It's here. The SCD writing contest: March 2023

[Trollheart]

Post it here; we as judges then judge it and send our findings on to RS, though at the moment I'm holding off till we see how long he'll be in the hospial for.

[SGR]

Gotcha. If it was just you judging, I might write a story of a mother who goes insane after her teenage son discovers the Beastie Boys...

[Trollheart]

I'd vote for that! 

[SGR]

Jeez, just realizing now, 700 words is really tight...yeesh. I guess that's part of the challenge.

[Lexi Darling]

Jeez, just realizing now, 700 words is really tight...yeesh. I guess that's part of the challenge.

Right?! In my usual writing style I like to set the atmosphere and give things a chance to breathe. Wrapping up a satisfying arc in 700 words is a nigh-Herculean task.

[SGR]

Jeez, just realizing now, 700 words is really tight...yeesh. I guess that's part of the challenge.

Right?! In my usual writing style I like to set the atmosphere and give things a chance to breathe. Wrapping up a satisfying arc in 700 words is a nigh-Herculean task.

Same! For whatever reason though, I thought part of the guidelines was that it needs to tell a "story". Re-reading it, that's not the case. So I suppose if it doesn't need to tell a complete story, that makes things a little easier.

[Trollheart]

It's hard, but it can be done. The main thing such a limit teaches you is to cut out the extraneous stuff and get to the meat. Hell, I've had to write stories of no more than 100 words (did one a few days ago)! It really hones your writing skill, I can tell you! It's a case of looking at what you've written (word counters Yay!) and then starting to take out anything you don't need. Sometimes even a few words in a sentence will make a difference. Do you need to say "He looked up and the sky was blue" or "The sky was blue"? All that kind of stuff.

SGR, I'd get moving though. Remember you are already well past the deadline, and if the bouncing one returns from the hospital and finds we've let you jump the fence, well, he may not be best pleased. Best to present him with a fait accompli. Or at least a pepperoni pizza.

[Rubber Soul]

Hi, guys. Just an update.

I'm in the hospital to essentially get my excess fluid drained to to set up a regime where I can keep the fluid off and still have kidney function (Is this fun or what?).I'll be sidelined most of this week at least so maybe the judges can post their scores and we can compute the winner that way.

I think for now it may be best to at least postpone April's contest until I know I can take the time to get things organized.

Meanwhile, just know that I'm alive still and am recovering, albeit a little slower than I'd like.

I should be on tomorrow for a little while at least. Let me know how you guys want to post the scores and I'll send mine either by post or whatever.

As for SGR, I'll let you guys decide on that. We obviously have plenty of time now

[Trollheart]

Hey dude! Good to see you're okay, as such. Sucks to still be in hospital though.
I'd say we hold off on the whole thing till you're back: it's not like we have a hundred entries all clamouring to be read.
In the meantime, I'm sure you can find something to amuse yourself with and pass the time...

[SGR]

Svelte

Another social studies class - and I see starving and emaciated people in Burundi, a population of nearly 10 million and about 73% of which are malnourished. I can't help but be reminded of my past.

Deeming myself too heavy for the appreciation of others, I discovered the beautiful assertion of self-control. "No thanks Mom, no food for me tonight, I had a big lunch", or so I would say. It cost me livelihood and months of goodwill. Such discipline, a hardened war general might flatter me in hopes of learning my methods. No compromise, unity and collection of self, rejection of social customs – the virtue of willpower is on display with a golden aura!

Is something wrong with him? He must be using drugs, what a shame, he was such a fine student! Presumptions of drugs, such a calumny! To think that I need the aid of vile medicine in my endeavors is appalling. Passing the old folks home – is it Halloween already? You're as pale and bony as a vampire! Laughable, for I am svelte and that right there is just my ribs waving you hello, don't mind them, they do that with everyone.

The only thing that matters now are the numbers on the scale. No water, take off clothes, balance the body – the numbers aren't low enough, they must decrease. Use coffee to expel waste, use Tabasco to speed up the metabolism, two miles in the morning, two miles at night. Lunchtime at school, the bell will ring. Do not eat with them, show them that you are better. They are nothing but gluttonous pigs, look at the way they devour the disgusting remnants of some laboratory experiment gone wrong, they don't even know what they are eating and they don't care. I care, that is the only difference between us.

I have researched and I have practiced. I can tell you the calorie count of almost anything straight from memory, I can tell you their nutritional merit, I can tell you the ingredients and I know what causes those swine to drool incessantly. They roll around in the muck of nutritional redundancy and I sit alone, idle, watching, probably appearing aloof but in my head, far superior.

Those who think they know what's best for me have referred my name to the nurse, the incompetent and unqualified math teacher thinks I'm abused and my peers are making bets on when I'll die. Little do they know, their demise certainly looms closer than mine, for I have resilience and a desire, a desire to live within the bounds of my own control!

Voices are telling me to slow down, to reconsider my position. Ha! What a load of callous codswallop! They can keep their perineal thoughts to their person, stop being so mawkish! Do away with the stupefaction. Sequestered in my lonely resplendence, the rancor of others is needless – they are only jealous. I am to achieve the chimerical. Structure, discipline, control, order, and more coffee – my heart is that of a hummingbird's, but where to next?

A good boy, meant for good things, of course college is next. College is so much different than high school, I look upon those times with rose-tinted glasses now. I can't seem to keep up. Life certainly moves faster than I. Smoke and drink have become close acquaintances, nothing less than 80 proof please, and the minimum is only that low because bourbon always seems to beckon. Anything to cloud the mind – I see too clearly and I must handicap myself. I deign to give in to desire. The colander of my caracoling mind drains the cavorting ideals of my youth. Hobnobbing with Hades tires one beyond reasonable expectation. Life is a giant, interconnected organism and I am but a corpuscle. The many hoops we jump through just to escape from ourselves, if only for a couple hours.

I never thought this would happen again - no matter what I could do or say - but it appears that once again, I've lost control...

[Rubber Soul]

Okay, when I come back (Hopefully next week but we'll see-progress is slow). I'll review SGR and post my scores ASAP in April.

So, yeah, we'll cancel April and start up again in May. Once I am back home, we'll catch up on everything and go from there. Synth and Trolls, just go ahead and post your scores. I'll get mine up when I get back home.

Meanwhile, I'll hang out when I can. Miss everyone.

[SGR]

Take your time and rest up buddy! Hope you feel better soon!