Results Continue the Story: Episode V

[kaisdf 3,320]

After a little over a month, it's time to see who finally won!

 

 

The Results:

 

1st place, 80 000 crystals + 10 containers - @maryam98 (entering with @Tsunami)

 

2nd place, 65 000 crystals + 5 containers - @Merovingian and @pythor20000

 

3rd place, 50 000 crystals + 3 containers - @ILiveOnTheChatBox123

 

 

And finally, a consolation prize of 20k goes to:

• @Person_Random
  

 

---

 

Congratulations to the winners! Unfortunately, that's all for Continue the Story Episode V, but we'll be back again soon with other writing contests to stimulate your neurons  :lol:

 

[maryam98 1,171]

:o

 

Congrats to all the winners!

[kaisdf 3,320]

  

@maryam98's entry

 

The Rainbow Pod

I couldn’t tell you why I pocketed the seed pod. I’m not in the habit of picking up dirty things from the ground, nor of carrying them home. The sidewalk was littered with pods, we called them Monkey Pods. Most were smashed by passing pedestrians; the cement was sticky with their residue. This one, though, was different. It wasn’t the sickly brown that characterized most of the fallen pods, nor was it the particular green of a young pod still on the tree. This pod, I kid you not, was rainbow-hued. One end was deep red, the other end was violet, and the colors changed with each lump, giving the entire ROY G. BIV spectrum. When I got home and opened it, the seeds inside matched the color of the husk, one each for red, orange, yellow…

I planted them just outside my kitchen window. My yard really wasn’t much of a yard, mostly weeds and fallen branches, but I cleared a small patch of earth where I knew the sun would shine, and I planted each of those seven seeds. That was just over a month ago. Today, I noticed the first tips of sprouts breaking the surface of the soil. They, too, match the colors of the rainbow.

I had wondered, vaguely, if the plants that weren’t green, and therefore shouldn’t be able to sustain themselves, would be able to capture what sunlight struck them, but a week after the seeds sprouted I realised I had no need to worry. Each separate plant was growing at the same speed as the others, somehow gravitating towards each other in such a way that there was always a rainbow in my yard, no matter the weather.

I took pictures of them- Roy- daily, but for some reason could never bring myself to share them with anyone. Those plants, that should eventually grow into huge, multicolored trees, were mine, at least until they grew too big for my neighbors to overlook. Perhaps that was a bad idea. I would tell you that there were no adverse effects of such possessiveness, but I doubt you’d believe me. And you might be wrong.

When I went out one morning to water Roy, I noticed a leaf just on the other side of Red. New leaves were always slightly different in colour to the parent plant, making the rainbow look even smoother. This one was different. It, believe it or not, was almost transparent. Long-dead memories of infrared and ultraviolet surfaced in my mind, and I quickly looked at Violet. Sure enough, it too had a translucent leaf.

I gaped at the two for a moment, before realising that I would be late to my admittedly awful work. Worried that Roy would wilt if I didn’t water them, I rushed through my morning routine to make up for the time I lost in the yard. Unsurprisingly, this left me distracted; and as happens in so many stories, I set off a long chain of events. I’ll get to that later.

On the way home the same evening, I glanced idly at the pavement, wondering if there would be another rainbow pod. As usual, there were only the usual brown pods, grown slightly fewer over the past two months. What did catch my attention was a squirrel on the grass next to the sidewalk, that actually had a somewhat multicolored coat. Oh, nothing like Roy’s vibrant colors, but still visible and definitely unusual.

I stepped towards the squirrel to look at it closer, but, of course, it was less trusting than Roy, and scampered away. Following, I noticed that the fallen leaves it passed were also rather colorful, and stopped to examine them. Crouching down onto the mess of leaves and monkey pods, I turned a handful of leaves over, almost losing my balance when I saw the ground underneath. I suppose that sounds exaggerated, but I assure you it isn’t. It’s not every day that you get to see a neon yellow sidewalk, after all.

I touched it fascinatedly, half expecting the ground to cave under my hand like so much dust, but it felt as solid as a rock. Or, I guess, as cement. Certainly my hand couldn’t go through it; whether it could go through my hand was an entirely different matter. Standing up took more effort than usual; the ground was sticky, uneven, and absolutely yellow. I decided to go back home and check up on Roy, and then perhaps return to uncover more of the sidewalk. Knowing what we do now, that was, perhaps, not the best idea.

