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Monthly Short Story Contest
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2023 March Monthly Contest
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You’re a champion Glenda!
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It's up to you the host. I am breaking the rule though.
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words: 1,150
It was the day for which Friday Night Futures would always be remembered. Futures boasted of millions of viewers with topics such as Hollywood couples splitting up, who wore the sexiest dress at the Academy Awards show, and the like. The set of the show was a long table where four female hosts were seated with their Friday Night Futures signature coffee mugs. The hosts seated at the table were Goldie - a woman of color with wire-framed glasses and dreadlocks, Joyce the feisty redhead, Sandy who is a previous news correspondent, and Sage who is an American lawyer and journalist. They all had a heated debate with the governor of Texas about the past presidential election and how the governor had changed today for the better.
“Even though the elected president hurt my feelings, my goal is to work for and represent the American people!” he exclaimed. That only satisfied the ladies for a few seconds.
“I only wanted to see you succeed after the whole chaotic election,” stated Goldie.
“That is a good talking point,” said the governor.
“It’s not a talking point. It is how I am feeling,” true to a person from the far left. They were determined to get him with “gotcha questions”.
After much discourse and a commercial break, the ending segment began. Each episode ended with the Futures’ psychic Elena Fabriano. Although Elena came from a conservative family, she headed for Hollywood to make a name for herself like so many before her. She was used as an extra in movies, but no movie casting agent had discovered her yet for a break-out roll. Elena was hired at Futures mainly for entertainment purposes with not a psychic bone in her body. Her psychic predictions were all made up to go along with what was trending for the day. That is until February 2023.
“Here is our Futures psychic, Elena Fabriano!” exclaimed Joyce.
“Thank you! Thank you!” smiled Elena.
“What news do you have for us today?” asked Sage.
“Well, it is really weird. I had a very realistic dream about seeing a snowstorm in Southern California. There was a feeling of helplessness. I saw bare grocery shelves, and abandoned cars.”
Sandy smiled and downplayed the prediction. “We’ve heard some strange predictions from Elena in the past, but this one is really a doozy.”
“Ya, when was the last time it snowed in Southern California?” mocked Joyce.
“You all thought my prediction of a grand-scale earthquake in the Middle East was a joke too. It left over 52,000 people dead.”
A verbal exchange took them to the top of the hour in which they thanked the audience for tuning in. Goldie caught up with Elena to state, “Girl, you crazy!”
“I love you too, Goldie. Catch you later.”
While spending the evening at her gated estate, Elena sat in her living room across from a cozy fireplace. She shuffled her tarot cards in her hands. Then she laid three cards from left to right representing the past, the present, and the future. The past card was a tower card, meaning that change has happened. The present card was the lover’s card. The future card was the fool’s card. She thought for a moment, reflecting on her boyfriend Chris Hart. Could this be a real message about their future together? She was troubled because none of her predictions had come true until the New Year. Her mother did get false teeth. Her mother wanted to argue that it would never happen but it did. No big deal. Her friend Marjorie did get in an auto accident. When she told her friend about her dream, she laughed at her. Now she doesn’t speak to her. The dream of the earthquake haunted her. So many lives were lost. No one believed her. What could they have done if they DID believe her?
The phone rang, making her jump out of her reverie.
“Hi, sweetie. How’s my favorite psychic?”
“I’m doing ok. I guess you caught my last prediction today?”
“Ya. I don’t want you to dwell on it. Are we still going to Lake Arrowhead like we planned?”
“Sure. I’m really looking forward to getting away from the crowds.”
“Good. I’ll pick you up at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning.”
“I’ll be ready.”
Chris showed up as planned in the morning. To their surprise, there was light snow coming down. They laughed about it, loaded the car, and sped down the road. They traveled on highway 210 going east. The wind and snow started coming down harder.
“This is insane!” said Chris as he looked up into the sky, seeing only snow pelt the windshield and nothing more.
As they drove the back roads closer to Lake Arrowhead, snow drifts appeared. Chris drove much slower and cautiously. All of the sudden, a tree fell across the road. As Chris hit the brakes, it caused the car to slide and crash into the tree. The car then bounced off the tree and rolled down in a hill until it smashed into a larger tree. Fortunately, the impact wasn’t really bad.
“Are you ok?” asked Chris.
“Yes, and you?”
“I’ll live. I wonder what the phone reception is like out here. I’m going to climb this hill, make a 9-1-1 call, and see if I can get help.”
“Be careful.”
While Elena was alone in the car, she clung to the gold pendant that her grandmother had given her with the Lord’s Prayer inside of it.
