Story Contest!!!

Chatterbox: Inkwell

Story Contest!!!

Story Contest!!!

Inspired by Rose Bud’s Poetry Competition
I haven’t seen a story contest in a while, so here’s one!
Rules/Things you should know~
  • Anyone can enter
  • Your story must be between 300-1,000 words. (That’s fair, right?)
  • The winner of the contest gets to choose the topic for the next contest, and judges the next contest. 
  • The winner will also need to post a due date for the entries 
  • There will be four awards given: First place, second place, third place, and runner-up
Did I miss anything? 
Alrighty, the first topic is. . .  Free Choice! You can write about anything you want!! Entries must be submitted by midnight October 14th. Got it? Okay. 

READY. . . SET. . . WRITE!!!!!!✏️ 

submitted by September
(October 9, 2016 - 6:38 pm)

back to the Inkwell

Alright! I'll post mine soon. :)

submitted by Inktail
(October 9, 2016 - 8:22 pm)
submitted by Toptoptoptoptoptopto, age Tooptoptop, Toptoptoptop
(October 9, 2016 - 8:23 pm)
submitted by Top!
(October 9, 2016 - 10:04 pm)
submitted by Toppy Top Top!
(October 9, 2016 - 11:07 pm)

I'm in! I'm brainstorming right now!

Peace out,

Moonlight 

submitted by Moonlight, age 11, Ellesmera
(October 10, 2016 - 8:54 am)

Thanks for starting this. Can the story be a little longer? Please!!!!!! Maybe the maximum is a little more?

 

If not thats fine but...

submitted by Strider, age 13, Earth, Inner Solar System
(October 10, 2016 - 9:29 am)

I'll join! Usually my stories are longer, but I'll do my best :). 

submitted by Shoshannah Lily, Deep in a book
(October 10, 2016 - 10:04 am)

I'll join! I think I already have something in mind...

submitted by Clouded Leopard
(October 10, 2016 - 12:50 pm)

I know this is really soon after I joined, but the idea I had just exploded into words. Here it is:

Will you?

Ivan felt his eyes slowly closing as the drone of his teacher’s voice filled his ears. He tried to pay attention, but couldn’t resist the lull of sleep. However, the second his eyelids slid shut, there was a sharp report next to his ear. Ivan jumped up, his eyes snapping open. His teacher was standing over him, disapproval in her eyes. Ivan looked around, cheeks coloring, as he saw the other kids attempting and failing to hold back their laughter. Ivan slid down into his seat as the teacher turned back to the board.

As attention refocused on the lesson, Ivan’s mind began to wander again. Residual traces of anger still remained in him, mainly focused against the teacher. He had had an extremely exhausting time last night, and had only been able to crawl into bed at a late time. Now, he was expected to sit up straight and pay attention and work his brain. It just wasn’t fair! Not for the first time, Ivan wished he had a choice of when he could go to school. It wasn’t that he didn’t like to learn. No, he loved Algebra and Science and English. It was just that he always had to, without any say in it, without any pretext for his home life or anything that had happened to him. He just wanted a little bit of his own choice.

A sudden crackle of static jerked Ivan out of his thoughts, and he looked around, confused, as students began to rise from their seats. There was a sharp rap at the door, and a slim, tall figure entered, his steely gray eyes prying into each of them. Ivan scrambled to get up as he tried to figure out what had happened. Clearly there had been an announcement, and now someone was here. Ivan nudged a boy next to him and whispered, “What’s up? I wasn’t listening.”

