Writing Contest! December Submissions!

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singinghymns
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Writing Contest! December Submissions!

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Writing Contest: December Submissions!

This is the thread to post your submissions for the December 2016 Newsletter!

[align=center]This month, we would like to see writing that leans towards a holiday, or seasonal (fall/winter) theme![/align][/b]

The main thread for chat/questions can be found here, as well as the details/requirements for submissions, which are also posted below for convenience:

singinghymns wrote: What happens if my story gets chosen the winner?
-Your story gets posted in the newsletter.
-You'll be interviewed about yourself (your history of playing Sims/Boolprop stuff) and your story.
-You will receive the Story of the Month medal: Image.

How do I make my story eligible for a feature?
-3000 word MAX!
-Yup, that's it!
-Once you have submitted your story, your house gets 30 points!
-The winner will receive an additional 30 points for their house.
-The deadline for December submissions will be November 27th. Then a poll will be created for the members to vote on.

What does the timing look like on this?
-If you get selected, please try to have your interview in by the 4th of December before the newsletter is posted. Interviews can still be edited in after the feature is posted, if desired.
-Extra features may be added for special events/holidays!
You're also free to format your work however you please, but I'd recommend putting longer pieces of work under a spoiler. Good luck, and happy writing! :)
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Re: Writing Contest! December Submissions!

Post by Heather »

So I meant to post this earlier in the month... and then totally forgot to do that... :shifty: It's the second half of the story I submitted for October, that was too long to post in full.

Based off a scene from my legacy story, that I altered & expanded on for a short fiction class (after removing all references to the game/sims).
Spoiler:
Despite his protests, Jimmy had convinced him to drive out to the skating rink on the edge of town later that week. It was a cute place for a date, Comet supposed, if he were to ever go on a date. The small oval rink was encircled by tall pine trees, with glowing red and blue paper lanterns strung between each trunk. Off to the back of the lot was a little red brick building that sold rental skates and coffee. Powdery snow fell from the sky, coating every surface with a thin layer of white.

"What time did Marielle say she was going to meet us here?" Jimmy pulled a bill out of his wallet to pay for the rental skates. "I forgot."

"Seven?" Comet retrieved his phone from his back pocket to check. He had already checked her last message ten times earlier that evening, but he thought he'd better look again, in case her message had actually said 'You're weird, stop talking to me', and he'd just misread it as 'Sounds great! I'll see you at seven, okay?' with a smiley face. "Yeah," he said. Comet slid the phone back into his pocket. "Seven."

Jimmy consulted his own phone. "Well, we're fifteen minutes early. She's probably on her way here." He gave Comet a reassuring smile, then glanced out the shop window. "Let's grab a spot to stash our stuff."

Comet followed him out of the rental building. "Don't you think someone's gonna take it?" He made a mental list of the items he was carrying as he tightened his grip on his backpack: his wallet, containing his student ID, driver's license, and five dollars in change; his botany textbook; a spiral notebook; and a couple of loose pens. Aside from his identity, and an overpriced textbook, he didn't have much worth stealing.

"Dude, seriously?" Jimmy interrupted his thoughts. "There's like, five other people here." He elbowed Comet in the side. "Very romantic, if you ask me."

"It's not a date," Comet replied. "And if it were, I wouldn't have brought you," he muttered, which was a lie, because he knew very well that he'd have forced his roommate to go on a double date for moral support.

Jimmy ignored him, and set the skates down on a vacant bench. He scanned the skating rink. "Well, she's definitely not here yet. Might as well put your skates on." Comet reached down and felt for his phone over his jeans pocket. He resisted the temptation to check his messages again, and withdrew his hand. "You need to take your shoes off first, you know." Jimmy kicked off his boots, and picked up one of the skates. Comet stared at it with apprehension. "Haven't you done this before?" Jimmy asked with a grin.

Comet shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "No?"

Jimmy stared at him. "Dude."

"It doesn't snow where I come from." Comet toyed with one of the buttons on his coat as he spoke. "I told you that already."

"So you've never been skating before?" Jimmy asked. Comet shook his head, and Jimmy groaned. "I thought you knew how to skate! Why didn't you say something?"

"I... I don't know... she already agreed to go, and I didn't want to change everything." He stared at the scuffed, black rubber padding that lined the rink. "I just thought it'd be easier to go along with it, you know?"

Jimmy shoved his feet back into his boots, and stood up. He grabbed Comet's pair by the laces, and thrust them towards him. "Here," he said. "Sit down. I'll help you put these on before Marielle gets here, or she's gonna think you're a total fuckin' loser."

Comet sat down and kicked off his shoes, then slumped back against the brick wall. "What I am supposed to do when she gets here? If I take one step out on that ice, I'm going to fall on my ass."

"Just hold her hand; you'll be fine." Jimmy grinned. "Then, maybe later, she'll let you hold other parts of-"

"No." Comet glared back. "She doesn't like me that way, okay? I don't want to ruin things." He wrapped his arms around himself. "She's the only friend I've got, besides you."

Jimmy rolled his eyes. "She listens to you ramble on about plants for hours. I don't even let you do that. She definitely likes you, okay?"

"She's just being nice. That doesn't mean anything."

"Fine." Jimmy shrugged. "You can deny it all you want. But when you finally go on a real date with her, just remember that I told you so." He finished lacing Comet's skates, and stood up.

"She's here." Comet's eyes widened. "Jimmy, I have a very serious problem."

"What's that?'

"I don't know how to stand up in skates."

