Last Friday, Maine was put under a hurricane watch – the first one in 17 years. We were worried that the electricity might go out during the middle of the Fall 2008 24-Hour Short Story Contest. Just a few hours after discussing our concerns, the electricity did go off…except it was only Friday night and the storm was still over a day away. The entire street was plunged into blackness. Hmmm…

While we scrambled for candles and matches, all the while trying to call the electric company with our cell phones, the children gathered in the living room and the excited pitch of children’s and teens’ voices grew to a feverish pitch. Boy oh boy, nothing makes an evening fun for kids like taking away their video games, computers, TV, DVD players and lights! I’m serious. They were having a blast!

Turns out they were just fixing a line down the road and our power was back on within the hour. The children were SO disappointed…until it popped back off again a few minutes later. (It came back on before we went to bed.)

The hurricane hit with on Sunday. We didn’t get any wind at all but we did have a steady rain most of the day. That was it. After all the excitement and preparation, it was pretty anticlimactic.

The contest went off without a hitch and I’m already having a LOT of fun reading the entries! Nothing puts me in the mood for Halloween liking reading hundreds of great short stories that have a blustery Fall theme!

In case you’re interested, here’s what the topic was for Fall contest: The cast iron pot was blackened and warped, but had provided years of delicious concoctions. Movement caught her eye through the cracked window. She turned her head, but saw only red, orange, yellow and brown leaves racing by in the fierce wind. She shivered as cold air leaked through the window’s cracks, and leaned down to stoke the fire.

Squinting at her recipe book, she scratched the mole on her nose. The fourth ingredient was always the hardest to find…

Entries must touch on that topic in some way to qualify.

Of course, it’s too late to enter the fall contest. The winners will be announced right here in WritersWeekly by Halloween. The Winter contest is open for entrants. There is a limit of 500 entrants per contest. You can see the rules and prizes HERE.

This week’s Maxism:

“Mom! I just popped my nickel!”

Hugs to all!

Angela

P.S. WANT A GREAT CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEA? How to Reborn a Doll in a Day by Angela Hoy. See pics here:
https://www.writersweekly.com/books/1670.html

Also:

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