 

@Merovingian's entry - "Vixen's Shadow"

 

 

Scarlet crossed the boundaries of the spiritual place. The gravel on the main alley crackled under her steps. Behind her, a shrilling metallic complaint coming from the rusty hinges of the gate in motion woke up a murder of crows which was peacefully sleeping in the lines of trees enclosing the graveyard. The startled black birds flew over her, flapping their wings angrily, and perched on the highest branch they could find. Scarlet stopped dead in her tracks, and she looked back to find the gate shut closed as if the place wanted to enclose her forever.

 

The large ominous eyes of the birds were peering intensely at her, either to pry on the intruder or just to curse her for the disturbance she caused. In the distance, a scream echoed and completed this eerie scene. Chills of apprehension crawled from her spine to the extremity of her limbs. The girl’s bones and flesh grew colder, her hair shivered as goose bumps distorted her skin. She clenched her scarf and shrugged further into her winter coat in an attempt to seal off the warmth from giving up on her body.

 

Scarlet was already regretting her decision to accept the sanctuary’s mysterious invitation, and she was even considering cycling back home to escape the numbing cold of this estranged night. She mentally pictured herself wrapped in a comfy blanket and sleeping by the fireplace, … but the curiosity was stronger. She mustered some renewed energy, that revived her senses and accelerated her beating heart. She moved forth her left foot, then the other one followed. Her blood stream circulated faster and faster, her cheeks turned red again and her breath produced a thick puff of steam. She had resumed her walk along the central alley with fresh determination.

 

The graves laid along the alley way, well-aligned on each side of the path revealed the identities of the corpses hidden below. Among the carved names, she recognised familiar ones, like elders or relatives of the town folks. She vaguely remembered a few others, ones belonging to the old town's family decimated during the war that had occurred just three decades ago. In the starry sky a ghostly cloud cloaked the moonlight, submerging the cemetery with a thick darkness. Drowned in a sudden pitch-black night Scarlet lost sense of her surroundings. but she carried on, navigating blindly among the tombstones, luckily avoiding bumping into them. She finally met with the end of the path. She had entered the deep end of the cemetery, an area demarcated by the dark silhouette of a sketchy line of trees.

 

A faint sound of a nocturnal animal rummaging within the dead leaves caught her attention. She jumped backward in fright: Two static golden eyes of an indescribable shadow were staring her out ten meters away. The eye contest lasted for a couple of seconds, or maybe an eternity. Her mind frozen by an unknown fear lost sense of time and her heart was racing out of control. A series of sudden strident and short barks echoing from the adjoined fields, broke the standoff. Immediately, the shadow responded with a long scream; a sort of high-pitched variation of howling. The eyes disappeared in the wake of a sombre shape with two pointy ears fleeing between an interstice of the enclosure.

 

Winter was the mating season between vixens and male foxes, and these wild animals populated large areas of this region. During this special period, vixens scream to signal their presence and availability to potential alpha foxes in the vicinity. Scarlet realised that must have been a vixen replying to the call of an attractive red fox looking for a companion. Curious, she headed to the spot where the vixen was searching the ground for food, which stood in the section of the cemetery where less fortunate dead were casted away from the common folks. Here the cleaned alleys were replaced by a muddy path covered by many iced puddles, it was half abandoned.

 

As she was approaching her destination the moon finally won the battle against the cloud and its shiny face lit the ground. The twisted corpse of a dead rabbit was laying on its side with its head half-separated from its body. The cadaver was in bad shape and covered with many bites and scratches. Its eyes were missing, instead two grim dark holes filled with dry blood were gaping at her. Scarlet let out a scream of disgust. She felt sicken and nauseous and had to lean on a cold tombstone beside her to prevent her from falling. She thought that the crows must have attacked this poor rabbit and pecked the eyes out. She choked, and threw up her last meal; the acrid taste of the mixture of bile and stomach fluids was burning her throat, she had to spit a few times to get rid of it.

 

Scarlet moved away from the cadaver and the stench of the greenish fluids as she tried to recover from her feelings of utter disgust. She rested immobile for a couple of minutes until she gazed on a small and humble grave that looked tidier than the adjacent ones. “Carla Espinosa. An angel forever in our hearts.” was inscribed on the pale headstone. This grave belonged to a girl who was about five years old according to the gap between the dates of birth and death. Despite the name being of foreign origin, it sounded very familiar to her.