Comet remained seated on the bench until Marielle disappeared inside the shop to rent a pair of skates. At that point, Jimmy had carefully guided him towards the rink. After ten minutes, and quite a bit of complaining from the both of them, Comet was on the ice. He was gripping the plastic railing that encircled the rink for dear life, but he was on the ice. Another five minutes passed and he was still on the ice, only instead of being upright, he was sitting on his ass. He'd anticipated this turn of events, but what he hadn't anticipated was that the ice would soak through his jeans, which he was sure had left a very noticeable patch on the back of his pants.

"Man, what are you doing?" Jimmy skid to a halt in front of him, sending a wave of snow over his legs. Comet scowled back.

"Skating, obviously," he replied. "What does it look like I'm doing?" He managed to scoot back towards the railing, and grab hold. Slowly, he pulled himself back to his feet.

"Dude, just ask her for help." Jimmy folded his arms over his chest.

"Why can't you help me?"

"I'm not gonna hold your hand and help you skate in a circle."

Comet raised an eyebrow. "You got a problem with two guys holding hands?"

Jimmy turned to look at the expanse of ice behind them. "Only because Marielle's right over there-" he pointed "-and it would make way more sense for you to hold hers."

"She probably heard you," Comet hissed. He glanced over his shoulder to gauge whether or not Marielle was in earshot. She caught his eye and smiled, giving him a small wave of her fingers in reply. "Great, now she's coming over here. Look what you've done."

Jimmy waved at Marielle, then turned back to Comet. "Hey, I'm going to go back inside the shop and grab a coffee, alright?" He gave Comet an exaggerated wink, then patted Comet on the shoulder. "You two have fun." Comet had to readjust his grip on the railing to keep from falling again.

"Yeah, alright," he mumbled.

“I’m guessing tonight’s your first time,” Marielle called, skating up behind him.

“We don’t really have winter where I live,” Comet admitted. “If I'd known skating was going to be this hard I wouldn’t have bothered." He looked down at the ice. "Sorry for wasting your time.”

“Aw, don’t say that.” Marielle slowed to a stop. "A waste of my time would be spending the night alone in my dorm room looking at pictures of cats. Cats I don't even own, Comet."

"My parents have a cat."

"Yeah? What's its name?" Marielle asked, with what he was sure was feigned interest.

"It's, uh... it's Chairman Meow." He pulled at the collar of his coat with his free hand. "I don't know why they named it that. My dad has a weird sense of humour."

"I think it's cute." She smiled at him again. She was going to have to stop doing that, because it was incredibly distracting, and soon enough he was going to slip and embarrass himself. Again.

"I think I'm going to head back inside," he said. "I'm going to be purple instead of green tomorrow if I take another fall like that."

"Really? We've only been skating for twenty minutes." Her gaze dropped down to the ice, and she shoved her bare hands into her pockets. "I was kind of hoping you'd stay longer."

"I can stay," Comet replied quickly. Too quickly, probably. "If you want," he added. "But I'm warning you now; I'm awful at this."

"How would you know? You've barely moved." She withdrew her hands from her pockets, and held them out to him. "Here, let me help. We have like, the entire skating rink to ourselves. We won't be in anybody's way."

Hesitantly, he took hold of her hands. Marielle skated backwards, pulling him towards the centre of the rink. She stopped in the middle, and he wobbled slightly. Comet gripped her hands, and she gave him an encouraging smile. “You steady?” She asked. “Or are you going to wipe out if I start moving again?”

“I’m fine.”

"Good." She began to spin in a slow circle with him. “Tell me if you want to stop,” Marielle warned him. Comet nodded, and tightened his hold on her hands. He wished he could just focus on the sensation of her skin against his, but he was afraid if he did that he’d slip, and bring her down with him.

“This isn’t so bad, is it?” Marielle asked after a few slow rotations. She leaned in, resting her forehead against his.

His breathing hitched. "Yeah, I guess..." Comet trailed off, trying to think of something else to say. "It, uh, it'd be better if they were playing something other than Christmas music. I mean, it's January."

"It's not so bad," Marielle replied. "You only get hear it once a year... it's festive."

Comet shrugged. "I don't know about you, but I'm sick of hearing Mariah Carey and all she wants for Christmas."

Marielle's smile faltered, and she drew back. "I like this song," she said, her voice going quiet.

"Sorry," he looked down at the ice. "I didn't mean it was a bad song, I've just... heard it too many times. You know?"

Comet felt like an idiot. Since he'd first met her, he'd been dying to have some sort of meaningful interaction with her. At first he had shied away because he was mute; she'd never be interested in getting to know the guy that didn't say anything to anyone. Then, once he'd found a solution to his problem, he'd been too afraid to do anything more serious than talking with her, because he was sure she'd never reciprocate his feelings. He'd been waiting for this moment; for her to do or say something that indicated she liked him as more than a friend. Now, it'd happened, and he was pretty sure he'd just blown it.

"Sorry," he mumbled again.

"Hey, it's fine." Her smile returned to her face. "It's just music right? No big deal." She pressed her forehead to his again. "I don't really care what's playing. It's just nice to spend time with you."

Comet nodded. He was being given a second chance, and he wasn't about to ruin it by saying another stupid thing. There had to be a better way to tell her, to show her how he felt, he was sure of it. He hesitated, then leaned forward, and met her lips. For a few seconds she froze, and Comet's stomach twisted into knots as it slowly dawned on him that kissing her out of the blue maybe wasn't the best way to go about things. Then, before he could pull back, Marielle let go of his hands. She wrapped hers around the back of his head instead, her fingers curling into his hair. Comet took hold of her waist, pulling her closer towards him. They were fantastic, the next few seconds, until he leaned back too far, and pulled Marielle down onto the ice with him.
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