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SEPTEMBER -- Caption the Picture: Extended Edition -- WINNERS ANNOUNCED
klb685
Posts: 3,388 Member
A Monthly Story Contest
People love to read stories. Writing them, however, seems a daunting laborious task best left to ... well, anyone else.
Captioning a picture is much less intimidating. A one liner? No problem! This contest falls somewhere in between.
** August's Edition
** July's Edition
** June's Edition
I want you to write a story about this picture.
You can include the events leading up to, the current goings on, the future consequences of its happening, or any combination of the three. Feel free to make up names for the characters and places, and take any artistic liberties you think necessary. Tell me what's happening, why it's occurring, where it takes place, who's involved, when does it take place, how does it turn out. Remember: Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How. You don't have to include answers to all of the questions but keeping them in mind might help your story writing process.
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Rules and Prizes
Rules:
* Each story MUST be at least one paragraph long. There is no maximum length.
* Post your story or a link to your story in this thread.
* Keep it friendly. Constructive criticism is beneficial but don't be mean or rude.
* All stories must be submitted by the end of the month. Anything posted after September 30st, midnight CST will not be counted.
* You may submit as many stories as you like.
Judging Criteria:
Creativity: 15
Flow: 10
Story Matches the Picture: 10
Clear Beginning and End: 5
Prizes:
* Prizes may be given to another person.
* Prizes may increase but will not decrease.
1st: 700
2nd: 500
3rd: 200
and two honorable mentions worth 50 each
Thank you, Blythelyre, for volunteering to sponsor!
Entries
Completed Stories:
Erja888
olive337337
SimSassybree
guanahanii83
justusb
Fran98765
Beezar
** non-entry Ciane
** non-entry Blythelyre
Interested:
Winners
1st: 700 sp awarded by Blythelyre
Beezar - I loved that the golden mist in the picture was dust from the sneezing Sphinx! I'm impressed that it was only that little that had accumulated over five thousand years. My nose itches just thinking about it.
2nd: 500 sp awarded by KLB
Guanahanii83 - A mummy curse is exactly what lead to the scene in the picture and my sim was, indeed, asking for entrance to be cured so your story was spot on. Perhaps you've had the misfortune of caring for an overly curious sim too.
3rd: 200 sp awarded by Blythelyre
Olive337337 - Scaling a temple, performing a traditional dance, and a holding marathon meditation session ... I'm glad Chase was up to the task otherwise who knows what might have happened!
Honorable Mentions: 50 sp each awarded by Blythelyre
Erja888 - "... and 26 "awesomes" by Ryan Vaughan." Hilarious! This line had me cracking up for the next 10 minutes or so.
Fran98765 - Not a curse after all! I do wonder what evil happened to those children's skeletons that were dug up. A mystery for another day perhaps.
Monday June 1st, 2009. EA Headquaters. 9 am.
Graham Nardone new associate producer of The Sims 3 has the first meeting with his team. It is one of his jobs to create buildings for the first The Sims 3 expansion pack that will launch late 2009.
He is introduced to the topic of the expansion pack: world adventures. After a brain storming of different places where Sims could have great adventures following countries are left: Brazil, Australia, Egypt, France, Italy and China.
After he and his team did some research (♥ google) they are fascinated by the pyramids. Graham tries to recreate a pyramid. As the outside is a shell he's done with that quickly. But he stuggles with the inside. How does a pyramid look from the inside? He doesn't know. He's never watched a movie or documentary about pyramids. He's never been to Egypt.
Wednesday July 8th, 2009. EA Headquaters. 8.30 am.
The WA crew separates into three groups. One for Egypt, one for France and one for China. Today the Egypt group shows their residential lots and special objects. During the presentation you can hear a lot of "Ohhs, ahhhs, wows" by the other producers and 26 "awesomes" by Ryan Vaughan.