Quickly and quietly the kid explained that the principal had told them that a man from the NBSW-- the National Bureau of Student’s Welfare-- had come to them to give them a test. Slowly, the man at the front of the room took out two cases. Ivan, at the end of the line, peered around to try and see what was happening. The man unlatched the cases, revealing one with rows of thick, rich chocolate cookies, laced with creamy lemon frosting. Ivan’s mouth began to water just looking at them. The other one contained just a few drier, crumbling, maple cookies, with pockmarked surfaces and were much smaller than the chocolate cookies. Ivan heard a few scoffs from his classmates, but turned away to listen to his teacher as she explained the man had come to give them a choice of a cookie. Normally, she discouraged the consumption of sugar without any work for it, but the NBSW had agreed to pay them much--hem, anyways, they would just come up and choose one cookie from either case.

As the students filed forwards, hand after hand grabbed at the thick chocolate cookies, hand after hand ignored the crumbling maples. Impatient, Ivan fidgeted as he waited for the line to reach him. When he did, he instinctively moved for the chocolate cookie. However, something deep inside him held him back before he grabbed it. The man made a nearly inaudible noise, and Ivan looked up at him.

For a just a short second their eyes met, but in that second it was like Ivan was seeing a whole new world. When he looked back down at the cookies, they no longer looked like confectionaries, but a red and a blue pill…

Ivan moved his hand away and chose the red pill.

Finally, a bit of

free choice.

~~

Kudos if anyone (including the Admins) got the pill reference!

Also, where this story idea came from is when I read the theme and thought it meant 'free choice', as in, choosing what you want.  

 

{624 words} 

submitted by Clouded Leopard
(October 10, 2016 - 2:31 pm)
A long time ago, in a prosperous and magnificent kingdom, there was a little girl born in a cottage, all alone except for her mother. She had hair darker than night, and eyes greener than the forest she lived in. Everyday, she would stand on her chair by the window, looking out on the world. 
Once she asked her mother, "What is the world out there like?" 
Her mother smiled gently as she sewed. "It is bright and beautiful, my child." 
"Then why can't I go outside?" she asked wistfully. 
Her mother wouldn't answer, just shake her head and sigh with a queer look of sadness. 
The girl hated to see her mother sad, so she never asked again. She grew up into a fine young maiden, and her mother left her alone for long periods of time. Before she would leave, she always reminded her daughter to diligently keep the fire alive and to sew busily. Then she would close the curtains and lock the door, and leave. 
The girl always did as her mother bade, and although lonely, fared well. 
Her mother came back from one of her long trips very tired. After checking the fire, she sat down and began to sleep. On one of these occasions, the girl spotted something in her mother's basket. Curious, she pulled it out and looked at it. It was clothbound on the outside in a brilliant red color. She opened it. On the inside, she saw beautiful pictures of people. Enthralled, the girl turned the pages, mesmerized. Little by little, without the girl noticing, the fire began to die down. Soon, there were only embers left. 
Just then, the girl looked up. She had come to the end of the pictures, and saw how low the fire had gotten. She gasped. 
Her mother woke with a start. But it wasn't her mother anymore. In her place, there was a horrible thing, gnarled and stooped and ugly. When it spoke, it rasped in a rough voice, "You have not kept the fire alive! You have not done that one simple thing I asked of you! I gave you food and clothes, I protected you from the world!" 
The girl simply looked up, terrified. She had never been spoken to with anything but kindness, and she was confused with the sudden change of her mother. 
"Mother-" she started to say, hurt and bemused. 
Then the thing screeched loudly and covered her ears. "Do not call me mother! I am no mother of you and you are not my child!" 
The girl moved quickly to the fire. She threw more wood on it, afraid of the evilness she could sense in the thing. The embers caught onto the wood, licking hungrily as it caught fire. The thing howled and started writhing uncontrollably. After a minute, though, it was still. The girl carefully went over to it and moved the hood. She jumped back with tears. The thing was dead. Her mother was dead. 
Then she felt a hand on her arm. She looked up, tears streaking her face. Her mother stood there, looking young and happy. She started to speak. 
My daughter, why do you cry? You have freed me from my imprisonment. Long ago, when I was young, I fell into the evil of the world. A good witch who had raised me grew increasingly displeased with me. In a fit of anger at one of my misdeeds, she cast me into this cottage because she hoped that alone, I would see the err of my ways. However, this is where a young man stumbled upon me. We fell in love, and soon I was with child. That was you, my daughter. The witch was furious with me, and killed the young man and condemned me to stay here for eternity. She cast a spell on me that you, too, were condemned to stay here, but I was cursed and could not tell you why. Today, you have freed me from the monster inside of me. I am at peace now. You are free to go from this cottage; the curse has been lifted. Find the witch; she will take pity on you and help you, for you are truly good. 
And her mother faded slowly and softly away. 
The maiden went out in the works to seek the witch. Because of her goodness, the witch decided to help her. She gave the girl prosperity and wealth, and gifts of beauty and goodness. Soon, the prince fell in love with her. They married with the witch's blessing and lived in happiness for ever after. The End. 
submitted by Daisy- My story.
(October 10, 2016 - 3:22 pm)
I wrote a super bad story that I don't want to share, so I might not enter. Sorry!
submitted by Moonlight, age 11, Ellesmera
(October 11, 2016 - 12:41 pm)