 

A happy memory of two young girls giggling together came to her mind, but it was tainted with sadness and … guilt. This memory soon faded to blackness and a strong sensation came forward, a surge of uncontrolled feelings emerging from the past and submerging her present. Scarlet’s face turned white, her body trembled, and she was shaking at the knees. From the chaotic feelings deeply buried in her past, only a fraction had come through the barrier of her subconscious, the rest stayed sealed, unwilling to get to the surface but she could tell they were reeking of death.

 

Freaked out, confused and distressed, Scarlet’s only thought was to run away from this wicked place. She rushed straight to the entry navigating through the graves, forced open the heavy gate still under the vigilance of the crows and rode home. 

 

 “Carla!” She pleaded in the darkness of the night. “Who are you?”

 

@pythor20000's entry:

 

 

•  

Sent 21 Aug 2019 - 00:57

Steven awoke three hours later to find himself bound and lashed to a sturdy object. The room he was in was very dark, so dark in fact that he couldn’t see his hand when he struggled to lift it up to his face. The cords that detained him were thick, and held his torso, arms, and legs tightly to whatever he was up against. His rational thinking quickly flew out the door, and Steven panicked, vainly thrashing about trying to escape from his bonds. After a couple minutes, the soldier saw it was useless to waste any more energy and ceased to struggle. His breath coming in short breaths, he was suddenly conscious of a nagging hunger that tore at his stomach. To add to his discomfort, blood flow had been cut off to his legs due to the tightness of the cords, and the bullet wound in his right leg was starting to get infected.  

 

        20 minutes passed without any improvement. Steven’s mind wandered to the goal of his original mission. He had been employed by the CIA to track down an elusive criminal gang called The Scarabs and their leader, Bill. Apparently they had a mysterious case that the CIA wanted. Steven and the other eight soldiers he was working with had followed a suspected member to the Siberian wastelands of northern Russia, where they stumbled over one of the gangs warehouses… with about ten members inside. The element of surprise was on the side of the gang and the soldiers were easily pushed back with heavy losses. That’s when Steven was wounded. He didn’t remember much after that. The one thing he did recall was the fact that he saw three of his fellow soldiers standing unscathed up on a shipment crate. Then he blacked out. 

 

          Steven tried to run through the possibilities in his head. Were those soldiers turncoats? Were they the reason the gang was so quick to locate the soldiers in the warehouse? His mind was spinning and he felt he was about to lose consciousness for the second time that day. That’s when he heard a faint noise outside of the room. It slowly got loud enough for Steven to realize it was the sound of voices steadily drawing nearer. One voice was louder than the rest, shouting what sounded like orders. A minute later a large metal door on the other end of the room was thrown open, and Steven heard grunts as four or five men entered the chamber carrying what looked like a large crate. Suddenly, light flooded the room as one of the men hit the light switch. Stevens’ eyes automatically closed as he was momentarily blinded. He recovered in time to see the men put down the crate about thirty feet in front of him. Steven quickly scanned the room, now that he had light to see by. The chamber looked to be about 50 X 50 feet square with no windows and just the one door that the men had entered by. Boxes and crates were piled up along the walls, and a desk with a computer was just visible behind some other junk. It was then that he became aware of the apparatus he was tied to. With a short gasp Steven whipped his head around to see what was behind him. What he had previously assumed was a chair was actually a metal seat situated on a short pole up off the ground. Behind Steven was a bizarre looking contraption that only evoked one sense out of the soldier - fear. His gaze shifted back to the men, none of whom he recognized. They seemed to be conversing, that much Steven could tell by the way their lips moved, but even though they were only about 30 feet away, Steven couldn’t discern anything they were saying. He tried calling out, but the men didn’t acknowledge him at all. A few minutes later they finished unloading the contents of the crate, after which two men left the room, shutting the iron door behind them. One of the remaining men walked over to a console to Stevens left, and pressed a button. Immediately, the floor split open and a large white desk slowly rose from the ground. All sorts of gadgets and computers dotted the desk, behind which the other two men sat down on high tek seats. The man who had pressed the button, Steven guessed he was the leader, walked over to the desk and grabbed what looked to be a headset. He placed it around his neck and adjusted the mic. 