Graham is proud that his crew is doing good so far. However, the thombs inside the pyramids still give him sleepless nights. Finally he decides to ask his boss for a vacation in late July/early August. "That's too close to the gold status!", his boss says "Are you getting nervous? We didn't hire you to push back the release date of our first expansion. We already had to push back the base game which frustrated lots of Simmers around the globe!"
But Graham can asure him that his work will be done before the game has to reach gold status.
Saturday August 1st, 2009. Al Simhara, Egypt. 7.45 pm.
Because of his thoroughly research Graham found out about a myth: It is said that a miracle happens in Al Simhara on the second of August of every year that follows a leap year. Luck for Graham as 2009 is such a year. Meanwhile he searches for a base camp and gets his tent ready for the night.
Sunday August 2nd, 2009. Al Simhara.
Graham is up early. After having some grilled Mummy Fish for breakfast he explores the surroundings of Al Simhara. There are only a few houses but lots of sand. Waiting for a miracle to happen can be very anoying so Graham visits some natives. They find this American guy very funny and teach him some traditional Egyptian songs.
Around 5 pm all inhabitants of Al Simhara go on a hill. Malala Nusi a 20 year old magician speaks some Arabic words and holds a golden stick in the air. The wind begins to blow and the sky turns as red as blood. Everyone around starts to sing one of the traditional songs and Graham joins in. A sandstorm is raging in front of them. About 20 minutes later the storm is gone and the desert shows the secrets it hides: a second sphinx statue. Malala goes down the hill. She mumbles some words and the doors of the sphinx open. Malala starts to hover above the ground in a tailor seat. Golden fog comes out of the sphinx. Graham is standing there with his mouth wide open. With great presence of mind he grabs a picture of this with his camera. Later Malala waves to him and he is allowed to see the inside of the sphinx.
They have to hurry to get outside the sphinx and run up the hill. At about 11 pm the sandstorm comes back and the sphinx is unvisible for another four years.
Thursday August 6th, 2009. Al Simhara. 10.30 am.
Graham found some friends among the people of Al Simhara. Especially Malala seems to like him a lot. Finally it is time to say goodbye. Malala asks him if he wants to stay in Egypt. Graham has to think about this: Staying here with a beautiful young lady or going back to the US to develop a PC game?! Being a gamer at heart Graham gives a plumbob key chain to Malala and leaves. At the plane Graham already works on the first thombs.
Friday August 14th, 2009. EA Headquaters. 2.00 pm.
Graham and his team present their thombs to the China and France team. They are amazed. Everybody compliments Graham on his wonderful and adventurous thombs. His boss says: "The vacation must have boosted your creativity!" "Yeah", Graham giggles, "Creativity was the key."
---
Any resemblance to living persons and real actions are purely coincidental.
Great beginning Erja.
Awaiting the next installment...
Forgive me for saying so, but...
The first thing I thought, was upon seeing this months picture, was "WHOA! way too many chili peppers in someone's dinner."
Erja, did you claim your prize from last month's contest and I missed it? You won an honorable mention and I don't remember gifting you ... though it could just be old age getting to me. Darn those late twenties! http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/704060.page#11183459
Aunza, I pray for the poor soul who ate enough peppers to produce that sort of effect. Whew!
Edit: Having issues with the page not auto-resizing the pictures.
Pity I don't have much use for bookmarks. When I start a book, I generally can't put it down until I'm finished. (Minus taking care of the kidlets, of course.)
Here's an Eye of Horus bookmark!
Until a few years ago, I always imagined the pyramids to be in the middle of nowhere; some remote location that tourists flocked to while vacationing. However, that's not at all the case. Look at how close these are to Cairo (Giza Necropolis: The Great Pyramids, and the Great Sphinx are here).
July 15, 2013. Egypt. 7:00 P.M.
The mist swirls around him, as he levitates and relaxes. Calm thoughts, calm thoughts. Radiating through his head, is a powerful chant, one filled with magic and mystery. