Discussion Thread -- June 2018 75-word Writing Challenge

[Dave]

Thanks for the vote. Given the standard of the competition I hadn't expect any. I still can't decide.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Thanks for the vote. Given the standard of the competition I hadn't expect any. I still can't decide.

That means he’s waiting to see who sends the best cake.

 

[Phyrebrat]

That means he’s waiting to see who sends the best cake.

Well in that case I win cos I sent him a quarter pound of black bullets.

pH

 

[johnnyjet]

Tough call. Lots of excellent horror tales. But, finally, my Long List, Short List, and **** Favorite ****:

Comparative Anatomy - Victoria Silverwolf
Silver Lining – Dave
**** Patent Pending - Cat's Cradle ****
Upgrade - Peter V
Pull the Plug – dannymcq
Silent Watchers - Joshua Jones
Success – Cathbad
Home Comforts – nixie
A Class Trip to the Farm - Venusian Broon
The Internet of the Thing - M. Robert Gibson
Do Not Add Water! – scarpelius
What Parents Cannot Fix – Phyrebrat
Purgatory – Shyrka
Turtles All the Way Down - Dan Jones
When We Were Gods – LittleStar
WHAT WAS I THINKING? – Ashleyne
Horror Story – TheDustyZebra
Clean Energy, Dirty Hands - The Judge

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

LittleStar -- The cure might be worse than the disease.

Ashleyne -- Despair can lead to desperate measures.

TheDustyZebra -- There is such a thing as too much communication.

The Judge -- The good of the many does not always justify the sacrifice of individuals.

Ursa major -- The good old days were as bad as the new ones are now.

 

[Danny McG]

Well in that case I win cos I sent him a quarter pound of black bullets.

pH

Wow! Double blast from the past.
Buying sweets in quarter pounds (some shops even did 2 ounces) and black bullets - can you still get them?

It must be 45 years since I last crunched one. I'd have to suck one nowadays or my teeth would shatter

12 votes so far, keep 'em coming peeps

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

I have to vote for "Horror Story" by TheDustyZebra because what this chilling tale envisions is almost certainly going to happen in the very near future.

 

[Fivestrings]

Thanks for the vote. Given the standard of the competition I hadn't expect any. I still can't decide.

My pleasure.
I dare say most votes probably have as much to do with the voter's personality, etc, rather than what the story says about the writer.
With my untrained eye, and lack of experience, I'm just going with what I like for now. Simples!

 

[TheDustyZebra]

With my untrained eye, and lack of experience, I'm just going with what I like for now. Simples!

Sounds like you’ve got the hang of it.

 

[Travis Woodward]

Shortlist:
Ashleyne
Peter V
Cat's Cradle

Vote:
Dan Jones

 

[Pedro Del Mar]

Thanks for the mention Parson

My vote goes to Johnnyjet with his horrific solution to a particular problem in modern day society

 

[Hugh]

I’m not keen on horror, and some of the stories rated too highly on the yuck scale for my squeamish palate. However, I identified three clear front-runners:

Ihe
johnnyjet
Ashleyne

and after a day’s indecision, my vote went to johnnyjet.

 

[Danny McG]

Johnnyjet is making a clean sweep of it

 

[Stable]

My shortlist:

@Cat's Cradle - Patent Pending
@Cathbad - Success
@johnnyjet - Our Streets Are Always Clean
@Phyrebrat - What Parents Cannot Fix
@Dan Jones - Turtles All The Way Down
@Ashleyne - What Was I Thinking?
@TheDustyZebra - Horror Story

I was very tempted by TDZ's horribly horrific Horror Story, but in the end I voted for Ashleyne because of the way it stuck with me.

 

[Ursa major]

Many thanks for the stealth vote, M. Robert Gibson.

 

[Dave]

My shortlist is similar to @Stable There are some really good stories there. I particularly like the idea in @TheDustyZebra but I think that 'Horror' needs to be 'Horrific' and only a few of the stories actually make my blood curdle so I have decided to vote based upon that. It still leaves too many to decide upon one.

 

[nixie]

Difficult choices managed to narrow down to three

@Cat's Cradle
@johnnyjet
@Ashleyne
Finally went for Ashleyne

 

[Cat's Cradle]

I'm so bad at making lists because I want to include way too many stories. I thought there were a lot of really good ideas this month, so here are my lists:

Longlist:
Victoria Silverwolf, Dave, Venusian Broon, mosaix, Phyrebrat, Shyrka, Dan Jones, Fivestrings

Shorter list:
Peter V, dannymcg, TheDustyZebra, The Judge

Finalists:
johnnyjet - Our Streets Are Always Clean
I really like the idea, and this has the feel to me of one of those vintage-SF stories that still have relevance in today's world.

M. Robert Gibson - The Internet Of The Thing
I really dig the concept here, and I laughed loudly at the last line - still chuckle thinking of it.

Ashleyne - WHAT WAS I THINKING?
I really liked the atmosphere in this, and the ending is terrific and horrifying in its own way, and really surprised me.

I had a really tough time choosing from these three, but I decided to go with Ashleyne's. It was just really creepy, and I like creepy stories. As always, best of luck all in the voting, CC

ps - thanks to Travis Woodward, Stable and nixie for the listings. Thank you johnnyjet and Calliopenjo for the votes!

 

[Dave]

Not much time left to vote. @johnnyjet @Dan Jones were close, but in the end I also had to go for @Ashleyne

 

[scarpelius]

Only 3 non-authors and less than half of those who entered the contest voted.
Clearly the contest and its poll needs more visibility among forum users. How about highlight the contest to the first page of the site?