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Contests
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January 2014 Short Story Contest [CLOSED]
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Congratulations to the winner of our contest,
Ali!
Her story is featured below and can also be found in the February 2014 Struggling Writers Newsletter!His body trembled as he took his last, rattled gasp for air. In his eyes flickered all the sorrow, happiness, and regret of the life he had led. Each of the wrinkles on his wizened face told a story, and each story was as beautiful as life itself. His withered body lay on a bed with white sheets. Flowers of every color lined every inch around him, all etched with the townspeople's names and their wishes for his next lift. Around the bed, people of all ages in sizes, all dressed in brilliant white clothing, knelt down in a circle with their heads bowed.
There was a beauty in his last breath, the breath that would end his well-lived life and pass on to the child that formed from his ashes. His century-old eyes reflected the clear, blue skies as they closed ever-so-gently, travelling on the last journey they would ever travel down to the skin on his lower lid.
His body became motionless.
A white-robed boy holding a torch lit with fire walked up to the bed fearlessly and lit up the white sheet. They caught on fire immediately, incinerating the body of the man, but his presence was still in the air. The people could feel it, wafting around and searching for its new host. The fire grew hotter and hotter, higher and higher, until every flower had withered into dust.
But still the presence remained. The fire subsided as quickly as it had spread. All it left behind was a pile of ashes.
The people raised their head expectantly, waiting for the transformation they had been anticipating ever since the man took his last breath.
Slowly but surely, the ashes started to transform. It was barely perceptible at first, just a tiny movement among the thousands of particles that were piled on top of each other, but it was there. The beginning of the beautiful, long life that the man was sure to lead.
The ashes seemed to have a mind of their own as they painstakingly formed the tiny parts of the new body that the presence would inhabit. Soon the people could see the feet, the arms, the torso, the head come together in a body built by the ashes.
When the ashes all came together, the dusty powder that had layered on top of the being’s skin washed away, and all that remained was a baby.
They could feel the presence flow past them and fill the body that had just formed.
The impossibly soft, wrinkle-less baby let out a tiny breath of fresh air.
A new beginning had started.
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Since today is the start of an annually fresh year, this writing contest will focus on new beginnings. You can write about any type of new beginning, whether it involves new relationships or new career openings, as long as you can form it into a short story. Be sure to vividly describe, punctuate, and grammar-check, as these typed stories will be judged by the five moderators of the group--Ingrid, Jessica, Irene, Tara, and Laura. Here are some of the rules so you don’t forget:
RULES:
*All entries are due by January 28th at 12:00AM EST.
*One entry per member of the group.
*No vulgar language or obscene content will be accepted.
*Your entry must be posted in this thread, can only be posted once, and is limited to one post only. (In other words, your short story can't be so long that it requires more than one post to post it.)
*The winner will be contacted via a private message from one of the Struggling Writer's Moderators.
*If by January 29th the winner has not replied to the message and confirmed their status of being a winner, their win will be revoked and handed to a runner-up.
The winning short story will be featured in the February Struggling Writers Newsletter (:
Good luck to all and we'll be crossing our fingers for you!