Monday, April 30, 2007
Short Story Contest
Edited (Added my story to the page, at the bottom. Not taking this down till all my regulars comment as it's been a little too quiet around here and yet, not on other blogs. The neurotic in me is paranoid.)
Scott (Hard to Want) blogged about the "Endless Hour" fiction contest over at Jason Evan's blog. Jason puts up a photo, you look at it, and write a story based on the picture. I guess Scott does a lot of these.
I don't know why, but I actually entered it. I never enter contests. Never. Doesn't matter what kind it is, but I did ... and actually received an Honorable Mention for my efforts (#26 - Things We Cannot Say). Not bad for five minutes of work. Could I have won with fifteen minutes?
Nah.
The weird thing is the Reader's Pick winners are ones I didn't even vote for ... so I'm wondering -- am I a sucky critic? Am I too critical? The picture had sunlight coming in the window and the Reader's Pick was about a werewolf. It was well written, but I thought, "Well, it's daylight. You can't wolf out without the moon." I thought it was just silly and funny. The other reminded me of a Buffy episode.
The owner of the blog (I don't know if it's just him or if there are other judges) picks his/their own set of winners and I was vindicated there (not because of my nod) by having one of MY picks actually WIN. (Great story by Trevor Record, #40, I believe). LOVED his take on the picture.
Even Mr. Schprock entered with a pretty serious short story -- a whole different side to him, so it's worth the trip over if you are so inclined. I wanted to add, Scott's submission (another that I voted for) had me completely fooled in the beginning and was good to start to finish should have taken my Honorable Mention at the very least. (this is just my opinion, but I had to include it because ... well, it's my blog)
Congratulations, Trevor! You definitely earned it, in my opinion. And thanks for the nod, Mr. Jason Evans.
Here's mine, as promised above (picture a filthy kitchen sink, dirty dishes, rusted cans, curtain askew on window over sink ... or just go to site & see it for yourself):
Things We Cannot Say
Hold the trash bag, pick up the garbage, and put it inside. Bleach and hot water in the bucket, scrub, and wipe with a rag. Bleach will wash away anything. The kids have to see the way it could be, but not this.How would I answer when they asked where we now lived? “The Indian Village, a mobile home community.” A trailer park. No, I couldn’t say it. It’s not true if I never say it out loud.
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I thought about crashing my car into a tree yesterday. I didn’t think about the kids or my wife … just me. My boss said I was the best manager he’d ever had, and then fired me a week later.I can’t do this anymore. I’ve been paying the bills since I was eighteen years old. I’m almost 40 and I’m scared. I yell at my wife and ignore the kids. How can I tell them? They lost everything because of me.
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Dear God, my brother cried last night in his room. We miss our old house and our friends. We don’t want to go to this new school. We’re scared everyone will pick on us for being poor. We know Mom is sad, so we can’t ask her to take us back home. I want to be back in my garden room with the picket fence border I helped her paint. PS, please make daddy talk to us again.Labels: critics, short story contest, writing
