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Week 45 (sept 21 - 26) Done
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Title: The Life of a Dwarf< /b> (<--I know, not a very good title)Author: ME! :D < /b>
Roan gazed, satisfied and full, across the lush green landscape; his eyes skated across misty blue mountains and broad trunk trees and rushing streams with sweet cold water that made your teeth chatter. He looked out on the comforting scene of this town, secluded in its coven, sheltered from the terrors of The Outside, by thick thorny bracket and small dirt passageways--short length wise, while wide in width, comfortable enough for only a dwarf or a small child-hobbit to crawl through.
His eyes past over the little dwarf girlies and the little dwarf boys, who played with sticks and stones and played their games of Kirken--a childish game with sticks and a small woven basket that Roan had never been very good at as a child.
His town provided a protected sense of comfort to all who lived there--probably a false comfort, but none of the terrible beasts that raged in The Outside had the patience or motivation to deal with dwarves.
For the most part, they were fairly likeable creatures; short and stout, with round bellies, who enjoyed feasting and laughter, mead and merriment. More than anything, however, they enjoyed a good hearty meal and to then to sit in heavy-lidded peace and smoke their pipes, breathing in the heavy-laden summer air of honeysuckle and cut grass.
Dwarves disliked any other season but summer; spring was often too soggy and damp, winter much too cold and it snowed a bit too much for the dwarves taste--they hate< /i> the cold--and fall was when all the leaves fell and turned a ugly brown color.
When the weather was less than pleasant, particularly during winter, the dwarves--including Roan--would simply retreat to their humble yet comfortably furnished abodes in the hill side. They were small dirt tunnels--but hardly dirty--which you could get quite easily lost in if you didn’t know where you were going.
At every turn there were tiny little homes which consisted each of the following hobbit necessities: a wood-burning stove, key for making food and keeping their homes warm. There was always an overstuffed arm chair for proper pipe-smoking and dozing after supper, and a small bed made of soft goose feathers and silk sheets, of which the silk worms made the dwarves each winter as a peace offering.
Dwarves keep mostly to themselves and are mostly wary of outsiders. Their only weakness is their penchant for jewels, gold, and shiny beautiful things. More than once or twice, the occasional creature or critter will pay dearly with gold or diamonds to stay in one of the comfortable dirt rooms for a few days while they are passing through.
Yes, Roan thought, being a dwarf is quite plesant.
He’d been always quite lazy, which hadn’t really mean a problem--all dwarves are lazy--but something in his gut had always wished he’d traveled a bit farther into The Outside. But what was he to do about it now? He was withered and gray, aging nicely for a dwarf of a hundred and six five years.
Mod
Thx! :] There isn't much of a plot, but whatevs...
Mod
EvictedJeff was short and well, as most people would see it, fat. He had a black untamed beard. His hair was no better. The dwarf wore a brown shirt with a tan apron over it and blue paints. His boots were black. He sighed and looked around the tunnel. Jeff had been leaning on his pick. There was too much coal to move. His friend Larry passed him with a greeting. The dwarf grunted in reply. Jeff had asked Larry to come and help him mine some coal. Larry went up behind the dwarf and put his hand on his shoulder.
“ Come on, Jeff.” Lighten up!” Larry shook the other dwarf’s shoulder.
“Yeah,” Jeff said. He sighed. Everything was fine yesterday morning. It wasn’t until the afternoon that things started going bad. Jeff had always hated afternoons. It all truly started when the rabbits arrived. Yes, the nice, cute, white, furry rabbits came and ruined Jeff’s day. The rabbits were Jeff’s landlords. Jeff was a little behind with his payments. But he was going to pay it all next payment he just needed some time. None-the-less the rabbits had come and demanded twice the amount of coal for missing a payment. Jeff had to have all the coal before the end of the day or he would be evicted from his cave and, naturally, being homeless wouldn’t be so hot with the ladies. Jeff sighed. His almost girlfriend was fickle and would probably dump him if he was evicted. Which was saying a lot since she wasn’t his girlfriend yet.
“Jeff! What’re you doin’?” Larry yelled from across the cave. “ Standing there isn’t going to get that coal!”