 

“So, I see you have recovered,” the words blasted in Stevens’ ears and he instinctively cringed. The sentence left an annoying ringing in the soldier’s inner ear that bordered on deafening. 

 

“Oh I’m sorry,” the man smirked, “am I talking too loud? He motioned to one of the men seated at the desk behind him and the ringing in Steven’s ears was greatly reduced. 

 

“I know you must have many questions,” the man said in fake sincerity. “Don’t worry, I’ll do my best to answer them.” 

 

“You are inside what we have codenamed Operation Acid Storm.” He walked forward up to about 10 feet from where Steven was situated and proceeded to knock on what looked like thin air. 

 

“There is an invisible force field surrounding you, no intelligible sound can be heard while inside this field. However, I have inserted tiny microchips in your ears that are hooked up to this mic.”

 

Steven just sat there, dazed, processing what this man was telling him.

 

“It turns out we finished building this machine five months ago, receiving the parts from our inside sources, or stealing them. However, all this time we were missing the final piece, the piece that turns this bundle of machinery into a place of pain and misery.” 

 

The man reached down where the contents of the crate had been laid out, and brought up a black case.

 

“Looking for this?” 

 

He opened the case and brought out a small vial filled with a clear liquid. Smiling he held it out so Steven could see it. 

 

“Foolish Americans,” the man cackled. “It was no hard task for us to weave our way into the CIA’s plans. The case was heavily guarded, but they were no match for us. I knew they’d send out a force to recover it, and it was easy to pick them off one by one.”

 

There was a look of anger on Steven’s face. “You wouldn’t dare.” 

 

The man chuckled again. “You never had any fellow soldiers in your crew. They were all imposters employed by me to bring you here. We had to leave one of the soldiers deployed by the FBI alive, and we picked you.” 

 

There was a pause as the man ran his fingers around the vial. He looked straight into the horrified eyes of Steven and murmured, “Unfortunately for you, if would have been better to die at the hands of my men.”

 

With that he briskly whipped around to the left and ascended a ladder to the top of the machine. Placing the vial into a glass container and pushing down until a sharp click was heard, he then climbed back down to the ground. He didn’t speak again until he joined the other two men behind the desk. 

 

“What do you want from me,” Steven exclaimed through gritted teeth. 

 

“You are going to be my test subject. The chemical inside the vial is called Nitrocimide.  While in liquid form it is perfectly harmless. In fact, there have been known instances where Chinese chefs have mixed drops of it with liquor for added flavor. However, in gas form, Nitrocimide is one of the most mysterious and dangerous chemicals on earth. When exposed to large amounts, a person’s brain will undergo significant change, turning him into a being resembling a zombie. The process will only take a few minutes, but is extremely painful. Up to this point, only the CIA knew how to transform the chemical into gaseous form. The information was all in the case, which is now, as you know, in our hands.”

 

Steven tried to accept his fate as a man. Only making one remark back.

“Who are you?”

 

The man looked surprised by the question. He quickly composed himself, then simply said, “They call me Bill.” 

 

Removing the headset, he reached out and, with a slight nod to the other two men, pulled down a large lever that was on the desk. A whizzing sound filled the force field as the Nitrocimide filtered through a small vented box on the top of the machine. The liquid was immediately vaporized into a clear purple gas that quickly started to envelop Steven. 

 

Steven’s last thoughts flew through his mind before the noxious fumes completely consumed him. 

 

@ILiveOnTheChatBox123's entry

 

 

             Death hung in the air. Cobwebs tied iron bars together, as if to stop them running away. Within the iron boundary, grass was diced into neat, uneven lines of stones. Carved into the marbled faces were remnants of writing: “…memoriam…”, “…loved”, “…Peace”, each in contrast with the forgotten, unloved nature of the lumps that featured them.

            Along one edge of the cemetery was a narrow road, long and spindly, winding through the countryside. At one end was the small farm Scarlet called home; at the other was the town she worked in. Every day, she made the five-mile cycle ride there and then back again in the evenings, passing the imposing iron gates each time. As is the norm with daily commutes, Scarlet made this journey every day for years without ever even noticing the cemetery.

