Wordsmoker

All right, we didn’t reach Samurai Panda Poetry’s goal of having the number of posts equal the contest number (26) and his age (also 26). This is bad news in that it’s very unlikely that the three things will ever converge on the same number again. That would require a complicated age-acceleration process for the Panda, and although I know how to do it, it is risky, and I’m just not willing to chance it. The good news is that Micro-Fiction Roundup has consistently received over ten posts per contest for several weeks now. It appears that people are mulling over the topics for a few days, and then slamming their entries home in the final hours. We’re also pleased to see new participants popping up nearly every time. Regardless of your timing or tenure, please keep the submissions coming.

Here is the recap of last week’s candidates:

• Tipsy Hausfrau — An untitled piece that I am now naming “The Dobermans of  7 C.”
• Swifter — “The Park”
• Skahammer — “Mercy”
• Skahammer — “The Bitch” (It’s okey. I looked it up. It’s not what you think it means.)
• MarshMueller — “Walking Marley”
• MarshMueller — “Walking Ziggy”
• Tom Shotgun — “Walking the Dog”
• Militant Rubber Ducky — “Dog Park”
• Chillbear Latrigue — “My Side: The Peanut Butter Dog Incident”
• KateKate Is Squared — “Can’t You Do That With a Yo-Yo?”
• Militant Rubber Ducky — “Obedience”
• Vox Populi — “The Truth About Cats and Dogs”
• Li’l Quacker — An untitled piece that I am now naming “Dog Flirting.”
• Not Waving But Drowning — “Housebreaking”
• Not Waving But Drowning — “Becoming Creatures”

As you may recall, Shelwood was the victor of last week’s MFR, and therefore, is our judge this week. Here are her selections as they were sent to me:

Winner: MilitantRubberDucky, “Dog Park” (I am a sucker for malevolent characters)
#2 KateKate Is Squared, “Can’t You Do That With a Yoyo?” (pathetic characters too)
#3 LilQuacker, Untitled 11:20pm (I appreciated the punchline)

Congratulations to Militant Rubber Ducky. She’s a consistent contributor to MFR and usually submits multiple entries. Let’s revisit MRD’s MFR entry:

Dog Park

“Nine o’clock, as usual. He watched her take the leash off the small chocolate Lab, who ran around the empty park like a rabid Comanche. Squirrely as she was, the dog was all belly rubs and kisses; he’d made sure to befriend her. Her owner, oblivious, began her morning jog around the track. He thanked how naive people could be; they thought that if they didn’t walk through a bad neighborhood alone after dark, evil couldn’t get them, when the truth of the matter is, evil hunts where they least expect it: elementary schools, Pilates class, church – the dog park.”

Militant Rubber Ducky’s piece occurs is the location of its title: a dog park. Parks come in a variety of types and sizes. In addition to dog, you have ball, amusement, water, corporate, skate, sports, et cetera. You get the idea. For this Micro-Fiction Roundup, the theme is Parks. You can write anything you want, as long as it somehow involves a park. You may also reference playgrounds, nature reserves and botanical gardens.

To set the mood, here’s a tribute to Parker Stevenson’s first television series, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries:

The Rules:

• Your entry must be 101 words or less; if you choose to title your piece, the title will not count against your 101; there is no limit on the amount of entries you can submit.
• The deadline will be Sunday night at midnight. This will give the judge 48 hours to submit his or her selection to me by Tuesday night at midnight.
• If I don’t receive the judge’s selection by one of the established methods (e-mail, Wordsmoker messaging or Facebook private messaging) I will be forced to make the selection so as not to delay the next week’s competition.
• The winner of Micro-Fiction Roundup automatically assumes the responsibility of judging the next week’s competition. Obviously that person can still submit writing, but can’t pick himself or herself as the winner. Otherwise we could end up with some sort of ridiculous perpetual judge situation.
• In the interest of keeping tradition, I will try to select themes based upon the previous week’s submissions when possible.

Don your rangers caps and picnic baskets, Micro-Fictioneers. It’s time to write!

Image via Elektroschutz in 132 Bildern