Results [Issue 71] Continue the Story - Edition IV

[Flexoo 6,980]

 

 

 

 

Writers! You did amazingly well in the continuation of this series and produced really great first chapters. We've seen many great stories put out in the last issue, but only a handful of contestants can win the promised prizes. Let's look at their names!

 

 

The first place winner who will receive 40,000 and the author of the first thrilling chapter that will blast off this story is @Electron-9000.

 

 

 

The Chronicles of a Writer

 

Chapter 1: The Reveal

 

‘Meet me at my office at 2’ read the note. All kinds of emotions rushed through. “What does he want now?”, visibly confused, Gerald quickly glanced at the clock. “Half-an-hour left eh”. He reached out for his coffee mug. It was empty.  He moved towards the coffee machine to fill him up with some coffee. “Yo Stephanie, do you know what the boss wants to talk about today? Did he speak to you about anything?”. Stephanie just nodded a no and continued to converse on her phone.

 

 

This whole meeting thing was stressing Gerald out. He had never been called for a meeting before. Was he getting suspended? Even worse, fired? Gerald worked as a writer for a firm. He had been appointed to his role by his uncle, Oswald. He had done a few reports and that’s it. What the company did, or what their market was, was something Gerald has no clue about. Nevertheless, he waited for the hour to strike.

He knocked the boss’s cabin, asking permission to enter. The boss had his chair turned towards the fireplace, smoking a cigar, with his back towards Gerald. “Grab a chair young man”. His voice was cold. Gerald, not wanting to make things worse for himself, quietly pulled a chair and sat down. Every second passing seemed like an hour. At this point Gerald had begun to sweat.

 

 

The boss, back still turned against him, spoke: “Do you know why I called you here Gerald?” “Not really Sir!” Gerald replied. The boss turned around. He had large sunglasses on, which covered most of his face. A muffler was wrapped around his neck. He said, “Mr. Gerald, I know its been just 4 months that you have been working with us, I think now it’s time that I tell you what this company is all about” Gerald sat right up. Something wasn’t right. He could feel it. The boss let him have a few moments to sink it in.

 

 

Once Gerald regained his composure, the boss continued. He said, “We are a company that does ads for different clients, but we work as spies undercover for these clients. Blackmail, evidence collection, reports, etc. is all part of what we do here. And before you react or try to leave, let me tell you that once you are hired here, there is no turning back”. Gerald was shocked. Struggling to find some words to blurt out, he asked, “What.. What mm-makes you think I c-can’t run away?”. The boss smirked, and pulled out a paper which looked like the contract Gerald had once signed on. He continued, “Your uncle works for us as a talent recruitment officer. I must tell you, he does his job well, I mean look at you. Perfect talent”.

 

 

Gerald gulped. Memories were starting to strike back at him. Nearly 6 months ago, he had asked his uncle Oswald for a job. His uncle introduced him to this job. Even though the pay wasn’t all that good, Gerald had to take it because of his poor condition. After all, something is better than nothing right? He also remembered that in his state of desperation, he had forgotten to read the contract and just did whatever he was told at that time.

 

Back to the present, Gerald was furious. He had been played. But there was no other option at this point. With a heavy heart, Gerald asked the boss, “What do you want me to do?”. The boss laughed, and replied, “Now we talkin’, you have three objectives, each different from the other”. Saying this he threw three photographs in front of him. “The first photograph is of Joseph Carter, the second is Frank Callum, and the last one is of Kristi Elizer. Now here’s what you will be doing. Joseph Carter is an undercover spy for the G.E.N.E.X, an organization that collects ancient relics. You have to create a case against him, busting him with proof of his relation to the organization, and stuff like that… You get the point. Frank Callum, is a model who is rumored to be cheating on his wife. You have to prove this wrong, and support him with valid resources. Kristi Elizer is the daughter of the third richest man in the country. She has been missing for a few days now. You have to make a report on this event. Is that clear?”.

