Discussion -- 300 Word Challenge #7

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Silvermoon – A beautiful and enlightening way of looking at death and beyond. There is a genuine warmth and feeling of peace that permeates the story, making it almost a blissful look into teh final beyond. Excellent warming and touching.

JohnnyJet – This is one of those stories that I could find no single defining element why, I just loved it. From the prose, to the description to the actual story and the ideas behind it just worked. There was a lot there but it did not feel squeezed. A man pressured against his will to build something incredible, will it work or will it fail? It’d up to the reader to decide.

Robjwhite – from the moment I started the story I did not really know where it was going. There seemed to be two options, but I could not decide which was which. Was the captain really being shaved or had his head been separated from his body? The surprise came from the fact that neither was correct he was just absent. The real kicker though was his death. It all but tells you what is going to happen and it still takes you by surprise. Excellent.

Stormcrow – What a chilling little masterpiece. It conjures up the perfect scene. Making you wonder just what is going to happen. Again. Much like the previous story all the pieces are put into place, but until the move into their final configuration you cannot know what will happen. The inclusion of a song is daring, and that is a well written tale within it’s own right. Superb.

Glen – The first thing I liked about this story was the way the protagonist kept coming back. The inventive continuation of the story ending with his death combined with the linking thread of the song just made it. The damned feeling that overlays it seems to tell of a man trapped in his own purgatory to which there is no end, the song says I got you... just who has him eh?
 
Let's compromise, BM, and take the difference, so...









...four minus three equals one. Or we could stick with the current three.
 
Perp Man - Thank you for the your amazing comments: HUGELY appreciated!
I'm really glad you enjoyed my story..and song - lots of fun to write!

All round, an excellent crop of tales already I reckon.
 
Spooky!

Speaking of witch (;)), I've finally had an idea and have turned it into the first draft. (Phew! :)) I'll read it tomorrow morning and, if necessary, completely rewrite it. (And I'd also better check that no-one's had a similar idea.)
 
TSP – I think this one deserves a mention for the title alone, takes me back to a happy day at the cinema. The story of course is a wonderful one. As soon as the cat turned up I knew it was trouble, but I did not see as being so... lethal as it was, anyone with bad thoughts toward it or its own gone. I did not see the innkeepers fate coming, another excellent tale.

TacticalLoco – Every now and then in these little challenges there comes a story that just really blows you away – it might not even have the same effect on anyone else, it just hits one reader as being genius, and this is one such story. I loved the different applications of the word eat, the language used, the whole story from beginning to the end. It was like a perfect snippet of life, with a glimmer of good souls at the end, amid a swirling black of a drudgery life. I ate the story up and it was delicious.

Brev – I’m not sure if I was meant to but I found a lovely vein of humour running through the story. An inventor searching for his boot that was lost in some mad experiment/accident, taking his foot with it. The thought process shown as he continued with the experiment despite the loss of his appendage, and the desire to continue might actually have added a sinister edge to a well crafted and amusing tale.

Al – I think this is one of those stories that catches the old adage, be careful what you wish for perfectly. Someone desperate to escape from an unhappy marriage, prepared to do anything to escape should be aware of the consequences and how sometimes fairy wishes come with a double edge. The ending was not exactly what I expected, but that made it all the better. Bet she wishes she stuck to her marriage vows now.

BM – Now I have a problem with this story. At the end it clearly states that there are directions attached to the poor woman trapped in the cabin. And they are not here!! Come on how are we meant to mount a rescue? She’s stuck there all alone with goodness knows how man vampires, and someone forgets to include the attachment. Sigh, loved the story, there was a genuine feeling of isolation that was enhanced by the thought of the suicide.
 
Perpetual Man, I just don't know what to say after a review like that. I was concerned that my story was so weird no one would like it at all. Thank you so much for reversing that feeling. I hope my head isn't too big but I really feel the desire to even write more now.
 
My pleasure, TL.

I think I'll say it now, but this month it feels to me as though the standard of entry seems to have roared through the stratosphere. Each time I read another story and start to wonder how I'm going to have to write my comment, and then get blown away.

In a normal month, if I'm really lucky one or two stories might take my breath away. This month it happened so often I'm in danger of asphyxiation.

Absolutely.

Incredible.
 
Perpetual Man, I just don't know what to say after a review like that. I was concerned that my story was so weird no one would like it at all. Thank you so much for reversing that feeling. I hope my head isn't too big but I really feel the desire to even write more now.

A bit of weird is a good thing when it comes to creativity. Now get your head down and write some more like a good lad. :)
 
Bowler - not only is this the Chrons, but it's also Halloween so who is to say that even death could stop me from voting, I mean I've done it once and I'm still here...



Lucky Lola – Sometimes it is the whole story that first grabs the attention, other times it is a line here or there, when it is the opening line it is even more spectacular. In this instance the opening two lines just came across as a thing of beauty, and over something as mundane as a cup of tea. A great story following it up, about man tired of al he has done, living with his regrets and just wanting to die is just a bonus.

The Holy Drunk – And straight into a story of horror, quite fitting for Halloween – as I write this comment – I had a slight claustrophobic feeling as I read this, just that deep rooted fear of being trapped as whatever was being done was done. We have no idea what is going on, whether it is for his own good or not, but I fear the worst. The description of the old mother is just outstanding a terrifying figure from a forgotten fairytale if ever there was one.

Billy Sallis – A story that show how corporate power can corrupt even the most noble of ideas, but also of how a man with a dream might find it hard to give up, and then again how even the greatest of dreams might be seen differently by others. There is a Frankenstein feel to his, but it is one that elicits sympathy, for the creator and frustration that people act when they do not have the whole story in front of them.

PM – A straightforward story that may or may not be a werewolf story. I think for me, that is what made it so enjoyable, all the details are given and it is easy to jump to conclusions, but we are not told completely what it is all about. Oh, we know it’s his wife come back as a wolf to eat him... but it could just be Benji coming home. The undefined nature makes the story a cracking read.

HB – And here the boot is put straight in, a totally different and off the wall story that could come across as making no sense whatsoever, but with consummate ease we can follow a story that is as weird as it is wonderful. The real kicker though is the punchline at the end. Brilliant, creative and far too clever in the best possible way.
 
I have never run this close to the deadline in the 300! I can tell it's late, because I'm following Cul. Eeek!
 
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