The rules are simple. Write a caption of no more than 150 words for this photo. It can be a beginning or a middle or a fleeting glimpse of the literary. It must be based on the image and it must be your original work!
You may enter once each day.
This is open worldwide, but entries must be in English. The query critique prize must be for a manuscript in English.
I will choose a selection of my favorites and utilize a panel of secret judges to help me choose the winner. The winner gets a query critique from Mollie Glick of Foundry Literary (to be awarded in late June/early July.)
I'll be looking over the entries and trying to desperately narrow them down to one winner next week! I should announce a winner by next Friday, but remember you'll have to wait a bit for the critique as Mollie is busy being fabulous and jetsetting to Greece soon!
Source: Uploaded by user via Genn on Pinterest
I can save only a single soul. Mine perhaps. Maybe another’s. I only have time enough for one. Carefully, I set one of the pair down on the windswept beach. It lay upon the pebbles like a sandpiper’s forgotten brood. The other I keep in my hand, beating like a swallow’s wings. I turn my back to face the sea. Salt stings my eyes.
ReplyDeleteAll souls look alike while you are alive. It’s only when you’re dead that it’s possible to tell the evil from the good, the brilliant from the merely indifferent.
I don’t want to know the difference. My lover waits for me. I want to live.
Princess Kalia searched in vain for the handsome young man who charmed her on the dance floor and stole her heart, then ran off when the clock struck twelve and disappeared into the sea.
ReplyDeleteBut what's this? He dropped his pocketwatch in his haste.
"I will not rest until I find him!"
This one is a little bit over... sorry! I couldn't resist! I love this picture!! :)
ReplyDeleteThe wind tore at her skin like knives, capturing her hair in its unforgiving grasp. The flame in her lantern flickered and went out. She pushed back her fear and called out again, "Damion! Damion!" But her words were flung back to her by the wind.
The waves laughed at her futile attempt for they knew Damion was gone. They had taken him down, down, down, and no matter how hard the woman searched, she would never find him, alive, that is. Then they would claim her too. But no, not by their waves or storms. She would give herself to them. Willingly.
For Damion.
Love... how silly. The waves laughed again as the woman froze on the beach. Further down the shore, a dark shadow lay. She had found him. Now, it was only a matter of time. Hopelessness would come and then...
The waves crashed, slithering up onto the shore, nipping at the woman’s pale toes as she ran toward him, her Damion. Just a taste. So hungry...
It's been 23 days since the sun was shot down, and I don't know how much longer we have left. I say "we", but you and I both know it's just me and my shiver-glass bones, writing to you because there's no-one else. I'm still wearing the dress from the ball. The wind snatches at it, the waves yearn at its hem with moon-tossed fingers, it's more rags than silk by now - but it's the last thing from before.
ReplyDeleteI still have your lantern. You told me it was a piece of a wandering star - an unstitched sun. When you and the others come back, you can bring more scraps of stars. Maybe we can weave a new sun together.
You'd better come back.
My hands have dried into flaking gloves of crimson, umber, black. I look for the gleam of your ship; I wait for the new dawn to sing.
I do not fear the sea.
ReplyDeleteI hoist the lantern high above my head, illuminating the white-capped waves as they crash towards the beach, soaking the hem of my dress. I look for the horizon, but I see only the wide expanse of water, dark and mercurial. The wind whips my bare arms, and above me the clouds tumble a warning of the storm about to rage.
I am frozen in place. Even as the air feels heavier, colder, and the sky darken, I cannot move. I stare out across the water, searching.
Always searching.
For you.
I do not fear the sea.
ReplyDeleteI hoist the lantern high above my head, illuminating the white-capped waves as they crash towards the beach, soaking the hem of my dress. I look for the horizon, but I see only the wide expanse of water, dark and mercurial. The wind whips my bare arms, and above me the clouds tumble a warning of the storm about to rage.
I am frozen in place. Even as the air feels heavier, colder, and the sky darken, I cannot move. I stare out across the water, searching.
Always searching.
For you.
Ooh - lovely imagery. I don't even need the picture.
ReplyDeleteThe ocean called to me, begging me to carry on. I tiptoed carefully to the edge and peered down. The waves crashed at my feet revealing a key. A tiny, golden key. Picking it up, I looked back into the waves. Grey and mysterious, they had many secrets to reveal. As I stepped cautiously forward, something sharp, something rough caught my leg. I was being dragged in alive. I fought with all my might, picking up the lone lantern beside me. Lifting it to the sea, a shape was revealed. There was a giant fish or maybe a reptile, whatever it was, it wasn't letting go. A sudden flick of its tail and I was completely caught off guard. This thing, whatever it was, was not a fish for it had a human face and features. It looked like a mermaid. But they couldn't exist, surely? I mean even if they did, what did they want with me?
ReplyDeleteEach year, I come to this place. My lantern beckons. Its glow marks the shore. Its warmth prevents the chill. Its pulsing mimics my beating heart.
ReplyDeleteThey say too much time has passed. That some promises cannot be kept.
I wait for you.
Each year, I come to this place. My dress the one you chose. Its hem sea-stained. Its fabric worn. Its bodice strains against my heaving bosom.
They say it is futile. That I have faded from your memory.
I wait for you.
Each year, I come to this place. My love stronger than before. It clutches my soul. It fuels my desire. It calls you home.
They say death has claimed you. That no one escapes their fate.
I wait for you.
See what I get for being behind on blogging. I missed this wonderful challenge. Amazing choice of pictures. My favorite is the foggy bridge. You have quite an eye. Good luck to the participants.
ReplyDelete