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Smee
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 4:08 am    Post subject: Story of a Picture Reply with quote

A new SoaP has begun

If you want to walk away at the end of this competiton with a 1000 fable prize get your creative hat on and keep reading!

How to play!

Step 1 : We have a picture



Step 2 : Write a short story using the picture for inspiration.

Step 3 : Vote for a winner

Step 4 : Winner walks away with a 1000 fable prize! Very Happy


We do have some rules though, so read carefully!
  • Send all stories, by PM, to me, so I can post them up.
  • Any genre of story, no poems.
  • No more than 2000 words
  • Remember a warning at the top of your story if it has any adult themes, bad language etc.


How long do I have?

Submissions can be put in until we atleast have several between. We'll have a vote then for a couple of weeks to find our winner!

Happy Writing Smile


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Last edited by Smee on Wed Nov 03, 2010 3:52 am; edited 3 times in total
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 11:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

And we have our first entry :

~

Entry 1 : Untitled

“Captain Ameise, Sir.” The trooper stood to attention before his superior before continuing. “There is something ahead of us Sir.” Despite the young officer’s strict training, in preparation for anything, he was obviously freaked out.

“Well, what is it?” Ameise answered briskly, gesturing the youngster to fall in step beside him, as they marched on.

“I don’t know, Sir. But if I didn’t know any better, I’d say it was....” His voice trailed off, and he looked slightly embarrassed.

“You’d say it was what?”

“I don’t wish to alarm the others, Sir.”

Ameise halted the troops following him, and turned to the officer.

“What in blazes are you getting at, boy?” His voice betrayed his growing annoyance, at the officer’s vague speech. The young officer blushed crimson, as the halted troops began to snigger. “Silence!” bellowed Ameise, glaring at them, and, instantly, all went quiet. He turned back to the youngster. “Out with it, lad.”

The young officer pause for a moment, glancing at the others, then he leaned towards the captain, and said something quietly, in his ear. Ameise’s eyes opened wide in surprise, as the messenger pulled back.

“Are you sure?” he said, urgently. Again, the officer paused, then nodded.

“Fairly sure, Sir. But, maybe it would be best if you were to come and see for yourself.”

Ameise needed no further prompting.

He turned to the troops. “I have been called ahead. Speck,” he pointed to one of the soldiers, who stepped forward. “You will lead the troops to our destination. Understood.”

The soldier saluted. “Understood, Sir.”

With that, Ameise took off, sprinting along the narrow path, dimly lit by a thin shaft of light from above. The young officer trailed after him.


The light became stronger, as the crack in the roof of the cave grew wider, and Ameise saw groups of soldiers stood around, whispering nervously to each other. Clearly they were spooked by something. Though what this youngster had suggested was...impossible. Despite his reservations, the sight of the frightened faces of the troops made Ameise move even faster towards his target.
He knew he was close, when he saw a barricade of troops ahead of him. He saluted them as he approached.

“Captain Ameise,” he stated, “I have been summoned here to check out a disturbance. Let me pass.”

The troops moved aside for him, and he continued on. The crack overhead had become large enough for the sunlight to fully illuminate the passage, and again, he noticed small groups of soldiers, in nervous discussion. He began to dread what he would find, when he reached his objective. Then, he rounded a corner, and there it was. He couldn’t believe his eyes. The mythical Beam of Fire stood before him, in all its glory.


He had never believed the tales, that the old soldiers would tell, at the great gatherings. The crowd would clamour for a story, demanding it, until, finally, one of them would get up, and tell of their own personal experiences with the entity, describing the beauty and the power of the beam, how it had made soldiers go blind when they looked upon it, and how it could strip off a persons skin, if it so chose to. But those were the lucky ones, the ones who lived to fight another day. Sometimes, it would draw a man in, forcing him to step into the light, then they would disappear, never to be seen again.


As Ameise stood before it now, he believed every tale he had ever heard. The power that emanated from it was immense. He could feel it boring into his skin, pressing against him with it’s heat. The ground beneath it fizzed and popped, as it burned into it. It was incredible.

He felt someone approach and stand beside him. He turned, briefly, away from the Beam of Fire, and saw it was the young officer, who had summoned him.

“What is your name boy?” he asked him quietly.

“Clash, Sir” came the reply.

“Well, Clash, m’lad, you are witness to a piece of history,” Ameise said, unable to take his eyes off it. He longed to touch it, to feel it’s full power.

“Sir, what are you doing?” Clash exclaimed, as Ameise took a step towards it. He lunged forward, and tried to pull the captain back. But Ameise just shook him off, and continued to approach the beam.


The closer he got to it, the more powerful it seemed. He could hear the dull roar of it, in his ears, as it burned into the ground. He tried to tell himself to stop, that the boy, Clash, had been right to try and pull him back. But he couldn’t. He needed to feel the power.


He finally stood directly before it. He could feel the force of it, pushing against him. But there was no going back. Ameise grinned manically, then plunged into the Beam of Fire.

