Monday's Minute Challenge: Writing Prompt Contest for Teens & Up!

A quick writing challenge (and contest) to help get your creative juices flowing for the new week.

1. 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.)
2. The deadline for the contest will be the Thursday after next. 
3. The winners will receive a badge for their blog, as well as extra points (see the point system below).
4. 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. 
5. This is only for fun and to stretch your writing muscles--not necessarily to be taken too seriously. =)

Since the point system has caused a bit of confusion recently, I have decided to take a different approach.
From now on, I will host a monthly giveaway, and one winner will be announced every four weeks. 
Keep in mind that you are in charge of your points from now on. If you win a contest, the only way that you will receive your points is by clicking the entry below. 
Also, if you have already liked my Facebook page, followed me on Twitter, etc. then make sure to click those entries as well in order to receive your points. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Prizes:

There will be one randomly-selected winner chosen from the above raffle each month. They will have the choice of receiving one of the following prizes:

• 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)

 

Since there were only four submissions last week, the judges only chose two winners (which was not easy!). Thanks to everyone who participated!

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: 

Little Sam sat on the floor, toy soldiers in hand. Looking out at the rain that was coming in torrents from the clouds, he tried to decide which story should be played out with the little green men. Should he tell the real story? Or the one that should have been? Nodding to himself when he’d decided, he set the two plastic figures next to the others that were already in position. Turning, he reached into the bucket beside him, and pulled out a tank, setting it on one of the opposing sides. Three men he placed on a toy train, and the soldiers traveled from the far end of the room to the middle of it. The men jumped quickly down when they reached it, ready to help their fighting brothers.

The battle was looking bleak when they arrived. So many men had fallen, and there were countless wounded. But all was not lost, for with them now was fighting Sergeant Lee West, the best soldier that ever lived. Quickly, he helped the forces break through, and (was it possible?) blew up the tank on the opposing side. Victory hung in the air. And Sergeant West: he was a hero, the greatest one of all.

Sam picked up the little man, in his chubby hand. Lovingly, he turned him over and looked at the bottom of the toy’s stand. On it was written “Da” - a letter had rubbed off. Running to his desk and finding a marker amidst the clutter of things, he uncapped it and wrote the missing letter. “Dad,” it now read, in a child’s scribbled hand.

The little boy looked at the toys in the middle of the room and smiled. He’d done it. He’d changed the past to the way it should have been.

Congratulations, Maddie! Click here for your badge, and don't forget to claim your points here. =)

First place winner: 

     I’ve always despised the past.

What was it about humankind that kept them desperately looking ahead, only to realize that they had ruined the “now,” and it was gone forever? Why was it that no one thought of the damage they wreaked upon the innocent who lived in the middle of the now? Why hadn’t I realized…

Eight years ago why did I not realize.

I held her letter in my hand as the train tugged along its track, jostling the cars. Shabby paper dated a month before my fateful arrival. She had asked me to come, and I had come. Eight years ago I had come. And now I came again.

The past could be changed, I was sure of it.

I watched her leave the first time, trudging desolately away from the place, a newspaper covering her head and her broken heart. The picture of young innocence waiting for her hero who would never arrive. Aching longing to have that moment back burned in me now, but then I was only naïve.

I did arrive. But I stepped back on the train.

---

Today’s skies were overcast and grey with thunder. I couldn’t have asked for a better replicated day to mirror those eight long years ago. Everything would be identical, except my mistake. She would come to the train to meet me, eight years older. She would look for me with those desperate blue eyes of hers, eight years stronger. And this time, once I departed the train platform. I would not return.

I would stay.

But eight long years later everything was not the same. With the mark of eight years on it, the station was vacant of all life that mattered.

Eight long years later, among the crowds and the faces, she was not there.

Congratulations, Lace! 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.

(Optional) Write a passage continuing your entry from last week week (or whichever week you'd prefer). If you can, try to continue it using one of the following prompts.

• Write a passage using these items: spark, eyes, dark (submitted by Maddie)
• Write a passage based on this picture (submitted by Mary B)
• Write a passage either incorporating this phrase OR based on this phrase:  
   I could turn away now and no harm would be done, but I would be plagued all my life with curiosity. Or I could open it, and change my life forever. (submitted by Kendra)

*If your prompt was selected, be sure to claim your points here. 

Post your entry on your blog!:

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:

• Tessa Emily Hall
• Kate Petty
• Caroline George