Discussion -- January 2018 -- 75 Word Challenge

Not my favourite theme nor genre to read, I have to confess, but perversely my initial shortlist was far longer than usual this month, so I've had to cull some good stories just to get it down to a reasonable length:

Ashleyne -- Outrun the Sun
Cat's Cradle -- Call and Response
Glen -- Spring
johnnyjet -- Sisyphus
LittleStar -- Homeward
Mr Orange -- Left Foot, Right Foot
Perpetual Man -- Life
Shyrka -- A Spoonful of Sugar
TDZ -- Are we there yet?
Teresa -- Occidere nuntius
The Big Peat -- A Lonely Duty
Warren Kramer -- Shelter​

I had a real problem choosing between TDZ's parental journey, TBP's realisation that being saved might be no paradise, and Warren's insane narrator, but in the end plumped for TBP for his wonderful imagery.


In view of my problems with the theme and genre I thought my story-seedling would be entirely overlooked by the towering oaks of the other entries, so many ribstone pippin thanks for the lovely mentions/shortlistings Parson, Cat's Cradle, Glen, Suzanne, Chris p and Alex, and great big delicious egremont russet thanks for the wonderful votes, TBP and paranoid marvin! (Um... paranoid you've not actually voted! But thank you for the thought!)
 
The Judge said:
In view of my problems with the theme and genre I thought my story-seedling would be entirely overlooked by the towering oaks of the other entries, so many ribstone pippin thanks for the lovely mentions/shortlistings Parson, Cat's Cradle, Glen, Suzanne, Chris p and Alex, and great big delicious egremont russet thanks for the wonderful votes, TBP and paranoid marvin! (Um... paranoid you've not actually voted! But thank you for the thought!)
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It's not the only reason it stood out for me, but I loved the optimism of your story. All it takes is that one person.
 
Quickly popping in to vote.

Nods to Ashleyne, phyre and Shyrka. With a very close second place to Reiver. But my vote this time goes to Johnnyjet. Great story.
(y)
 
Got my vote in! Voted for Shyrka's A Spoonful of Sugar. I'll put out my short list later. Lots of great stories!

This past week has been crazy (in hospital for four days, then rushed to catch a flight to Florida to attend a wedding yesterday) and I haven't been online for a while. Nice surprise to see my little story got some votes and mentions! Thanks to all those who listed and voted for my story!
 
Thank you to pyan and nixie for the votes, and to everyone who mentioned my story.

___

And now for my lists:

Long list, short list, finalists, *vote*

mosaix
Hugh
David Evil Overlord
nixie
Joshua Jones
SPoots
Warren Kramer
Glen
Shyrka
paranoid marvin

Finally, it came down to a difficult decision between Parson and *The Judge*. (In fact, until TJ posted her story I was pretty sure he'd have my vote.)
 
Though we're still in pre-apocalyptics times, it's time to present the Ursa jury's decisions (in which the stories are in posting order within the categories):


Honourable Mentions:
  • How to write an apocalypse in 75 words by TitaniumTi
  • Sisyphus by johnnyjet
  • Occidere nuntius by Teresa Edgerton
  • Spring by Glen

Runners Up:
  • The Four Horsemen by SPoots
  • Nothing New Under The Sun... by mosiax
  • The Checklist by Old_Man_Steve2016

Winner:
  • Mirror Signal Manoeuvre by HoopyFrood
​
 
Congratulations SPoots

Well done to everyone!​


paranoid marvin said:
And thank you Starbeast for the final listing and the kind words, and with a special mention to Starbeast who makes the Apocalypse sound like a fun place to be (as long as you like Zombie Duck).
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You're very welcome Paranoid Marvin. And THANK YOU, for the wonderful comment. You put a smile on my face.

As for my story: I do like those apocalyptic tales where people just roam around having fun, because their world is now their playground.


@Calliopenjo - A tremendous THANK YOU for the Stealth Vote. You made my night, shine bright.
 
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Congrats Spoots.

I want to say thanks to the people that liked my story. It made me smile and keep working on my original story still.
 
Congrats @SPoots.

Thanks for the mentions folks. I suspect it's a good job that I submitted thus second version. The first was far darker. Instead of the line 'His food now my food' the original was 'Well, I have to eat'.
 
Contratulations @SPoots ....

This is so far from my preferred genre it hardly is in sight. So I am pleased that my story received a short list from StarBeast and a near miss from T.E. Thanks for that!

I thought about the idea of an Apocalypse and what an important genre Apocalyptic literature is for Revelation and other parts of the Bible, so I just had to make a story out of the main elements of the Apocalypse. I was rather pleased how it turned out.
 
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