I completly forgot to enter! So sorry! (Words: 377)

-Pepper Star

Bored.
Bored. Ugh! For the ninth time in the past day, I found myself wondering, What
exactly do they expect us to do? I had finished the state test.

Rule 1: No books.

Rule 2: No writing

Rule 3: No talking.

 

The State Tests, (AKA death to almost any child), were in full swing,
and I had just finished mine. And I was bored. I decided to carefully, gently,
slip a note to Tiffany, my best friend. I dropped my pencil near her. She saw
the note, took it, and gave me my pencil. Safe. She threw it in the trash. I
tried again. She threw it away. As I was about to try again, the teacher saw
me. Oh, heck, I thought to myself. She will get the note, and my test will be
ripped up. Shitake Mushrooms.

Sorry, I forgot to enter. anyway, here it is!

The teacher stopped just short of my pencil. I looked up. She said, “Miss
Ethel, kindly step outside with me!” I was dying. Dying. I followed her
outside. She took me to the office. Lord help me, I prayed. Please! Please! I’ll
do better next time! No luck. I resisted her yelling. I listened to the principal,
who told me that my average would go from 75.54 to a -17.65. All my tests
wouldn’t count. Hours of boredom- wasted! No-one cold help me now. I was dead.

 

And then he gave me a note to send home. I was dead times 15. My
parents were NOT sympathetic. They lectured me, grounded me, and took away my
electronics. No cricket. No Chatterbox. Nothing. At dinner, I silently ate my
squash soup. The time for wishing was done. I needed a miracle.

 

I silently went to my room. An uncle, being an exotic man, had given me
a wishing stone, imbued with one wish by a Hindu priest. I nearly wasted my
wish on an I phone 7. Thankfully, I hadn’t. I wished, with all my might, that I
could wake up, go to school, and not once pass a note to Tiffany. I also wished
that I might carry some knowledge of what happened, so I would never do it again.

 

Suddenly, the room around me faded out. I was in bed, ready to get up
for the day.

Normal
0

false
false
false

EN-US
ZH-CN
X-NONE

/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:8.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:107%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}

submitted by Pepper Star
(October 11, 2016 - 6:13 pm)

I'm going to extend the word limit. Sorry to everyone who's already posted their stories! The new limit will be 2,000 words. I think that's the longest I will extend it to. Happy writing!

submitted by September
(October 11, 2016 - 9:11 pm)

Oh my gosh! I am so, so, sorry about the last part! I think the computer must have glitched, because i am fairly sure it wasn't like that when i submitted.

Do you mean that's how long the story must be?

submitted by Pepper Star
(October 12, 2016 - 5:30 pm)

No, it's just that your story can't be longer than 2,000 words. It has to be at least 300 words, though. 

submitted by September
(October 12, 2016 - 11:45 pm)
123next ›last »