DISCUSSION -- APRIL 2017 300-word Writing Challenge (#25)

[Stuart Suffel]

Yea! Congrats to @The Judge

Commiserations to the rest, esp the close second, @Phyrebrat

 

[Starbeast]

Congratulations The Judge

And...
​

@Phyrebrat - Second Place

@Victoria Silverwolf - Thrid Place

@LittleStar & @TheDustyZebra - Forth Place

@Wruter & @Cat's Cradle - Fifth Place

@HoopyFrood & @Peter V & @chrispenycate & @Joshua Jones & @Stable & @HazelRah - Sixth Place

@Luiglin - Seventh Place

@Shyrka - Eighth Place

 

[Cathbad]

Congrats to The Judge!

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Ohhhh @Phyrebrat so close! Commiserations and a sneaky slice of the staff room cake. And a pretty dress, too. Is pink your color?

Congratulations TJ!

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Congratulations, TJ!!

 

[Cathbad]

LOL Just had a moment of disorientation. "TJ" was the nickname of a member of my LARP team. For a moment I thought... okay...off to take my meds.

 

[Starbeast]

My Tale: I've been wanting to do another Kolchak: The Night Stalker story for a while, and I got my chance. I've written two other Kolchak tales elsewhere (a few years back), and I got the idea while trying to think of a "crime solver", in my horror tale.

Actor Darren McGavin


I've been a fan of the TV series since it first aired in the 1970's, beginning with two movies:
The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler.​

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Mine just came about (sorry, TJ) because when I looked at the picture and thought of blood on the water, that sentence, "Blood on the water and the spirits of the damned", popped in and wouldn't go away. I actually had to look it up to see if I'd gotten it from somewhere, but apparently not. Well, not from anything published, anyway. Anyway, I just had to write the story around it.

 

[Luiglin]

Congrats to @The Judge.

Well that's the best result I've had for a long time. So, thanks to @Perpetual Man @HoopyFrood @Talysia @farntfar and @Peter V for the votes plus thanks for the mentions

 

[Danny McG]

Well done Judge.
Some amazingly good entries in my first 300 attempt.
I got a vote and two mentions so thanks all!
Am now enthusing for another go

 

[mosaix]

Congratulations, TJ!

Commiserations, Phyrebrat.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

This was my best in many a moon, as well! Hugs, and cake, and tremendous thanks to nixie, ratsy, Phyrebrat, Luiglin, Mr Orange, Robert Mackay, Cathbad, AlexH, and even the photo-guy himself, ChrisG for the lovely, lovely votes!

 

[Talysia]

Congratulations, TJ! Well done all, great stories.

Thanks to everyone who shortlisted mine, and to Jo for the surprise vote!

 

[Phyrebrat]

Public Service Announcement:

You're all dead to me



pH

 

[Stable]

Congrats The Judge! Also props to everyone else as well, some really fantastic stories this round.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Public Service Announcement:

You're all dead to me



pH

You can't scare me. I was dead already.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Congratulations TJ!! And well done, all...it was a really good challenge. Thank you to all who listed, or voted for my story!

Only 1.5 months till the next 300 worder!! I wonder what our next challenge picture will be like...

 

[Luiglin]

I wonder what our next challenge picture will be like...

A nightmarish horror of writhing tentacles, midnight shadows, needle like teeth and feather dusters... the multi-coloured ones.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

I wrote that two years ago in a 300 worder!

 

[The Judge]

Goodness, I never expected this. I was well behind last night when I was reading the stories and voting, and I assumed that was where I'd stay. My late surge means I've deprived Phyrebrat of the honour of being the first person to win the 300s in two successive quarters, but let's face it, he looks so much better in pink than I do.

Anyway, commiserations to Phyrebrat, as well as congratulations for his fine story and vote-tally, and congrats to everyone else who took part, too, not least Victoria who again has shown what a great story-teller she is.

Thank you, everyone for the congratulations, and special crimson-flame and green-sea thanks for the votes Teresa, LittleStar and Ursa!


Unlike seemingly everyone else, I didn't think of blood when looking at the image, but the words "coat of red" popped into my mind and I knew it would be a line from a verse handed down through the ages which dealt with otherworldly beings, and I started playing around with the idea that coats of different colours did different things, but I couldn't get anywhere with it. I wanted water in the story, which made me think of selkies (again -- I used them in my mimosa story a while back) but where the traditional stories have the seal-skins being stolen, imprisoning the selkies in human form, it occurred to me to use the red coat as the imprisoning agent. I was actually a bit worried about the ending, as I wanted something which had a hint of optimism, but I was acutely aware of the issues involved in a woman being effectively kept prisoner by a man, and I needed to avoid any hint of Stockholm Syndrome, so I walked a bit of a tightrope, and I wasn't sure if I fell off it. I hope it didn't offend anyone.

By the way, if anyone thought it odd when I mentioned the scent of rosemary, which probably doesn't immediately seem to have a connection with a story of selkies, its Latin name of Rosmarinus actually does mean "dew of the sea" -- perhaps because from a distance the blue flowers appear like drops of sea water.