Discussion -- 300 Word Challenge #8

[Culhwch]

It's not usually a problem, but today also happens to be the deadline for a job application that I have also been working on the last few nights, switching between that and the story, so I think the one confused the other, so to speak... I've no real excuse, though - I've had thirty-one days to write the thing, and twenty-one to post it!

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I sympathize. I nearly forgot to post mine, too, because it wasn't done this morning, and I was afraid that something would distract me.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Hard luck, Cul, and Reiver. I had a devil of time getting to a shortlist, and I like to vote early so I don't get swayed by others' comments. In the end I had to get down to absolute nits to bring it down. Anyway, this is what I got to:

Glen, really active, great description
Mouse, food! I was hungry. Fantastic telling without telling!
Karn, i found this one really evocative
Lenny, fabulous voice
Deo, i sniggered through most of this
The dusty zebra, a really lovely idea, beautifully portrayed
Alchemist, a classic horror story, told really well
Crystal haven, great voice
Phyrebrat, i just loved the rhythm and voice in this one.
Hex, fantastic alternative little mermaid.
Boneman, rather beautiful.

Um, so that was the longest short list I have had, I reckon

Final five were TDZ, Alc, Phyrebrat, hex and mouse

And I went for Phyrebrat, Mouse and my favourite this month, which was Alchemist's.

 

[Boneman]

Though some who went for one vote recanted ... I am remembering one of them in particular.

I don't remember that far back... My appeals for more votes are tongue-in-cheek, not to be taken too seriously, mainly because I always want to reward so many excellent stories! Maybe when the 1500 word challenge starts we can have more votes...

Sorry to hear you missed it, Cul, and I hope your story didn't appear on the job application under 'What you can bring to this position'...

 

[Bowler1]

Votes – Mouse, BigJ, Scott R Forshaw, Grinnel, Alchemist, Hex, TSP, Ursa and Mosaix.

I don’t have nine votes so I had some problems.
So, Mosaix, Hex and SRF.

For my other six, good stuff – sorry.

Ahh, 1,500 word challange, that would be fun.

 

[Talysia]

That was difficult! Excellent entries, and of a very high standard - which made whittling down my top ten to just three stories incredibly hard.

Honourable mentions:
springs
BigJ
Karn
Perpetual Man
Lenny
nixie
The Judge

In the end, my three votes went to The Dusty Zebra, Chrispenycate and Crystal Haven. Well done everyone!

 

[Perpetual Man]

Boneman - There is so much that is good in here that it just hard to know just where to begin. There is such wonder in capturing that innocent magic that children have when looking at things as old and mundane as a shipwreck, not seeing it with adult eyes, but that sense of wonder that the older and jaded sometimes lose. Then there is he feeling of loss, the terrible accident that seems as natural and in place as any wonder, so real and sad that one can almost see it. There is the ancient tradition of blood sacrifice; or the sacrifice of an innocent life and the power that might have, and the wonder it can lead to. All of these things are encapsulated so well that it makes a story that is magic in itself.

TSP – (Is it me, or have I not been typing this name as much recently).There is a lesson taught here, and important one I think. And that is that it is very easy to see yourself as superior when you are placed in a society that you do not understand. What to the observer is primitive, might just be different, and when you mess with it, it is you that has to deal with something you cannot understand. The story works perfectly and you can follow the logic of the sailors as they find themselves hoist by their own petard. It’s quite an unusual end for me, because I’ve no sympathy and don’t particularly want them rescued. They got what they deserved.

Ursa – A story about differences and how something truly different can lead to prejudice and fear. It is an interesting examination of how human kind might react to the creation of something capable of sentient thought. Would it be cause of celebration, or something to be feared and locked away somewhere. The answer here is not a good one, but even more when you consider that this lone entity might be superior to us in so many ways. There is a glimmer of hope when we realise the exile is not a punishment, but a hope of saving something different and unique, but even an act of compassion can turn out badly, that an attempt to save can turn hope to despair, that a kind act can also become an act of cruelty.

Thanks for the short listing Talysia

 

[Boneman]

One of the wonderful things about the challenges is Perp's amazing summing up of our stories, which I look forward to enormously, as I feel vindicated by what I've written, when his words do such a fantastic job. Thank you, sincerely, Perp - I really don't know how you do it!

And thanks also to Starbeast, the sorcerer's apprentice, for his precis.

