying to me, singing, "This is a song - for the lonely. Can you hear me tonight..." I later realized it only sings medleys of Cher songs.

The parrot led me to down to a basement in the school. I pry opened the door and three coconuts fell down. A booby trap! Someone didn't want me here. I carefully took one stride in, only to be tripped by a very sinister volleyball. I was sure it wasn't there a second ago!