In her desperate need, she prayed, “Oh, God, please help us out of this winter storm. We’re at your mercy. I know I haven’t lived my life the best that I could have, but lead me now. Save me, God. I’m in your hands.” Her hand kept holding onto the pendant around her neck. She jumped, and her eyes opened wide when a police officer beat on the driver’s window. He opened the door.
“We’re going to get you out, ma’am.”
Elena scrambled out of the car. She walked in the snow prints of Chris and found him on the highway.
“What are you doing here? Why aren’t you back in the car?”
“A nice policeman came and got me?”
“What policeman?”
They both turned and looked. There was no policeman in sight. They watched as the car they had traveled in slid free of the tree and further down the hill until it crashed onto rocks and exploded into flames.
“Oh, my gosh! What the heck are we going to do now?”
“At least we’re alive. God must’ve sent an angel to have me leave the car, lest I be dead now.”
A half-hour later, a large snow plow came into view. They were rescued.
Six months later, Mr. and Mrs. Chris Hart were married at a chapel near Lake Arrowhead. No more Friday Night Futures segments for her. God had other plans.
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Thank you for getting the ball rolling.
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Thank you for getting the ball rolling."
I hope that the remainder of the year will be better than the first quarter. We will see. I've tried to reach out on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin without results. If you have any ideas, please share them.
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I'm working on a submission. I kept missing deadlines and did not feel good about not submitting. I intend to make it this time. Hey, I do remember the activity with LinkedIn.
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I look forward to reading your story.
The Change of the Charlatan by F. F. Burwick 1086 wordsEdgar McGee already had a following, though small, and most of those following were there when he would open up a presentation when in a new community. This day though was facing a brewing storm that would break out soon, at any time, and it seemed like it would be no good occasion now for a presentation in Seranville, this town he was now in. So he put the sign up on his great wagon, Open for the Next Business Day, and went to check for mail forwarded to him in this town. There he found a note of a delivered package for him, at the hold for packages. It was a package from Uncle Mordecai, he found. But the package was extremely large, so that he wouldn't manage with carrying it back with him. So he went back and rode the wagon there to pick up his package. With it in his wagon, he rode then back to the set up site he was using. The storm was just starting around then, so he tightened down everything and provided the covering shelters for the animals, and then closed up inside he worked at opening the package.
When it was mostly opened with the paper wrapping worked off, he saw a note slip out to land on the floor. He picked it up and read it.
"Dear Cousin Edgar, I hope you are doing well with your work. I write some unfortunate news. My father, your Uncle Mordecai, fell seriously ill. He decided it was time to send his valued things to those he cared dearly for who he knew would appreciate him leaving them. My father knew when you would come you were always fond of looking at this marvelous artifact, and impressed with legends that it was made from stuff that fell from the skies. So it is this is sent to you. But now my father is certainly dying, I am sad to say he would very probably not be here anymore by the time you would get here after reading this. May you take comfort in your uncle thinking this highly of you to have me send this to you. May we speak with each other again in more pleasant circumstances. Love, your cousin Darrell."
As Edgar opened the package further, the loud noise of strong winds and then rumbling thunder was heard, with sounds of the water hitting the top and sides of the wagon, outside. He soon saw it was that pillar that fascinated him, with an ornate design spiraling up along its surface with beautiful details on it. At its top there were three projections going up and inward over an empty space rather like tongs there to hold something in place, that was missing from it.
Edgar looked at it marveling for a while, and he moved it carefully to one corner of the narrow space in there.
Just about then strong forces from the storm cracked the small window on one side. It then shattered, leaving the small window open. Edgar hurried to grab a heavy blanket.
Before he came back to it, a small column of electricity entered into the interior space of the wagon. Edgar backed away from it, but it was not approaching him. It went toward the top of the pillar that had been sent to him, standing now in that one corner. That small shape of electricity then stayed at that place at the top without moving from it.
After some time with his effort Edgar had the heavy blanket over the opening of the small window nailed through the blanket to the frame for holding it in place. He then looked in awe at the form of electricity, which still didn't do anything as it sat at the top between the projections.
Edgar then made hot soup for himself, and sat at the small table to eat, watching that small column which didn't move from that place with curiosity. But when he finished his meal he felt tired, and now that it was later in the evening, he moved the small table and chair to the end of the interior space by the door, and closer to the pillar he had set in the corner, with that electric energy at the top. He then went to the other end, and pulled out the folding bed from that side where it been up along the wall, so that it stretched out into much of the interior space of the wagon. There was nothing to do still that day, maybe the next day would be good for making business with his presentation.