 

 

At this point, it was complete fade out for Gerald. Failure to accomplish these tasks would mean death. With no choice, Gerald picked up the three photos, and began to leave the cabin. As he left, the boss growled, “Oh yeah, one more thing, If you try to run away or call for help, my men will make sure you don’t stay alive to tell your tale”

Gerald closed the door behind him. He wasn’t hired for this. He went back home, set up his bulletin, and cleared his table. He was a different man now. His only hope and escape was if he finished these tasks. As darkness slowly took over the city, Gerald sat down, pen in hand, making notes as he surfed the internet. Progress had to made.. And Fast!

 

To be Continued…..

 

Coming closely in the second place and winning 30,000 is @Magenta with an extremely ravishing piece.

 

Stranded In The Open

 

“Honey, would you like to go to Lisa’s and give the poor girl some company till I and your father are back?”

 

“I would love to, mom.”

 

The nanny had called up sick that morning, and the last thing Diana would do was to let her daughter be all alone in the house. What if something happened to Karen? What if there was some kind of accident? Where would she get help? No. She couldn’t, simply couldn’t let Karen be alone. Even children surrounded by servants met deadly accidents – did young Jake White not hemorrhage to death after slipping and falling head first on the stairs, in front of the butler?

 

“Alright, we’ll drop you.”

 

Karen felt her life was not her, but her parents’. Her mother was over-protective, and Karen felt suffocated. Diana would make her wear a mountain of sweaters at the slightest breeze, would hold her hand tight enough to leave red marks when in even a small crowd, and could not stand it when a boy stood within ten meters of her. For this reason, Karen was homeschooled.

 

And her father? Henry was a ruthless conservative patriarch to whom a ‘no’ was equivalent to poison. He exerted as much authority and power on his family as he did on the market as a businessman. While Karen’s friends often bragged about their boyfriends and their adventures, she herself led a lonely life with freedom as the only luxury she lacked. Karen was the only 15 year old who hadn’t smoked yet, as far as she knew.

 

Henry might be a modern businessman, but he wasn’t a modern father.

 

Karen wanted to be alone in the house, as her friends often did. Of course, inviting anyone and having some fun was a possibility as distant as the stars. But she didn’t say no when her mother asked her about going to Lisa – her mother would insist, and instead of Lisa, Karen might have to spend the afternoon with her horrid cousin Catherine.

 

“Hello, Ms. Gordon. How’s Lisa?” Karen inquired. She hadn’t seen Lisa for some time, and when she asked her mother about it, she found out that Lisa was sick, although the doctors weren’t entirely sure about what exactly the malady was. Lisa was Karen’s childhood playmate, and the only person Karen liked to be with. Her other ‘friends’ were all posh girls whose fathers Henry knew.

 

“Her fever has increased, and the medicines don’t seem to be working.”

 

“Oh, that’s terrible. Is she awake now?”

 

“Yes, do come in.”

 

While Ms. Gordon led her to Lisa’s bedroom, Karen caught Mr. Gordon’s eyes. He was sitting in front of his table in his study room, and seeing her, he got up and closed the door. His pointed chin and permanently angry eyebrows reminded her of a witch she had once seen in a picture book. He was Karen’s family’s lawyer, and she had often heard that all lawyers were blood sucking vampires who did shady business. Mr. Gordon’s looks certainly helped her belief.

 

“I thought you had forgotten me,” Lisa smiled. She was sitting on her bed, leaning against a pillow, sipping tea. She looked beautiful, except how uncharacteristically thin she was. But her hazel brown eyes hadn’t lost their dazzle. She had almost lost half her weight and strength, Karen observed. “You should have been with me. All I heard the past few days is my doctor whispering to my parents, and my own coughing. The birds learnt to fly, and even they have left me.” A pair of birds had set up a nest on the tree by Lisa’s window, and laid eggs. She and Karen had observed them - and the babies that hatched soon after - for several days.

 

She heard the familiar sound of engine of the Rolls Royce that her father owned, fading away. She already started dreading the moment when her parents would be back.

 

“So, tell me how much your life sucks,” asked Lisa.

 

“My parents have been worse than ever. Can’t you adopt me?” Karen jokingly asked.

