How nice! Thank you all for the congratulations, and to add to my earlier Thank Yous I am grateful to The Judge for her vote, and chrispenycate for his listing.
I was very happy when I saw The Judge's choice of Open, for the genre, and though I think it's too soon for me to choose it again, I hope we see its return some month next year.
Congrats to everyone who participated in the Challenge, well done all. I thought The Judge might catch me, I was aware of paranoid marvin's late push (and really thought Victoria Silverwolf wrote a brilliant story, too).
I don't usually comment on my entries (as I hope they stand on their own legs), but as I mentioned early on in the Discussion thread that this one was for my mom, I'll say a few things. My mom grew up in the Depression, and I have very few pictures of her from when she was young... personal cameras were a luxury at that time.
I thought, a few months ago, about yearbooks (printed yearly in most US high schools since, I'd think, the first third of the last century). I searched on ebay and I found, in December, the yearbook for my mother's class during her junior year of HS. They posted a few representative pictures of the book's pages, and there was a zoom feature, so you could get a closer look at what was posted. And I saw in the Drama Club photo (not Choir
) my mom and her best friend (who'd later become my aunt, as she married my mother's older brother). It was a picture I'd never seen before, and as my mother was very active in school, I figured there'd be other photos of her I'd not seen, so I ordered the yearbook (which sadly hasn't arrived yet; slow travel these days, for packages between the US and Europe).
And my mom was one of the many people we all know who were afflicted with Alzheimer's... so, one day at 4am early in the Challenge I woke up with the story I posted, complete in my head (but complete at 150 words). My mother always wanted me to be a writer, but I've always felt guilty because I never really tried, and that is, I think, why I am here these last eight years entering the Writing Challenges. Okay, that's the history of my story. I'm going through a spell of insomnia, so forgive me if it was too much info.
I will try to start 2022 with inspiring choices for genre and theme. It's the only thing about the 75 worder that I find intimidating - if I should win one, choosing the next month's genre/theme.
Also, Dan J. and Phyrebrat, let me know when you need the recording.
I have the Voice Recorder app on my laptop, and can try coming up with something in the next few days.
Okay - off to wake up with some black tea. Hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year's weekend, and thanks so much, again, CC
