I really wanted to use an uber-dramatic title for today's Writer Wars post, since it's the start of a brand-new year and all, but I couldn't quite justify "APOCALYPSE! TIGERS! VOLDEMORT! NUCLEAR LAUNCH CODES! DANCE ATTACK! SPLEEN!" so we're stuck with this excruciatingly dull "Year of the Writer" headline. OH WELL. I guess my resolution to write more interesting titles has already failed miserably, which means I can replace it with my resolution to eat one tube of raw cookie dough per day—or two, if I'm feeling like an overachiever.
ANYWAY. Our last Writer War took place on December 20, which means all of you have probably completely forgotten what it was about, or if you participated, or how to put on pants. But that's okay, because I'm going to give you a little refresher on the prompt: I asked you to write a short story beginning with the word "If" and ending with the phrase "No one is ever going to believe me." Is it all coming back to you now? Fantastic. Then let's move on to the winners:
Sparklers' Choice (with 15 votes): Metalhead865! He kept it short and sweet:
If only I had an idea for a story this week...I could write an anecdote about my life, but no one is ever going to believe me.
Dagger's Choice: dianamer994! You've got the makings of a fantastic YA novelist, Sparkler!
“If? Don’t you mean when you’ll go out with me?” Teddy said smoothly, as the entire room tried not to laugh. “C’mon, babe, go with me to prom.”
Now, most girls would be flattered. Teddy is cute, and upperclassmen, a senior editor on the paper, and I’m a lowly freshman. But Teddy has a girlfriend. Who already bought her dress for prom; I’d seen it on Facebook last night, it was a very pretty purple strapless. Teddy was just messing with me for the amusement of the paper at large, especially the rest of his jerky friends.
“No, Teddy, I’m not going out with you,” I mumbled, trying not to blush. Every. Frickin. Time. Every time Teddy and his friends screwed with me, I let the embarrassment show. I wished for the millionth time I had a thick skin to match my feisty (well… ok, if not feisty, defiant, at least) interior. I sighed, and returned to editing my page as the room laughed at me.
Five hours later I’m finally home. After changing into sweats and grabbing a popsicle from the freezer, I head to my room to start my homework. I open my laptop, grab my English folder, and decided to quickly check my Facebook. Seven notifications. Huh. I click, gasp, then blink rapidly hoping that the sight before my eyes is caused by hallucination, impending blindess, anything. On my wall are seven posts, all from Teddy and his friends, to the effect of, “GIRL, will you be my gf? Like, FOREVERRRR?’ and “I love you and I waaant you, now ” or, the worst (from Teddy of course—who else?) “Hey, could you pick up your underwear from my house? Tonight, please?” I bury my head in my pillow, and set my mind on revenge.
The next day, in the newspaper workshop. I’ve been forewarned by a girlfriend that Teddy plans on asking me out, again, and has apparently let the whole paper know so they can watch me stutter. As expected, Teddy saunters up to me minutes after I sit down at my computer, a confident, smug grin all over his face.
“Hey, I was wondering,” he says, “What are you doing on Friday.”
Finally, my moment, “Well, definitely not you.” The entire room laughs, at someone other than me for once. Too bad that if I told, no one would believe me.
Dagger's Runners-Up:
Hats off to all of you winsome writers! Now for this week's prompt, which was created by JDailes:
You wake up one day to discover that you have either A: the power to shape-shift, or B: the ability to control your favorite element. What do you do? Write a short story (300 words max) describing your day/your actions!
Cool, so you have superpowers. Now you gotta tell us about 'em! Get going!
Related post: Writer Wars Archive
Tags: writing, fiction, writers, sparkler fiction, writer wars, writing prompts
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