 

“No, since you parents are alive, and since I’m only 16. But I’ll ask my father, nonetheless.” At that, both the girls erupted laughing. However, Lisa was soon seized by a fit of coughing. “This cough just keeps getting worse.”

 

“Have you been reading the news? What’s happening at Cuba terrifies me,” Karen shuddered at the very thought of the possibility of nuclear war.

 

“I hope they reach some kind of truce, and back away the nukes,” Lisa said worryingly.

 

Karen’s father disapproved of her thinking of and reading about politics. “Politics are not for girls,” he would say. She was not allowed to touch the newspaper, but she sometimes sneakily took a look while it was lying on the table.

 

Karen looked out of the window, and into the gray sky. If only she was born to a different set of parents. She didn’t care if they were poor, there were millions of girls like her who starved or didn’t have shoes. All she wanted was freedom. Was it too much to ask for?

 

Suddenly, there were loud thumps from the staircase that Lisa’s room was just next to, on the second floor. Mrs. Gordon came rushing through the door, forgetting to knock.

 

“Karen, there’s terrible news. Your parents have met with a terrible accident.”

 

The third place winner who seized the price of 20,000 is @GrandExecutioner. He put forth a well-made first chapter.

 

 

 

A Boy, A Game and A War

 

06:06 December 25th 2037----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 

THUD. THUD. THUD.

“5 more minutes mum.” Jake murmured in his sleep.

THUD. THUD. THUD.

This time Jake's eyes snapped open. He rolled over, only to find no bed beneath him and with a crash landed on the floor in a heap.

He staggered to his feet and his eyes widened when he glanced at his alarm clock. It read 06:07.

“Holy tanks on a cracker!” He exclaimed. Jake was late.

 

THUD. THUD. THUD.

“I'm coming!” He shouted as he stumbled around the room with a shoe in one hand while trying to put a sock on with the other.

He yanked open the door and a brawny soldier towered in front of him blocking the entrance. His fist was raised ready to pound the door again. Jake craned his neck and just about caught a flicker of annoyance before it was wiped out by the emotionless face that stared back at him.

“You're late,” said the soldier in a steely voice. Without another word he turned on his heels and marched down the corridor.

Jake composed himself before following him quickly. They approached a glass lift at the end of the passage which opened automatically and the soldier stepped in without checking to see if Jake was following. As soon as they were both in, a red laser scanned the lift checking its passengers before the doors closed. With a hum, the lift started moving up.

They were in the tallest skyscraper in the world, and so naturally the architects had made sure the lift was made out of glass so people could admire the view of the entire city as you moved up. Jake knew that the lift would take 12 minutes to get to the top, and knowing what was waiting for him, he was glad that he could have those extra few minutes to collect his thoughts. Snow fell gently on the peaceful city below. It seemed like a such a shame that there was nobody left in the city to appreciate it.

Looks like I got the white Christmas I wanted, he thought bitterly. He let his mind wander to a few months ago when his world had been turned upside down...

 

 

13:25 October 25th 2037----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 

“What's on the news?” Jake's dad walked into the living room asking the girls the change the channel. Jake had just finished his Christmas wish list and had jokingly put down “snow” as the last item knowing that there hadn't been snow in London on Christmas day for 100 years.

It was one of those rare days when all his family were gathered together in one room. Jake's mum and two sisters were watching a show. He couldn't remember what it was called but he knew it was annoying and he didn't want to watch it.

Jake had already turned on his laptop in the corner, blasting his keyboard to make a double kill on Tanki Online. In real life he didn't have many friends, but in Tanki he was the clan leader and a legend of the most successful EN clan. His clan had recently won the most major eSports trophy and with it came a cash prize (which may have been the only reason Jake's mom let him play after he bought her expensive perfume with some of the money). The win was well deserved and something out of a dream as they had fought a hard comeback from 0-2 down to win 3-2 in a tie-breaker round and beat the favourites.

“Jake, can you get off that game for a minute?” His mother tried for the millionth time to get him off Tanki and back to real life. The bribe with the perfume only went so far.

“In a minute mum. The battle's almost done.” Jake for the millionth time gave the same reply.

