Welcome back and Happy New Year!!! I hope you've taken the time to evaluate where you've been and where you want to go. New Years resolutions don't have to be here today and given up by February; they can be goals you're reaching for continually. Perhaps one of those goals is to write more. Then join us. Go check out the prompt and write something great!
If you haven't read the full version of the rules, go here. Otherwise, here's the short version:
Rules:
1. Start with the given first sentence. (Allowable alterations listed below)
2. Up to 500 words (exclusive of title)
3. Keep it clean (nothing rated R or above)
4. Optional Special Challenge
5. Stories submitted must be your own work, using characters and worlds that you have created. Sorry, no fanfiction.
6. Include: Twitter/email, word count, Special Challenge accepted
7. The challenge is open for 24 hours on Tuesday EST
8. Only one entry judged per round. If you write/post more than one story, you need to indicate which you would like judged. If you fail to indicate, it will be the first one posted.
9. Winner judges next round.
Oh, and feel free to change pronouns, punctuation, tense, and anything in brackets to fit the story/pov/tone. I'm not going to be TOO picky... Our judge however...
Our Judge today is Audrey Weinberg. Read her winning tale from last week here! Find her on twitter here. Audrey (Gran) Weinberg was born in Los Angeles just a few months before JFK was shot, but she swears she didn't do it. After years of living in different countries, and having experienced both much love and great loss, Audrey is now gratefully leading a "pretty mundane existence" with her sweet husband and 2 pretty amazing teenage children just outside of Amsterdam.
Audrey has published 2 short stories and is currently figuring out how to edit her first novel. She co-authors the Studyleaks blog (studyleaks.blogspot.nl) together with a group of her students under the pen name 'Study Leaks Amsterdam.'
Your first sentence for FINISH THAT THOUGHT #3-27 is:
The minute the [peace] talks began, [she] knew [she] should have told them [her] secret.
Your SPECIAL CHALLENGE from the judge is:
I dare you to come up with a successful story for the Middle East! Which means:
a. Dare to dream up a positive solution to these talks.
AND/OR
b. Set them in the Middle East.
a. Dare to dream up a positive solution to these talks.
AND/OR
b. Set them in the Middle East.
AAAAAAAND WE'RE OFF!!!
Nadja by Tara O'Dowd
ReplyDelete@TaraODowd1
Word count: 497
Special Challenge Accepted
The minute the peace talks began, she knew she should have told them her secret.
She had been so sure that her past would not interfere with her role documenting the atrocities of Assad and displaying them for the working group during these talks that seemed as though they might actually spell the end of war in Syria. The Russian representatives were almost all supposed to be either experts or at the Deputy Minister level. None close enough to Putin to know her ties to him or to denounce her. And her German citizenship should have absolved her of being anti-Putin or overly pro-American, the Germans being some of the few Europeans still respected by Russians. But Lavrov was here. Would he remember her? What color had her hair been back then? Had she worn glasses? She scanned through old pictures from her blog, trying to discern whether the Anja of 2002 bore enough relation to the Nadja of 2016 for her to be concerned.
He was staring at her, but he had not crooked his finger. He made no move to approach her. Maybe he would be content with a vague feeling of dejavu. Thankfully, he had arrived with only a few minutes until the actual talks began. During the talks, there would be other matters to occupy his mind. Less opportunity to approach her.
The UN envoy walked to the front of the room and put his fork to his glass. “Good morning, honored guests. You are all respected members of the working group charged with determining whether Assad will remain part of the government of Syria after peace is achieved. I am sure I do not have to remind you that this is an incredibly sensitive topic – so sensitive that the existence of this group cannot be acknowledged in public. We have arranged simultaneous translations into English, Arabic, and Russian for all presentations today. We will begin with evidence from Assad’s representative Jaafari. After lunch we will watch film footage purporting to show attacks in violation of international law by Assad’s forces filmed by neutral observer Nadja Rapp. Thank you all for your participation. May all of our Gods assist us in the peace process today.”
Jaafari stepped forward, papers in hand, and began to talk of the danger of terrorists in Syria, and to compare the Free Syrian Opposition to the puppet government in Saigon in Vietnam. He had a point. The question was whether the representatives present here today would, at the end of his presentation with its emphasis on the strength and brutality of Daesh, be able to see Assad as anything other than a sure bet. Whether they could see him for the wicked doctor of torture and manipulation she knew him to be. And if she was discredited as someone with a personal vendetta against Putin, her footage was sure to be discredited as well. If only she hadn’t had such romantic ideas about Russia as a twenty-two year old.