-~-

Bobby watched as the ant disintegrated, the shaft of light from his magnifying glass turning it to dust. He pulled his toy away, and inspected the charred remains with his naked eye.

“Cool!” he exclaimed.
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 14, 2010 11:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

With new blood in the city, we're still looking for more entries! Get your creative hats on if you want that 1000f prize and bragging rights Wink

Happy Writing

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 15, 2010 3:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've been looking at it on and off for ages, and I'm still stumped as to what to write! *kicks muse*
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 16, 2010 12:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Second entry :

~


Untitled

They galloped down the narrow winding canyon as if the all the ghosts of hell were after them.

Which was not entirely untrue. SOMETHING had come after them, not just a first letter capital Something but a full all capital holy-shit-get-the-HELL-out SOMETHING. Neither Trey nor Karl had caught more than a glimpse, but a glimpse was enough. Big green and glowy, and both of them hadn’t stuck around for a longer look. They’d grabbed the Orb of Khatovar and stuck it in a sack, and now both of them were riding out of that canyon and neither of them could see in front much because the canyons cut across the sunlight and all they got were these ridiculous laser beams of sunshine, and that was a thought that Trey filed way far back in his mind because with all he’d seen in the business, he thought that sunshine laser beams from the sky might not be impossible.

And that would just make life a whole lot worse, wouldn’t it? And what the hell was that rumbling sound?

“Shit!” Trey looked up from trying to see where his horse was going at Karl’s yell, and all he saw was a dark dot getting bigger and he started to wonder what ELSE was going wrong.

And then it hit him. And it hurt a lot. Luckily, it was only a small sized stone.

“We got an avalanche up here, Trey!” Karl shouted. “So what’re we doing now?”

“Just keep on running, Karl. Maybe go a little faster.” Trey was trying to look behind to see where Big, Green, and Ugly was without actually having to look back and see the thing. It wasn’t working. “And it’s not avalanche, it’s a rockslide.”

Karl just shut up and went faster. Which was probably for the best.

The canyon was collapsing around them. Thankfully, the collapse followed the course of all good adventure movies and started behind them and moved forwards, not all at once like most precariously balanced piles of rock. Of course, the other rule was that the rocks were catching up with them.

If they got lucky, the rocks would hit Green and Fugly and solve that problem. But the Jones brothers were never that lucky. Or that wasn’t true. They were lucky, it was just the wrong kind of luck. With their kind of luck, Green and Fugly would become Green and Fugly and Likes to Go Bowling Down Long Canyons with Boulders.

But that was probably all right, because they were near the exit right? Probably. This canyon had seemed a lot shorter on the way in. Also, a lot less collapsey.

“Are we there yet?”

“Seriously? You’re going to pull this shit on me? Now is not the time Karl.”

“I mean, I just figured that since the green thing was catching up…”

Trey risked a glance back. And sure enough, there it was.

He got a better look this time. There were a lot of teeth. But he also noticed the walls of the canyon were getting shorter, mostly because his eyes kept on looking at the teeth and looking away. So they were probably nearly out.

And, turning back around as the horses went down a tight curve, he saw the end in sight. So close! Trey ducked a low-hanging branch and sped up for the wide open spaces.

“Trey!” He looked back. Karl’d ducked the branch too, but only mostly. And now his hat was off and fifty yards back with rocks falling and Big, Green and Toothy was closing in.

And Karl was slowing down. And trying to turn around. Shit, they had fifty hats just like it back home. But then Karl turned his big brown sad eyes on his big brother and Trey knew that this day was probably gonna get a lot worse.

Just keep moving. Trey jumped off his horse, and gave it a slap on the back, sending it whinnying off out of the canyon. He ran back, trying like hell not to see the green hand reaching, slid under Karl’s horse, dodged a falling rock, jumped over a green finger, grabbed the hat, slapped it on his head and ran back. He only had time to grab on to a saddle strap before Karl’s horse got spooked by Big, Green and Gross and Trey discovered that pebbles hurt as much as boulders when you’re dragged over them by a rampaging horse.

The pain was helped a little bit by the rapidly shrinking Big Glowy Monster. Except that it got a lot worse when he smacked his head on a root while being dragged by a horse going at god knows how many miles an hour.

***

And of course, the headache wasn’t helped by the flashing lights and the loud music. This was why Trey didn’t like making meets in clubs.

“What was the price again?” The man was a caricature of a Nazi. Not one of the Aryan ones, one of those mean shriveled eye-patch hook-hand crazy man Nazis.

“What?” Karl yelled. Trey put his head in his hands.

“The price!” Trey swore the music was getting even louder.

“What?” Trey just ignored him. Karl’d already done his part of the job. Trey was the one who did the talking.

Which, apparently, Karl needed to be reminded of. A kick, well a couple actually, did the job. Without Mr. Nazi noticing. Much.

“We agreed on twenty thousand dollars. American. Nonnegotiable.”

Baron Von Whatsisface gave a nasty little grin.

“All things are negotiable. Especially when said things involve a fast-acting poison placed in your beverages beforehand.”

