Contests

Story Contest: Escaping a Monster

What a lot of monstrously close calls there are in this month’s issue! Will, in “The Moss from the Chimera’s Cave,” beguiles an irritable chimera. Metok, in “A Greenland Rope Trick,” outwits a hungry polar bear. Cymbril barely escapes the claws of an angry harpy. And Sam McGee, the gold rusher from Tennessee, discovers a very unusual way to beat the monstrous cold of the Yukon. Obviously, great monsters make for some great stories.

So for this month’s contest, we’d like you to write your own story about escaping a monster. Will you rely on trickery or courage or both to defeat your bothersome beast? Will your monster be a real animal? A fantasy creature? Or something not even alive, like a dangerous storm? Whatever you choose, conquer your fears and send us your best story of 350 words or less about escaping a monster. Everybuggy will be cautiously opening the Cricket Country
mailbox to see what frightening monsters you’ve sent us.

  • (Show Rules)
    Here are the only rules: (Hide Rules)
    1. Your contest entry must be your very own original work. Ideas and words should not be copied.
    2. If
      you're 14 years old or younger, your entry must be signed by your parent or guardian, saying it is your own original work, that no help
      was given, and granting Cricket permission to publish prizewinning entries in the April 2009 issue or on our Web site. If
      you're older than 14, you must sign your own work, verifying that it is original.
    3. Be sure to include your name, age, and full address on your entry.
    4. Only one entry per person, please.
    5. If you want your work returned, enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope for each entry.
    6. Incomplete entries cannot be considered. Your entry will be incomplete if you forget to include your age or a signature verifying that your work is
      original.
    7. Your entry must be received by 25 January 2009.
    8. Send entries to:
      Cricket League
      P.O. Box 300
      Peru, IL 61354