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| << May06, 2007 - Hearts and Humor - Feathered Trust |
May14, 2007 - Hearts and Humor - Two Mothers >> |
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Hi, Gang! I'm excited today. My story "The Tattered Bookmark" won first prize for the month of April at Ourecho.com. I won $100.00. You can read it again by clicking on this link: http://www.ourecho.com/story-1909-The-Tattered-Bookmark.shtml I've had an idea for a story for a some time now. A few weeks ago, I read about a free writing contest. I saw a chance tie my idea into it. Below is my entry. If you enjoy a story, feel free to pass it on to your friends. I only ask that you leave the link at the bottom for them to join us. NOTE: IF YOU WISH TO STOP RECEIVING MY STORIES, PLEASE USE THE UNSUBSCRIBE LINK BELOW. PLEASE DO NOT MARK ME AS SPAM. MY STORIES ARE ONLY SENT TO THOSE WHO SUBSCRIBE TO MY EZINE. I'd Love your comments. Send them to: msmith4@nj.rr.com If anyone is interested, here is the information to the contest. I know many of you are writers. Here's a chance to challenge yourselves. Sure, anyone can write a 200,000-word novel, but a 500-word story with a beginning, a middle and an ending? Now that requires skill. No dawdling. Every word counts. Yep. Every. Single. Word. So send those adjectives packing and kick those adverbs to the curb. Oh, and while you're at it, gaze upon the drawing for inspiration because at some point in your short, short journey, you have to mention a bridge. "Word length may be up to 500. But not a word more. Open to writers worldwide. Entries must be original and unpublished. Winner will be published in the June issue of The VERB. "Winner grants ReadingWriters, publisher of The VERB writing ezine, First Electronic Rights. Simply put, this means you allow us to publish your short story first on the Internet. After June 2007, the story will move into The VERB archives and remain there until/unless you ask us to remove it. You, the winning author, retain ALL other rights to your short story, including the right to sell it to print publications, to sell it as a reprint to other websites, to publish it in foreign markets, etc." PRIZES: $100 and more ENTRY FEE: None DEADLINE: May 31, 2007 URL: http://www.readingwriters.com/ Here's my entry: If Only I could Bridge Time John sat on his parent's covered porch and watched the river flow by. The old house was his now. His mother lay in a fresh grave beside his father. He regretted not seeing her more. NASA kept him busy as cancer ate her life away. He'd arrived in time to hold her warm hand one more time. Laughter interrupted his grief. Upriver, a young boy leaped from the bridge and splashed into the cool water. Above the bridge, the first star of the night sparkled. ************************ "John?" His mother looked at him. "What are you thinking?" They sat on the porch. John stared at the bridge. The first star of the night shined above it. "Mom, I want to be an astrophysicist." "A what?" "Mom, I want to study the stars. I want to find other earths." "Oh, Johnny! Your head's always in the stars. Come on! Time for bed, young man." ************************ "John, NASA is pleased with your work on the shuttle program." His boss sat behind his desk. "I have a new project for you." "Yes, sir?" "NASA's joined with several countries to search for life on other planets. We want you to lead NASA's involvement." "I'd be proud to, Sir." He shifted in his chair, giving away his excitement. ************************ Radio telescopes around the world focused on a likely prospect for life, a region of space dense with stars and possibly planets like our own. High powered transmitters beamed signals at various frequencies and in different protocols in hope other civilizations would receive and interpret them. "John," his partner looked at him. "We may not be alive if we get a response. The closest star is twenty light years away." "Brad, we have to hope they're more advanced. They may be able to warp time." They checked the computer connected to the receivers each day. It remained blank. ************************ The phone woke John from sleep. He rolled over. "Yes?" he asked. "John, we blew a tube! The whole system is dead!" Brad said. John sat up. His graying hair stood on end. "Brad, don't panic! I'll be right there." "What if we missed a response?" "Brad, if they send one message, they'll send more." John crawled from bed. His aching joints made him groan. ************************ John sat on the porch. Over the bridge, the star twinkled. It sat in the middle of a region where they recently discovered a new planet - the same region of space they targeted long ago. John was connected to a network of computers now. His phone vibrated, interrupting his thoughts. A text message came in. "Hi, Earth! I'm Amber. Visit Mispace at misp://love.wow.com.. A second message followed. "Why are you repeating the same message over and over, Earth?" A third came in, "We're sorry. Your message has been blocked as intergalactic spam." John stared at his phone. Reality sank in. His dream came true. "Amber," he whispered. "If only we could bridge time." Michael T. Smith I love your comments, Send them to msmith4 @ nj.rr.com. REMOVE THE SPACES - I'll include some in every post. See below for some great comments from last week. If you enjoy a story, feel free to pass it on to your friends. My only request is that you include the link for your friends to join our family. To join our family, go to: http://subs. zinester.com/ 86758/ REMOVE THE SPACES TO GET TO THE SITE. SPAM BLOCKERS ARE HURTING EZINES. DON'T LET THEM PREVENT YOU FROM READING GREAT STORIES. As promised, here is a list of great inspirational sites. I subscribe to all of them. You will love these sites. Run by my friend Carol, Storytime Tapestry at: http://archives.zinester.com/98907/ By my good friend Keith in Australia: http://www.agiftofinspiration.com.au/ My friend Phil runs http://www.peoplestuff.com.au/ Phil's awesome and brutally honest Zev, yes another friend, runs http://empoweringmessages.com/stories/ Heart Catchers is a wonderful site. www.DianeDeanWhite.com www.Heartwarmers.com and www.petwarmers.com are two wonderful story sites. http://hodu.com/ http://www.mydailyinsights.com/ www.ripplemaker.com http://www.sermonillustrator.org http://www.SkyWriting.Net http://www.archive.zinester.com/9516 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WarmFuzzyStories/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WithInSight/ That's all I can think of right now. If I come up with more, I'll add them. Enjoy!!! Comments my story "Feathered Trust" from last week: Actually, I didn't get any last week |
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| << May06, 2007 - Hearts and Humor - Feathered Trust |
May14, 2007 - Hearts and Humor - Two Mothers >> |
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