Trey smiled a little himself and elbowed his brother. Karl had insisted on having his line.

“Hah, but we already placed the antidote in YOUR drink beforehand!”

The smile froze on Trey’s face as he considered the full implication of that statement. Karl, seeing the unrestrained glee breaking out on the Baron’s face finally realized that his actions may not have been one hundred percent accurate. His hand went to the knapsack he carried.

“I’ll just hand over the Orb, shall I?”

The Baron smile broadened. “That would be much appreciated.”

“What?”

Trey banged his head against the table a couple times before taking the glass vial of antidote the Baron handed him. Then he ordered alcohol. Lots of it.
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 19, 2010 11:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Entry number 3 arrives... keep them coming folks Very Happy

~

"Hey guys, do you really think this is alright?"

"Sure! You just go in and tell us what it's like."

"and if there's a graveyard, we'll know the stories are true"

I sighed, "Geez, ok."

And so I walked into the cave. Looking around, as I walked deeper into it, I found out that this wasn't your sterio-typical cave. There's no stalagtites, no excess moisture, and as far as I can see, there isn't even a swarm of bats to get stuck in your hair.

"well?"

"Nothing yet. I'm going in deeper." My path splits into two tunnels. "this might take me a while."

"well, hurry up!"

I sigh again. My friends are so impatient. It's probably for the best that it was I who lost the bet.

First I look to my left. Then I look to my right. Both tunnels are dark. Both paths are uncertain, and both of them give me the creeps. I suppose I could turn back now. I would be ridiculed by my friends for a while, but at least I would make sure that I could live. Suppose one of them really, really wanted to know what in here, and decided to go in themselves? I decided I would probably wind up following them in anyways. I lift my two hands up perpedicular to my chest and focused on the feelings I got from them. Right. I heft my backpack so its comfortable and start into the right tunnel. I walk a little ways but then stumble a little. This could be dangerous, so I lean up against the side of the tunnel and trace my hand along it as I walk.

It's not long before it gets tighter and tighter, and I begin to think that maybe the tunnel keeps getting tighter until it gets to a crack I can't fit through. Maybe I've gone as far right as I can. It's as soon as I think that, that my hand suddenly sinks into a hole in the side of the wall. I jump away from that side of the wall, taking my hand with it. A moment goes by before I realize that I'm fine; nothing bit me. I also realize that I had heard a faint click. With new curiousity a shine the light on the spot I had my hand on, and the hole I had my hand in. I would say that it's a normal pit in the rock but, looking around, I can't find any other holes. I shine the light into the hole. Nothing. Just a hole in the wall of a cave. Right. I stick my hand into it again. click. Now I'm confused. I remove my hand and shine the light back in there. I reach in and try to clean out the dirt and stuff. Still just a hole, but if I reach in again.. click

I take my hand out and huff in annoyance. What a mystery I've found. A hole in the wall that clicks. I put my hand on the wall next to the hole and lean on it in an attempt to collect my thoughts. Suddenly I'm falling through the cave wall, and down into a puddle of mud. Ugh! What the hell just happened? I fell. I search through the mud until I find my flashlight. I wipe the mud off of the lens and shine it around my self. I'm in another room. I shine it behind me, just in time to see the door shut with a click. Damn it!

Without much thought, I rush towards the door and start searching frantically for a hole in the wall, or a handle, or anything really! I search every crevice I can find, but I find nothing. I take a deep breath. I must stay calm. I shine the flashlight around the whole room again. This time I notice the farthest wall from me. There's something scratched into it. I move in closer, all the way until I can touch it. Then I move back a step. In the middle of the wall is a set of fairly large and deep scratches, but around it are small, intricate images. I'm not sure what exactly they are, but I like them. They're , for the lack of better words, pretty. For a long moment, I stand there staring at the wall. But I need to find a way out. It should be easier now that I'm calmed down.

I turn to go back to the back wall but stop; that's odd. I turn back to the wall with the images and look for a while more, this time trying to figure out if what i saw was correct. I repeat the motions I went through when I turned to go back to the rear wall. There it is again! Nervousness starts to set in as I take a few steps back, and I finally confirm that what I see is true. The large scratches on the wall spell 'DIE'.
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 3:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well I belive this particular Soap has gone on for long enough - the poll is up to find ourselves a winner.

Voting will go on for a week. Choose wisely, the winner will receive 1000 fables!

Happy Voting. Smile

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PostPosted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 12:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well not many votes, but a clear victory to story number one.

Tikki, 1000F will be winging their way over to you very soon. Well done Very Happy

Congratulations also to our other authors, Deadmanwalking, and kkdestiny, both great stories.

Another SoaP will be starting in December, look out for it.

Happy Writing Smile

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Who wrote the best story based on the picture?
Story 1?
100%
 100%  [ 3 ]
Story 2?
0%
 0%  [ 0 ]
Story 3?
0%
 0%  [ 0 ]
Total Votes : 3
Who Voted: crazybookgal, kkdestiny, Masterweaver

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