            This time was different. It was mid-winter, early evening: dark, but with no trace of wind. Yet, as she got closer, the trees rustled, and the gate creaked open. The impenetrable iron cage, normally designed to keep people out (or was it to keep things in?) was now inviting her in. She screeched to a stop, ditching her bike, and walked towards the opening.

            As Scarlet proceeded through the gates, she wasn’t sure what she really wanted in there. It might have been just curiosity, but since she had always passed by this place without entering, she simply wanted to check it out. Scarlet figured she had some time to spare, as it was on her way home from work, so she figured she can spend some time there.

            So Scarlet strode down the so-called ‘streets’ of the cemetery, as they winded their way around the cemetery. She peered at some of the tombstones that lay on the large mounds of earth. Most of them were indecipherable, as they had faded away into the heavy air. They were obviously not well tended, with shrubs sprouting about all over. There were no fresh-flowers, or mourners there. However, one thing did stand out. They all had a bright blue sticker on them that read “Burial performed by the Arid burial crew”. Scarlet thought it strange how they had all used the same company. In addition-why were all the tombstones faded, but not the company’s stickers?

            The next thing Scarlet noticed was the street signs. Not one gravestone on the intersection of Peaceful and Hopeful streets was comprehensible, yet the street signs stood out so brightly, and clearly. Not only that, but they were coated with the latest reflective paint, so to be visible at night. There was also a low chirping of some birds, breaking up the terrible silence. This woman found it all intriguing.

While she was concluding her stroll, she noticed a large strip of land was bare and empty. There were two sister streets. One was named ‘The Rainbow Pod”, and had a plaque stating that it had been purchased by a generous rich man. He had donated it to be used in case of a large tragedy that the town might experience, with a large amount of deaths, and not enough graves. Thankfully for that town, it was empty, meaning there never was a large killing in the town.

The other sister street was named “A Deadly Quandary.” Rumor had it that the local mafia had purchased it, in case any of them are killed. This too lay empty.

Then the two streets met again, and there was a small hut. It seemed to have been used by a security guard back in the day. Now it stood abandoned, and covered in cobwebs. Another one of the reflective signs hung over the entrance to this hut. It read “A Grave Affair”.

Scarlet glanced at her watch, and she realized it was time to leave this mysterious place. Fortunately,  for her, the iron gates were still tilted open. She hopped on her bike, and she started for home.

That night in her home, she thought of a great plan. Scarlet worked in an office. She was a secretary, along with two other women. One of them, Ellen, was super annoying. Besides for the fact that  she was not so socially inclined, she always wanted to tag along with the rest of ‘the crew’. Whenever they wanted to go out together to the beach, an amusement park, or just to chat over some tea, if Ellen found out about it she wanted to come. Scarlet thought, this would be a great opportunity to prank Ellen, and put her in her place.

The next day at work, Scarlet went over to Ellen at work. She asked Ellen if she would like to go camping with her on the weekend. Ellen was overjoyed. She had always been begging for this, and now it was being offered to her. She obviously responded “Yes”. Scarlet told her that she was going to an old abandoned hut on a hill by a cemetery, and it might be slightly spooky. Due to Ellen’s excitement at the offer, she readily agreed despite the location.

Meanwhile, Scarlet told some of her other co-workers about their camping trip. She asked them to do her a favor, and drive by that night at two o’clock. They should make sure to swing the gates around to make them creak and squeal, make loud footsteps, and perform some terrifying shrieks. They will wake them up. Ellen will be terrified and ask Scarlet about the noise, and she will say she doesn’t hear anything. Hopefully, Ellen would never want to come with us on outings again.

That weekend, Scarlet and Ellen took some sleeping bags and camping gear. They parked their cars a mile back, planning on trekking the rest. A thick mist hung over the countryside that night. The road was quiet, and they conversed noiselessly as they hiked up the road.

There was a swift wind that swung the gates open as they got there. They looked for the reflective bright-green street signs. After a few minutes, they got to the sister streets. They took “A Deadly Quandary,” and they noticed an old rusty mammoth sitting on the hill. A shiver ran down Ellen’s spine at the sight of it, but Scarlet just thought that her friends had somehow pulled this off.

When they got to the hut, they set up camp; putting out their sleeping bags, and hanging their lanterns from the ceiling. They ate a few snacks, chatted, cracked a few jokes, before they turned off their lights, and went to sleep.

