- The entry must be between 150 - 300 words. (In order to see how many words your entry is, write it in Microsoft Word, or you can copy and paste it here.)
- The deadline for the contest will be the Thursday after next.
- The winners will receive a badge for their blog, as well as extra points (see the point system below).
- The winner will be chosen based on the judges's preferences, as well as the following questions: Does this entry capture my attention immediately? Does it make me want to continue reading? Is the writing clear? They will also take into consideration the writer's voice and style--not necessarily technical issues, such as grammar, punctuation, etc.
- This is only for fun and to stretch your writing muscles--not necessarily to be taken too seriously. =)
- A critique on of one of their MMC entries
- A blog critique
- A 300 - 600 word critique on your novel, short story, blog post, etc
- The opportunity to judge one of the contests
- A free ebook of PURPLE MOON
- A special surprise sent to your mailbox (snail mail, not email)
The judge panel chooses these winners based on a point system (not to be confused with the point system mentioned above!).
Keep in mind that the judges are not aware of which entry belongs to which participant until after the judging is complete.
The entries that the judges thought were the most intriguing (based on rule #4) are ...
Second place winner:
She was like a rose, deceptively beautiful, until someone got
close enough to be pricked.
And then you bleed until you could bleed no longer. Or so it seemed to me. I would be speaking from experience, you know. I was pricked once. I didn’t do anything to desire such a retaliation. I just asked her out to the old cafe on Main Street. Then again I hadn’t put on deodorant that morning so maybe I frightened her away with my masculine smell. I nearly frighten my Mom away, but she is strong than she looks and she chased me into the shower. My Mom also told me that if I couldn’t clean myself, she would do the cleaning for me. Like I couldn’t give myself my own shower. I was almost an adult for goodness sakes. Okay, maybe not almost adult, but close enough!
And then you bleed until you could bleed no longer. Or so it seemed to me. I would be speaking from experience, you know. I was pricked once. I didn’t do anything to desire such a retaliation. I just asked her out to the old cafe on Main Street. Then again I hadn’t put on deodorant that morning so maybe I frightened her away with my masculine smell. I nearly frighten my Mom away, but she is strong than she looks and she chased me into the shower. My Mom also told me that if I couldn’t clean myself, she would do the cleaning for me. Like I couldn’t give myself my own shower. I was almost an adult for goodness sakes. Okay, maybe not almost adult, but close enough!
Back to the girl. It
wasn’t even like I was asking he on a date. I would never do that. I just
wanted to see if she wanted to hang out with my friends and I. Of course I
probably should have worded it a little differently. Though as it was I just
say, ‘Hey you wanna go hang out at the Cafe’. That’s when she punched me in the
face. I didn’t think I would ever get my nose to stop bleeding. The nose bleed
is what ruined my whole afternoon. I couldn’t talk, I was too busy holding a
paper towel to my nose, and all of us kids went home early because we couldn’t
think of anything to do.
Let’s just say that
I wasn’t going to be asking any other girl to hang out with me, ever.
First place winner:
Selena Winters. A small smile tugged the corners of his mouth. Was that the best alias she could conjure? Anyone that knew her in the past would see right through it by the cape she wore and the ribbon in her hair.“Anything else I need to know?”His head jerked up. “Sorry?”“I was just asking if there was anything else I need to know about her. Any hobbies, favorite places, or things she enjoyed when she was younger.” The clean-shaven man behind the desk didn’t look anything like what he had expected of an assassin.The young man shifted his backpack more comfortably on his shoulders. Hunter D’Arrow. He smiled again. He had needed an alias as well, but unlike her, he didn’t care if she recognized his name. “When she was younger, she liked making animals out of clay, especially birds. She had a blue canary and when it died, she was heartbroken. She kept saying her mother killed it.”“Her mother?” The man hiding behind the desk raised his eyebrows.“Excuse me; step-mother.”“Anything else?”Hunter D’Arrow shrugged his broad shoulders. “She loves singing and she’s got a nasty habit of running when people visit. She’s a bit... paranoid.”“Judging by the fact that you’re trying to... what? Kidnap her? I’d say it’s fairly reasonable paranoia.” He smiled his cold smile. “Just one more question.”“Shoot.” Well, there’s a bit of unintended irony.“You seem strong enough. Why don’t you do it yourself?”Hunter’s eyes flickered. “Already tried; no can do.”“Well, that should be everything.” The man stood up and they shook hands. Hunter started to leave, but stopped on the way out.“Oh, and another thing; as I’ve said, she’s crazy.”“Yes?”
“She may or may not claim to be Snow White.”
Congratulations, Elisabeth! Click here for your badge, and don't forget to claim your points here. =)
Thanks so much to everyone who participated!
- Submit your response in the comments below, or post it on your blog via InLink (below -- you will receive 2 extra points!).
- Your response should range between 150 - 300 words.
- The deadline for the contest will be the Thursday after next.
- If you'd rather not submit your post in the comments or on your blog, you may email it to me instead.
Choose at least one:
Note: You can always combine the prompts into one entry.
- Write a passage using these items: silk, lace, caterpillars (submitted by Sierra)
- Write a passage based on this picture (submitted by Maddie)
- Write a passage either incorporating this phrase OR based on this phrase: "They can't do that," I told myself. But they could. Of course they could. (submitted by Maddie)
*If your prompt was selected, be sure to claim your points here.
If you're posting your entry on your blog (+2 points), please add your link below rather than in the comments. And don't forget to claim your points here!