“Arthur can you tell your son to get off Tanki? Arthur?” Jake's dad was pale as he sat glued to the TV and turned the volume up. Jake looked up from his screen.

“...have just received breaking news that North Korea have declared war on England. Their nuclear weapons are currently aimed at our country and are ready to fire. This is not a drill.” The reporter seemed to be shouting now. “I repeat this is not a drill. Everyone in the city- evacuate now!”

It was a while before somebody moved.

 

 

Late in the night, soldiers came to the cottage in the countryside the family had temporarily moved into. The chief explained to his father how a treaty had been organised with North Korea.

 

“It seems they haven't just been working on nuclear weapons, but a Tanki Online team as well. Yes that's right the online game. The war will be decided by a Tanki Online battle on Christmas day.” The chief looked glum as he revealed the news.

“Wha-what are you saying?” Jake's dad asked slowly.

“What I'm saying is we need our best players to form a team.” The chief looked at Jake with pity in his eyes, then back to his father. “Sir, we need your son...”.

 

 

06:21 December 25th 2037----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jake was cut off from his thoughts as the lift started to slow down. He took deep breaths trying to settle his nerves and prepare himself for what was on the other side.

PING!

The lift doors opened…

 

 

And on the fourth place winner who will receive 15,000 is @I3.R.0 with an intriguing, climactic story.

 

 

 

The Nightmare

December 21 2010 -

It was a really pleasant day, we had shifted from Southampton to London, a place anyone would love to visit. We had our own bungalow, a huge one, thanks to my dad, all this was the outcome of his hard work. Let's not forget mom's sacrifices too, she has played a huge part in dad's success as well. I (James Smith) am a 14 year old Englishman, who has spent his childhood in Southampton and now has come to London to complete his high school studies.

 

It didn't take much time for us to adjust the school stuff, though it was really difficult because I had given my word that I'd complete the entire syllabus within 3 months so that I'm prepared for exams. However good things may be, it takes time to adjust to them. Time went by and we were getting adapted to the conditions.

 

December 24 2010 -

Three days at the new home. Life was comfortable but at the same time, I felt somewhat disturbed at the new place. I always wanted to have a huge big room for myself, which only had my own stuff and nothing else. When I had it, I felt like, well..it's not as good as expected. There was nothing to do. The main problem was - I had NO FRIENDS. Back in Southampton, it was buzzy all around and so noisy to the core, that I'd not be able to concentrate on my studies because of my friends playing Cricket and here, it was totally an inversion. No noise whatsoever. The lawn was big enough that I could play golf or cricket with my friends. It was Christmas Eve and there was no Santa. I always used to wait for Santa back in Southampton. I was sad and I just sat at one corner playing chess with computer. Chess, then comics and then back to chess. The time went very slow indeed. To add salt to injury, my mom and dad decided to go back to Southampton to perform some official formalities. My Mom said "Jimmy, we are leaving. Don't create a havoc, we'll be back home by 3 or 4 days. I know it's difficult to stay alone but you are not a kid anymore right? Take care baby." I thought "WHAT 4 DAYS? That's 96 HOURS! That's 5760 MINUTES! OMG That's DEADLY 345600 seconds!" and said, "Mommy are you kidding me? I can't stay alone in this place. It's so big and no one is with me. It's like a haunted house." Mom replied (helplessly shaking her head) "Sorry son, we got no alternative. The official people need the presence of both of us, or else I'd have preferred staying back. Anyways, we got to go now. Take care".

 