Jeff sighed again. Of course he knew that. “ I was just seeing the future,” Jeff replied sulkily.
Larry shook his head, “ No you got the be positive, Jeff!”
Jeff didn’t say anything. The two dwarfs went back to mining the coal with their picks. Jeff wondered what the rabbits used the coal for. He then recalled seeing a black rabbit…perhaps they used it as dye he thought. He shook his head, “Probably not,” he said under his breath.
Jeff remembered what his father always used to say back when he was alive, “Never give up! Never surrender!” After that thought, Jeff started working faster. Then he remembered what his mother would tell him all the time back when she was alive, “Slow and steady wins the race!” So Jeff slowed down into a steady pace. Before he knew it Larry was asking him if he was going to eat his lunch. Jeff’s mother’s word popped into his head again. “ Don’t skip meals,” he could hear her say. He sighed feeling compelled to obey. His lunch of peanut butter and jelly was unsatisfying. He took a swift gulp of his water and went back to work.
As it started getting later into the day the dwarfs had to light more lanterns because there wasn’t as much sunlight streaming into the cave. Larry had to go home to his wife around four p.m. so Larry started putting more of his back into the work. He didn’t want Good Old Jeff to be evicted. He sighed though for he knew they had not mined enough coal. When it came time for Larry to leave he patted Jeff on his shoulder and whished him luck.
Jeff was starting to feel desperate. He knew that he hadn’t gathered enough coal. The rabbits would be there in an hour. In that last hour Jeff worked harder then he ever had before.
“ Excuse me,” said a small annoying voice. Jeff looked. It was one of the three rabbits in the cave. Jeff groaned the landlords where there.
“ Hello,” Jeff greeted.
The second rabbit rudely interrupted saying, “ Yes, well, do you have the coal?” The dwarf led them to the pile of coal. The third rabbit clicked his tongue and shook his head in unison with the other two rabbits.
“That’s not enough,” He complained.
The first rabbit looked up and Jeff and said, “ Jeff, the Dwarf you are now officially evicted!”
Jeff groaned but gathered his things and marched out of his cave and only home. Next thing Jeff knew his almost girlfriend had dumped him and he was stumbling around in the rain cursing the rabbit landlords as he went. His beard and hair were now down to his knees and he was the filthiest dwarf on the face of the planet. He sat down underneath a giant mushroom.
“ Hello,” he heard a squeaky voice say- he looked and it was a rabbit. He jumped, startled, then ran away. There was no way he was going to get tangled up with another rabbit! The dwarf ran screaming all the way to Larry’s house.
Mod
(( This concludes this weeks short story contest. Posting your stories for this topic is closed. Good luck. ))
Vote under the featured poll or select polls and find this week's poll for short stories.
Mod
what was confusing? i would like to improve on the story...oh, and if you want to post it on that sight you guys have htat's fine i don't care
Mod
link 1: http://shortstorygalore.synthasite.com/
or Clare's personal Goodreads story page: http://www.goodreads.com/story/list/9...
Arthur wrote: "Della takes the contest and as the winner has her story posted on Short Story Galore, monitored by Clare and Olivia. Congrats Della. Though its optional, you do want it on Galore? link 1: http:/..."
umm yeah sure! :] thx
Please do not use a story previously used on goodreads. After the week's contest, you are welcome to put it on your profile writings, but please refrain from using stories you have already put on there.
You have until Saturday afternoon to post a story on here. Please post it directly onto this topic, rather than posting a link. Also, please do not discuss stories on here. You must go to Weekly Short Story Contest Discussion for that. This will avoid any clutter and confusion, so that people can simply come on here and read the story, without having to read comments on the story.
This week's Topic is Dwarf. If anyone has any objections to this topic, please go to the Objections post. The rules are pretty loose. You could write about pretty much anything. Just have the word in the story.
Weekly stories must be at least 500 words long to 2,500 words long. (if the whole story won't fit in one post, divide it into two)
Good luck!
Arthur [acting for Clare:]
P.S. PLEASE say if you would like to have your story on Short Story Galore, if you win. This way it wouldn't take me ages to get your consent afterwards. This includes adding a link to your stories. If you want to have your story on the Short Story Galore, but not the link, just say so.