APRIL 2025 SCIENCE FICTION MICROSTORY CONTEST (Comments Only)

[Jot]

Theme: Lost in Translation
Elements: A human raised by aliens

[J.F.]

Congratulations on your win, Jot! And thanks for the post listing previous themes. I often wished we had such a thing available.

[Tom]

Congratulations, Jot, for the well-deserved win - and, thanks for the vote.

[Jot]

Thanks. Anyone write down the themes for 2015? I had to take a guess at these.

[Justin]

Wow, those lists of themes are amazing. We've certainly written about a lot of different things! Congrats on the win Jot!!

[Jot]

Thanks.

[Paula]

Jot wrote: "Thanks. Anyone write down the themes for 2015? I had to take a guess at these."

Have you a copy (print or ebook) of TFIS 3? Most or all of its themes are from 2015 contests. Here they are, from the TOC, in order: Flight; Prophecy; Frequently Repeated; A Rite of Passage; A Repast; A Song; Signs; Vice; Business Commerce Trade; Monsters; Memory; End of the World. I don't know whether the first two or the last two of these were from (respectively) Nov and Dec 2014, or Jan and Feb 2016, however. In any case, folks, think ye the last five themes--beginning with "Vice"--could have been telling us something for our current (then, future) time? A good evening to you!

[Jot]

Thanks. Greg had them as well and unabbreviated. I updated my posted list to include the abbreviated versions.

[Carrie]

Well hot damn Tom, fantastic story you wrote there .... This is an interesting theme 🤔

[Tom]

Carrie wrote: "Well hot damn Tom, fantastic story you wrote there .... This is an interesting theme 🤔"

Thank you very much, Carrie - 'Glad you liked it.

And I agree it's a very interesting theme.

[Tom]

Beautiful story, Carrie. Loved the title. The imagery was great...I could really see the kid, and the bustling atmosphere, as well as the shimmering color and light. Great mix of humor and serious emotion, and masterful use of narrative.

[Carrie]

Thank you!! I had to really trim a lot out to get it down to the 750 words, I forgot just how hard that was. It felt good to write a story again, it's been a long, long time and choosing something a bit simple got me back in the groove.

[Jot]

Welcome back, Carrie!!!

[Carrie]

thanks Jot!

[Tom]

Interesting concept, Justin.

[Paula]

Wow, Justin, what a story. Superb suspense and dialogue. Excellent story. And the jump-to ending does work--and is quite beautiful, and neither too long nor too short. Lovely.

[Jot]

Busy weekend, but was able to manage some time to write a story. Enjoy..but beware the song of the siren.

[Tom]

Fascinating idea, Jot. Greek mythology combined with post-apocalyptic interstellar colonization. The vision was striking. I could see the floating city and the alluring mermaid.

[Jot]

Thanks Tom. You are always kind on your reviews

[Jot]

Made a small mode at the end to specify "boys".

[Justin]

Tom wrote: "Interesting concept, Justin."

Thanks Tom - hopefully that is a "good" interesting and not a "bad" interesting. LOL!

[Justin]

Paula wrote: "Wow, Justin, what a story. Superb suspense and dialogue. Excellent story. And the jump-to ending does work--and is quite beautiful, and neither too long nor too short. Lovely."

Thank you Paula. I asked my youngest brother for authentic pilot dialogue with the tower on final approach since he flies for Delta. I was also inspired by the scene in Close Encounters of the Third Kind with the air traffic control tower talking to two airliners who encounter a UFO.

[Tom]

Justin wrote: "Tom wrote: "Interesting concept, Justin."

Thanks Tom - hopefully that is a "good" interesting and not a "bad" interesting. LOL!"

It's a good one.

[Tom]

An effective summation of irreconcilable cultures and concepts, Greg. (Good comedy relief as well.)

[Paula]

Justin wrote: "Paula wrote: "Wow, Justin, what a story. Superb suspense and dialogue. Excellent story. And the jump-to ending does work--and is quite beautiful, and neither too long nor too short. Lovely."

Thank..."

Oh yes, Justin--and the wondeful rendering of the pilot--tower dialogue is a real part of what makes the story such a winner.
n.b.--I say, and mean, "winner," but I am not going, in fact, to vote on this month's contest since really one needs to have read all the entries at least once to to vote fairly on them. But truly this story stands out.

[Jot]

Waiting for votes from Carrie and Justin...and any other member who chooses to vote.

[Carrie]

oops, thanks for the reminder!

[Justin]

Tom wrote: "Justin wrote: "Tom wrote: "Interesting concept, Justin."

Thanks Tom - hopefully that is a "good" interesting and not a "bad" interesting. LOL!"

It's a good one."

Thanks Tom!

[Justin]

Jot wrote: "Waiting for votes from Carrie and Justin...and any other member who chooses to vote."

Voting momentarily!

[Justin]

Paula wrote: "Justin wrote: "Paula wrote: "Wow, Justin, what a story. Superb suspense and dialogue. Excellent story. And the jump-to ending does work--and is quite beautiful, and neither too long nor too short. ..."

Thanks so much Paula! I do appreciate it!

[Jot]

All votes in. Will post the results tomorrow morning.