That Night -

It was 9 at night and I decided to dine then. Mom had already kept the dinner ready at the table for me. After eating, I decided to call up my immediate friend Robert. We talked for more or less 2 hours. It was approximately 2330 by then. I went to my bed and wished I could sleep ASAP. I've always felt afraid of staying alone. Surprisingly, I started hearing noises of dogs barking around. I thought, "Well, I have someone to give me company huh?" I opened the window of my room and gave a sneak peak out of the balcony. To my surprise, I found nothing. I closed the window and entered inside. Hey wait, I heard something again. This time it was sound of many dogs barking together and I also heard the sound of some bird in the middle, probably some owl. I could also hear wind blow as if a cyclone was near. I opened the window and whaa? Nothing is there. I closed the window and sound begins again. I got mad and I started weeping for help. I started searching up each and every corner of the big bungalow for something which could help me, but to no avail. I went to the main door running and vohla! The door was locked. I became even more depressed. The sound had decreased but I was still scared. I started running again and ended up coming near the so called conference room. My dad said that its lock was old and tight, which needs to be fixed. Suddenly I saw that the noise frequency had increased even more. I ran back to my room and I noticed that the sound frequency decreased. I concluded that there was some clue in that conference room. I decided to open it. I pushed it, hit it but in vain. I was scared but I was also curious to know what the truth was. I gave it a huge smack and bang, the door opened. I entered the room and ............

 

 

 

10,000 Consolation prizes:

@LOLKILLERTOTHEDEATH

@H_A_Z_A_R_D

@Aerodynamics

 

 

:excl: Note to all writers and participants: CTS contest will be continued from the Issue 72 published on 2nd February, 2018. Meantime, you can consider how will you continue the first chapter.

 

 

Congratulations to everyone. Your prizes will be delivered throughout this week or on next Monday. Stay tuned for the second chapter!

 

[I3.R.0 1,700]

The top 3 entries will be the topics for CTS next issue right?

[Flexoo 6,980]

Nope. Just the first place winner's entry will be continued.

[You.Have.to.die 519]

Damn these were good entries, no wonder my alt didn't get a prize.

[Magenta 5,165]

The Firm by John Grisham, eh?

[C.O.N.Q.U.E.R.O.R 3,845]

Darn, not even a consolation?  -_- 

[Sliced 819]

“Have you been reading the news? What’s happening at Cuba terrifies me,” Karen shuddered at the very thought of the @Possibility of nuclear war.

[BlueDragon_tamki 3,204]

Wow

[GrandExecutioner 1,403]

Congratulations to all winners!

 

All of the entries were of really high quality so I'll take 3rd place for my first Newspaper contest!

[Ninjago_44 1]

Why didnt I receive any prize for my article?

[maryam98 1,171]

GrandExecutoner's story deserves beter in my opinion..

[GrandExecutioner 1,403]

GrandExecutoner's story deserves beter in my opinion..

Aww thanks mate ;)

 

All of the stories were really good so I can imagine it would've been hard to judge- but I'm thankful for 3rd :)

[Aerodynamics 10]

I wish I'd done better :( but thx for the consolation prize :)

[H_A_Z_A_R_D 1]

Hey, I didn't receive my prize yet, has everyone else gotten it?  Is it possible to double-check?  I'm sure I haven't received 10,000 crystals.  

 

Thanks.

[Guest]

When a contest asks for writing the first chapter, then why is this contest being called 'Continue The Story'. Shouldn't it be called something like 'Begin The Story'? Otherwise, the first chapter should be provided already and then people should be asked to continue it.

[GrandExecutioner 1,403]

When a contest asks for writing the first chapter, then why is this contest being called 'Continue The Story'. Shouldn't it be called something like 'Begin The Story'? Otherwise, the first chapter should be provided already and then people should be asked to continue it.

EDIT: I'm guessing it would be too much hassle to rename the competition just for one round. The majority of the rounds is indeed continuing the story.

Edited January 24, 2018 by GrandExecutioner

[Viking4s 10,791]

When a contest asks for writing the first chapter, then why is this contest being called 'Continue The Story'. Shouldn't it be called something like 'Begin The Story'? Otherwise, the first chapter should be provided already and then people should be asked to continue it.

Irrelevant, the concept is called "Continue the story" and it include starting the story continuing it and finishing it.

Arguing on this is just waste of time to fan the air...

[Guest]

Irrelevant, the concept is called "Continue the story" and it include starting the story continuing it and finishing it.

Arguing on this is just waste of time to fan the air...

Sure thing. You really seem to be the best guy when it comes to managing time and talking about relevant things.

[Viking4s 10,791]

Sure thing. You really seem to be the best guy when it comes to managing time and talking about relevant things.

I'm glad we clarified that.