Micro-Fiction Roundup XLII: “Dear Dia— Journal”
July 31, 2011 in Micro-Fiction Roundup
Two weeks have gone by and it’s once again time for the new installment of Micro-fiction Roundup. Wait? What’s this? Have I gone completely mad? Did I magically transport back to 2010? Stop with your incessant questions, frenchy. Everything is fine. I’m doing the MFR for Militant Rubber Ducky this week for a couple of reasons. The first is that she is going to be in a state that has no internet. The second reason will be disclosed shortly, but I’m sure you can imagine what it might be. This past contest was judged by the insidious Perverseus. Here are the submissions:
- Latterday Lenin – Chad & Steve Move to Guatemala!!!
- Chillbear Latrigue – Calling Axl on his Bullshit
- Skahammer – PERSONAL PREFERENCE
- Militant Rubber Ducky – Captain’s Log: 15 September 1932
- Militant Rubber Ducky – All The World’s Skies
- Skahammer – HARDCORE
- levari – untitled piece
- Skahammer – HOW ABOUT THURSDAY?
- Chillbear Latrigue – Practical Jokes You Can Play in the Jungle
Here’s what Perverseus had to say:
First, I want to thank Skahammer for his/her/its excellent taste in micro-fiction, which gave me the chance to be judge, jury, and executioner…even if it is limited to 101-word stories. Don’t spoil my bender, I’m positively tipsy with power. As the (un)official villain of Wordsmoker, I felt obligated to select a micro-fiction entry that properly reflected strong Christian values, limited government, and at least one or two pairs of bare breasts. While none of the entries fit that criteria, I will admit that I enjoyed every entry.
It was a close call. I almost picked “Calling Axl on his Bullshit.” To not only reference Toss Across, but to actually supply a link to an illustration of the classic game of tic-tac-throw, is an almost epic pop culture reference. Had the man behind the check-in counter said they were not “savages” instead of “barbarians,” which is more in keeping with the jungle theme, it might have been victorious. Instead, this week’s winner is “Captain’s Log: 15 September 1932,” which I just learned was written by MilitantRubberDucky. (Yep, I may be a villain, but I actually copied and pasted the entries in a document without the names of the authors. Blame it on too many years in higher education.) While I tend to go for humor, I thought this piece really created an interesting scene. I found myself wanting to read more entries from the log, which is shocking because I tend to have the attention span of … hey, are those cookies?
Nice job, MRD.
So now do you see why MRD couldn’t post this week’s piece? You should all be ashamed of yourselves. Here’s her award-winning entry:
Captain’s Log: 15 September 1932
The days are scorching; the sun so bright I think it will swallow this whole godforsaken island. Air so heavy and sticky it seems my lungs will crush under the weight of it, sapping my strength faster than I can recover. The days are wretched, but the nights are frighteningly worse; the wreckage of my biplane provides little cover, the only thing keeping the hungry beasts at bay is my campfire, their eyes predatory in the blackness. If the rumbling sky is any sign, I will lose even that last defense – I fear I shall not survive the ever encroaching night.
Congrats to Militant Rubber Ducky (who may or may not have somehow cheated).
Now, in keeping with our tradition, this bi-week’s theme will draw from Militant Rubber Ducky’s winning submission. After discussing it with the incoming champion and hostess of MFR, I declare that Micro-Fiction XLII’s theme will be diary JOURNAL ENTRIES. All submissions should come in the form of something that one would write in his or her personal journal. Other than that, it’s wide open.
RULES
Your entry must be 101 words or less; if you choose to title your piece, the title will not count against your word count; there is no limit on the amount of entries you can submit.
- You will have two weeks to submit an entry; the deadline will be Tuesday nights at midnight. This will give the judge 48 hours to submit his or her selection to me by Thursday night at midnight (That’s the midnight that leads into Friday, not the midnight that leads Wednesday to Thursday. You’d think some [read: me] would know this. You’d be wrong though.). The deadlines were originally Wednesday and Friday, respectively, but I goofed and now it’s fixed to give the judges and me (mostly me) time to get up the new topic.
- 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 themselves 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.
- REMINDER: You are allowed and encouraged to submit multiple entries.
To put you all in the mood, here’s a little clip from Doctor Doogie Howser’s hit show:
Fiction on, you glorious tiny story bastards.