Springs, thanks for that shortlist - to get on anyone's is a major achievement this month, because there are so many great entries. Have to start whittling my own list...

 

[Mouse]

Thanks, springs!

 

[Perpetual Man]

You are more than welcome BM, I think I have said it before, but you would not believe how much easier it makes the decision making when it comes to the vote.

Of course more votes would make it even easier

 

[Perpetual Man]

TJ – A wonderful story that is as multi-layered as it is magical. What an incredible idea, an entity that collects the souls of ships, giving them a greater reality, a meaning to the stories that tell of their struggles against winds and gales. Particularly those doomed to fiery oblivion. But it is the scope of this, a story that stretches back to the days of myth, and then straight ahead into the future, and here we get another unexpected twist. It seems this being is more than just something that carries out a prescribed task. It can think and feel, that it is touched by the apparent bond between man and vessel, can actually do something about it, can save... and a hint that the thing more precious than a ships soul is one that is bound with its captain. Truly beautiful.

Teresa – If ever there was a tale to put a shiver up my spine – no necessarily in a bad way either. This story of a shipwreck and the casualties. What could be more terrible than the loss of a child, than finding a trail or a last place to look and that place is a place of dread? When we see the ghost/echo it seems terrible, but there is the magic of the piece, despite all things that give the feeling of horror, the spirit seems to be trying to bring the child home. It does not need to be a misguided act? Who is to say that the ghost is not trying to return the child to its mother, any more than the reasons given. It is the struggle against the sae that gives the story its depth, the feeling, the strength of will as the thing with a memory of life tries to bring the child home that brings tension and ultimately triumph to another excellent entry.

Mosaix – What I enjoyed (if that is a word that could be used in a tale that is so dark) are the parallels than run through the sinking of the ship and the fate of the one that doomed them all. While he sinks under the guilt of what his untimely sleep has wrought, his crewmates have sunk below the waves. As they struggled to keep air in their lungs; so he contemplates keeping it out; as they had the decision over life and death taken from them, he has control. His lack of movement in sleep is what dragged them down, his movement when awake is what causes his doom. And finally when death is scant seconds away it is the grasping for life, for a few final breaths that comes to them all. Of course it seems as though he will have to live through it all again. And again.

 

[Ursa major]

Thanks for the summing up, Perp.

 

[Lenny]

My votes are in, and they went to Talysia, alchemist, and The Spurring Platty!

Thanks to those who commented, and thank you to springs and Tal for the mentions.

 

[Starbeast]

And thanks also to Starbeast, the sorcerer's apprentice, for his precis.

You're emensely welcomed Boneman. It's been my pleasure.


The Spurring Platty - A typical trader ship's crew, has an incredible voyage, seemingly peaceful islanders give a figurehead to adorn the vessel's bow. Then, everything spirals into destruction! Awesome, I want to see this made into a movie.

Ursa Major - An abandoned android roams a planet pondering in deep dark thoughts. I love it! This is a tale I didn't expect, I was held tight by this story to the bitter final thought of the android.

The Judge - Tis a time of incredible beings that exist, which eons later will become legends. One mighty being focuses on a seaman who struggles to save a ship from it's fiery doom. Marvelously written in a narritive poetic fashion. Excellent!

Teresa Edgerton - After the wreck of the ship called "Ceres", an evil curses the very sand where it is beached. Shocking ghostly images haunt the area and terrifies a witness, then the derelict is taken by the sea. Very disturbingly good drama.

Mosaix - You may be the last to post, but you dazzled me with your nightmarish and chilling tale of a last crewman of a destroyed ship contemplating suicide. I was on the edge of my seat, then you freaked me out with a fiendish ending. Wow!

 

[Ursa major]

Thanks for your comments, Starbeast.

 

[Starbeast]

You're welcome Ursa Major.

Now comes the hard part, deciding on three votes after creating a short list (if possible, a lot of great stories once again).

 

[mosaix]

Thanks for the vote, Bowler1.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

A vote, yay! Thanks, Talysia, and thanks also to springs for the top-five listing! I should be able to get my voting done this weekend. I hope. I'm glad we have lots of time for it on the 300!

 

[Perpetual Man]

Thanks for the summing up, Perp.

A pleasure as always.

 

[Talysia]

Many thanks for the votes, Lenny and Monsterchic! That's just made my night.