RHP Prose Competition

@ghost-of-a-duke said
I invariably write my entries in crayon. (Red or green). Ponderable, bless him, humours my idiosyncrasies and types them up.

Sir, if ever you should waft this way, please rap upon the wall a moment or two before you show yourself.

(My former co-workers could attest I am a little jumpy – so much so that I have startled them in return – even when it comes to office visitors on this side of things.)

@caesar-salad said
I bought my cat a little bell
and taught her how to ring it.
A crow upon a withered bough
said, "Okay, kitty, bring it!"

The end can't come soon enough.

@handyandy said
The end can't come soon enough.

It's going to be a very long month indeed. 😉

BTW, here's a somewhat related video by MGMT which some might enjoy:

YouTube

If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me, and be my love.
– Christopher Marlowe

At the recommendation of a certain friend, Lady Augusta Larchmont began taking 500 mg of tyrosine hypothenase at breakfast.

[ . . . ]

Edit: btw, if you want to have spaces between the dots in your ellipses, you'll have to include them yourself, as I have just found.

@caesar-salad said
Now there's a good question.

Thank you Morris.

@divegeester said
Thank you Morris.

You left that comma out on purpose just to bother the editor in me, didn't you? Just as I am now including this winkie: 😉

My own attempts already seem a little overstuffed and undercooked. I am very much looking forward to what other people might bring to the buffet.

@caesar-salad said
My own attempts already seem a little overstuffed and undercooked.

I enjoyed much of the stuff on flickr, although several groups were a little naughty and I couldn’t get access without registering and signing in.

@caesar-salad said
Now there's a good question. The rules do not state a minimum. The implied minimum would be the three required keywords plus enough connective verbiage to make a story out of it. We have already had a few one-liners earlier in the thread.

There are probably trade-offs whether one writes a shorter story or makes the most of the 800-word limit. Some readers/voters mig ...[text shortened]... e Ligotti, Borges, Bradbury, and Addams mixed in, written with American spelling and punctuation. 😉

Although there is no minimum word count, I think it unlikely that a really (really) short story would win the competition. (Possible, but unlikely). The main reason for this is that voters will usually recognize the time and effort an author has put into their entry. This probably wouldn't be the case if it was a poetry competition. (I actally prefer short poems if they are well written).

@ghost-of-a-duke said
(I actally prefer short poems if they are well written).

Ode to fleas

Adam
Had'em.

Anon.

@wolfgang59 said
Ode to fleas

Adam
Had'em.

Anon.

Of course, an anagram of that poem gives it a horror twist:

Ode Of Stale

Ahead,
mad Man.
No!!!

@Ghost-of-a-Duke
You have a clever if somewhat warped mind!

@wolfgang59 said
@Ghost-of-a-Duke
You have a clever if somewhat warped mind!

I fear it is the result of one too many cucumber sandwiches...

@handyandy said
The end can't come soon enough.

Andy, Are you entering the contest?

-VR