Submit your prompt idea!:
The prompts that are used for Monday's Minute Challenge are submitted by the participants. Here's how this works:
- You will be able to submit 3 prompts each week in the same format as above: three objects, one picture, and a piece of dialogue or phrase.
- On Mondays, I will choose 3 prompts that have been submitted by 3 different people.
- If your prompt is selected, you will receive 2 points!
- You may submit in the comments below.
Current Judge Panel:
Silk, lace, and caterpillars.
ReplyDeleteThey had imprisoned me here in King Lithestuous's palace. They had been kind enough to give me a room, but I was continually checking for traps. Under the lace comforter, in the mahogany wardrobe. The bread, too, needed to be checked for poison. That was how they got me here: with poison. Now, that I was sure that they meant no harm, I needed to figure out why I was here.
That was when I remembered the locked room. The key was still in the lock, but they had told me to never enter it. Without thinking, I slid off the bed, only to trip over my silk dress and almost break my ankle. That was something else they had given me. I hurried on tiptoe to the locked room where I found the key still in its place.
What horrid thing could they be hiding? I thought.
Slowly I opened the creaky door and slid inside. What I saw almost made me faint; however, it was not from fear, but from the beautiful enchantment of it all. In the room, and surrounding me were swarms of blue morpho butterflies. They twirled and fluttered around me like huge cyclone of soft sapphires. I meandered through the azure field to a large marble pedestal in the center of the room. There on a silk pillow lay a lemon yellow caterpillar. It had black prints in large circles, and bright red horns flanked its sides. As I watched, it started to shake and tremble as if it were dying. I reached out my hand and picked it up, but when I opened my hand, there was no caterpillar. Only a pearl.
By Elizabeth
Picture prompt: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/390828073889166374/
ReplyDeleteItem prompt: ice, eyelashes, t-shirt
Sentence prompt: I was no longer afraid of the terrors that lurked behind ever tree stump. But that didn't mean they weren't there.
HP
Items prompt: sawdust, note, stairs
ReplyDeletePicture prompt: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/535013630710542814/
Sentence prompt: His (or her) words should have come as surprise to me. But somehow, they were expected.
Item prompts: parsley, dirt, coin(s)
ReplyDeletePicture prompt: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/407294360028103903/
Sentence prompt: I turned around to get a better look and immediately wished I hadn't.
I hadn’t known it would end this way. To be safe one moment and gone the next. It was Wednesday. She wanted to see me.
ReplyDeletering ring
“Hello?”
“It’s me.”
“You?! what do you want?”
“Help.”
“Like last time?”
“Seriously, I need help! They are coming! They will kill me!”
“No, I can’t.”
“Please!”
“No.”
“Then… I’ll tell them.”
“No!”
Silence. I sighed and watched a caterpillar crawl slowly onto another branch. I set down the phone and started to twist the silk handkerchief in my hand.
“She wouldn’t.”........ 4:30...5:00...6:00.
ding dong.
I didn’t answer. I wouldn’t. A paper slipped under the door.
lace it said. I clenched my teeth together. She wouldn’t dare. I went to the kitchen and got a cup out of the cupboard. I hadn’t used it for years. I poured some hot water onto a bag of chai tea. I waited. The doorbell rang insistently. No, I won’t. I thought. I took a drink. The bell stopped.The power turned off. I heard a thud. I rushed to the door. I opened it. She fell in. No pulse. Nothing. She was dead. My head began to spin. I went to the phone. It was dead. Of course it would be, no power. I ran to the kitchen. I sat down. A thought flashed through my head.
“No.” I said. I poured the tea down the drain. “That is why I hadn’t used it. Faintly smeared, yet still there.
You’ve been poisoned.
"They can't do that," I told myself. But they could. Of course they could. I fell to the ground. Darkness.
Prompts:
ReplyDeletepaint, pears, ribbon
http://i00.i.aliimg.com/wsphoto/v0/1885889808_1/Free-shipping-canvas-prints-girl-in-flower-field-of-richard-s-johnson-art-appreciation-reproduct-as.jpg_350x350.jpg
I should have known he would betray me. If only I hadn't been so blind.
Innocent. Innocent is what described the baby. Eyes that had never seen anything. Ears that hadn't heard anything. Fingers that had never touched anything.
ReplyDeleteShe held the baby in her arms as if it were porcelain. She bent her head and kissed the baby's forehead.
The baby had been left on a hospital bed; found because of his crying. Evalyn hadn't ever held a baby before. Not before that day. And there was no feeling on earth like holding a newborn baby.
"His mother can't do that." She told herself. But his mother could. Of course she could. And she had done it.
Evalyn walked slowly, carefully, to the kitchens. But they were deserted. The only thing that showed that anyone had been there recently was a lukewarm mug. From the smell, she thought that it must be a peach tea and there was a lipstick stain on one side. The tea was so clear that she could see the bottom, and the words written there.
You've been posioned.
The mug slipped from her hand; the handle broke off as it hit the cement floor and the tea spilled out. Now there was another smell that she had not smelled earlier. Laudnum.
"Someone tried to poison you. And you just ruined the evidence." A familiar voice said from behind her. She turned sharply, his name on her lips and relief flooding her soul.
"James."
My prompts:
ReplyDelete1) https://www.pinterest.com/pin/295196950551105832/
2) dish, bits, dust
3) We're running for our very lives, and she chooses this moment to say, "I told you so."
-Maddie