Wordsmoker

Since Micro-Fiction Roundup’s inception, we have made significant gains on other major sporting franchises and monarchs. While the NFL is still ahead of us with Super Bowl XLIV (forty-four for novices), they have only had one event to our thirty-two in the last 18 months. If all goes well, we will overtake professional football in number of championship events within the year. Ultimate Fighting is at CXVI, but unlike the NFL, they have more frequent events. Still I am confident that if we persevere, we shall overtake them in the next two years. We have completely eclipsed the Bourbon succession of King Louis, which only made it to XIX.

Last week, we had a bit of a diversion from our usual format. Here are the submissions for Micro-Fiction Roundup XXXI: Advertisements:

BJonston – “Home Shopping”

LisaBee – Untitled

Rosie Cheeks – Untitled

Militant Rubber Ducky – “Maximum Exposure”

Bell Tolls – “Taking Meetings”

Penny Danger – “Window Dresser”

Chillbear Latrigue – “Meltdowns are the New Substance Abuse”

Lisabee was last week’s winner, and consequently, this week’s judge. Due to a combination of forgetfulness and travel, she was not able to give me her decision before the deadline. She didn’t entirely forget. She left town before she remembered, and did not have computer access once she did. Don’t fret; we have a contingency plan. The responsibility now falls to me.

After much deliberation, I have selected BJonston’s “Home Shopping.” I actually liked all of the submissions (other than my own) but “Home Shopping” contained the elements of cheap Chinese products, glue smell and Esteban. In other words, it pleased on multiple levels. Here is the award winning entry:

“What the fuck is that?”

“Huh? It’s a guitar. Obviously.”

“Ok. Where’d it come from?”

“I bought it.”

“You already have a guitar.”

“Yeah but this one’s different. It’s an electric acoustic guitar, with a three band equalizer. And, it came with a case, an amplifier and an instructional video plus a chord chart. Guess how much the whole thing cost.”

“How much?”

“A hundred and twenty bucks.”

“The box says it’s made in China and it smells like glue. And who the fuck is Esteban?”

“Ok. It was late, I was drunk and the infomercial got me. Sorry.”

Congratulations, BJ. This is such a topic rich piece, I almost hate to choose just one for the next week. However, due to the presence of a guitar, the topic for Micro-Fiction XXXII is THE MUSICAL INSTRUMENT. Your word magic can be about any topic as long as a musical instrument makes an appearance.

Please note that the amended rules are still in effect:

• 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 Monday morning at 2:00 AM. This will give the judge forty-eight forty-six 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.

Now here’s a little something to get your mojo working:

No start clacking, Micro-fictioneers.