At two o’clock in the morning they both suddenly woke up. They heard a car without a muffler roaming around outside the graveyard. They heard the gates swing open, and it sounded like a Gauss’ shot. Ellen looked scared, but Scarlet just smirked that it was nothing. They heard loud footsteps, thick winds, and bloodcurdling screams. At this point Ellen starts crying, she is truly frightened.

Scarlet thinks about how Ellen doesn’t mean bad, and it was very enjoyable spending some time with her after all. She tells Ellen that she is sorry, it was all a plan to make her scared. She calms down, the noises stop, and they go to sleep. They finish their outing the next day, and go home.

The next Monday, at work, Scarlet tells her friends about what a good job they had done. It was very realistic. But her friends tell her, “We are sorry, but we completely forgot about going to the graveyard.”

Now where did those noises come from? Stay tuned to find out.

 

Congratulations, all, some fantastic stories in there!

  

[Person_Random 4,991]

hahahaha i still managed to consolidation while chem joking.

[AncientFire 1,894]

Holy crap

 

i never bothered to see the rewards...

 

this is making me jealous

no like i am literally dumbstruck by how stupid i was for not participating

 

i sit around bored all day, this could have been a good way to stimulate myself

oh well... next time =/

[maryam98 1,171]

Holy crap

 

i never bothered to see the rewards...

 

this is making me jealous

no like i am literally dumbstruck by how stupid i was for not participating

 

i sit around bored all day, this could have been a good way to stimulate myself

oh well... next time =/

For me the rewards are one of the main motivation, usually I don’t do anything unless I get some sort of inspiration though... It’s good to stretch that part of the mind a bit.

[Merovingian 656]

The tsunami washed out the competition. ;)

Congo maryam.

Edited September 27, 2019 by Merovingian

[maryam98 1,171]

The tsunami washed out the competition. ;)

Congo maryam.

Not everyone died ;)

[AncientFire 1,894]

Not everyone died ;)

i cannot believe this... just as i was ranting about this contest...

 

 

 

 

 

i think im about to faint

[maryam98 1,171]

i cannot believe this... just as i was ranting about this contest...

 

 

 

 

 

i think im about to faint

I have a feeling that took you less time than me...

[Merovingian 656]

i cannot believe this... just as i was ranting about this contest...

i think im about to faint

If you don't try you won't win.

You played your strength, smart.

[kaisdf 3,320]

Congrats also to @pythor20000, who came joint second!

 

(And whose entry I completely missed because it got buried in my inbox :wacko:)

[ILiveOnTheChatBox123 936]

  

@maryam98's entry

 

The Rainbow Pod

 

 

 

@Merovingian's entry - "Vixen's Shadow"

 

 

 

Congratulations, all, some fantastic stories in there!

  

Are those stories going to be made into their own AWS entries automatically ? Can I make my own into an entry if not?

[Pythor 1,354]

Congrats also to @pythor20000, who came joint second!

 

(And whose entry I completely missed because it got buried in my inbox :wacko:)

:ph34r:

[kaisdf 3,320]

Are those stories going to be made into their own AWS entries automatically ? Can I make my own into an entry if not?

They aren't, and due to the low entry count, there won't be any continuation installments, so feel free to turn yours into an AWS entry :)

[ILiveOnTheChatBox123 936]

:ph34r:

Well, thanks for staying hidden so I can make 3rd place.

 

 

feel free to turn yours into an AWS entry :)

I think I might've placed better if my story hadn't been intended to be part of a longer series. I also couldn't stay as closely to the writer's style as Merovingian's entry had, since I needed more of a dialogue and story line.

As a work on chapter 2, I need a title name, any suggestions?

[Merovingian 656]

As a work on chapter 2, I need a title name, any suggestions?

"Ghost play" or "Ghost in the wind"

[Viking4s 10,791]

Awesome stories. Well done to the winners.

[Bydo 20,139]

Congratulations to all ..

 

maryam98

way to go girl you did it !!!!

[maryam98 1,171]

Congratulations to all ..

 

 

maryam98

way to go girl you did it !!!!

Thanks!

[Person_Random 4,991]

i just realized why i had 93k crystals instead of 73k lol

[Sabrytoun_Superman 677]

Congratulations :)