After eyeing the electric form at the top of the pillar a little more, he felt drowsy enough to sleep. Didn't the shape of it seem somewhat smaller?
As Edgar could not help but sleep, he was not seeing the pillar gradually move closer to him where he lay through the night. Finally as the day was near, Edgar moved a little and bumped into it. Not only did he awake just then, but a hidden space inside opened up. Edgar now quite awake sat up, wondering at what he was looking at.
There were tight wound coils on one side going from the bottom to the top of that inner space. There were a series of shelves on the other side, each with a distinct symbol on the space on the side over the shelf. There was what must be a cap on one shelf. On the shelf above it was a rolled up piece of paper. The shelf over it had a rod of some kind. Edgar took hold of the thing like a cap. That must be what this was. He put it on his head. Indeed it was a cap, it fit his head exactly. But something on one side of it stretched back in to that interior of the pillar, like it had been caught on something in there.
He unrolled the paper. On it were shown a couple of images, and writing, seemingly in different languages with script he did not recognize, one was Greek though, the letters of which he recognized. He pronounced it the way he recognized it. There was a flash, and he heard voices, of various people. He went to his door and opened it enough to look out. There were people walking by, but none were seen talking with their mouths. He soon perceived he heard thoughts they were thinking.
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Edgar McGee already had a following, though small, and most of those following ..."
Thanks for submitting your story, Fred. Did your character hear the thoughts of people due to the pillar and lightning event? Very imaginative.
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Edgar McGee already had a following, though small, and most of those following were there when he would open up a presentation when in a new..."
Wow, what an interesting and unexpected ending!
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Thank you for being such a good sport and submitting a story Glenda.
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Edgar McGee already had a following, though small, and most of those following were there when he would open up a presentation when in a new..."
Thank you for participating in the challenge this month. We may have not received many entries but it proves you’re a winner - just by taking the time to craft a beautiful story.
I know it was not my best writing, but I made the commitment, saying I would submit it. Believe it or not, I wrote much of this earlier, and for some stupidity, when I normally shade and copy, and click to save the draft, I did neither, without realizing it, probably because it was in a personal media site I just use for myself, with a couple different accounts, rather than with an email draft as I normally do, which would not just be lost the same way. So I backed out and hadn't saved it either way. I came back to continue work on it several days later and saw it was not there except for the beginning. So instead of continuing I spent the time remembering all I could for the sequence it needed, and had to finish still later. So to answer, what I could not do to have it short like that, but hoped that cause and effect might be seen, it was an ancient artifact, made from material coming from somewhere away from this world, with capacity for great power on an individual. But it needed a power source and the column of electricity coming in was attracted to it and provided the needed energy. The cords inside were to suggest organization internally for it, and the connected cap brought the effect to the character.
The prompt:
Your character makes a living faking psychic powers. One morning, they wake up with real ones.
In your story include one or all of the following elements:
* Something of sentimental value inherited by your character
* An accident
*An unnatural weather phenomenon
Voting will take place between March 25, 2023 to March 28th. Winners will be posted in this thread on April 1st. A survey will be posted to vote or you can message me here at Goodreads.
Challenge Guidelines
Genre: Fantasy, Thriller, Sci-Fi, Mystery, Crime, Comedy, Romance, or a mixture (BASICALLY, anything but erotica)
Purpose -
Some fiction writers are looking to win a short story contest, keeping in touch with making deadlines, and/or simply sharpening the skill of writing fiction. The main purpose of this contest is to sharpen plot and character skills, collect your own short stories, receive good feedback, make a good connection with other writers, and take a short break from your current novel to get a fresh view when you return to it.
Rules and Directions -
* Type in English - a minimum of 750 words; a maximum of 1,000 words; no erotica, no profanity.
* Post your title, by line, and word count total in the first line of your story posting.
* Writers are responsible for their own copyright. Authors keep all rights. PRIVACY POLICY IS ENFORCED. COPYRIGHTS AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS BELONG TO INDIVIDUAL AUTHORS. THIS CONTEST DOES NOT GRANT ANY PERSON THE RIGHT OR LICENSE TO COPY OR USE OTHER STORIES. EACH STORY IS PROTECTED BY THE COPYRIGHT OF THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR.
* ONE entry per person, must be the writer's original work, a final revision, and a new piece of writing. Please do not delete and repost since this becomes confusing to the readers. Try to post your final revision.
Judging: The story will be judged on creativity, proper grammar, good punctuation, and overall good quality for story.
Voting: Please vote for first, second, and third place. You are not allowed to vote for yourself. If posting this month, you MUST vote, in order for your story to remain eligible.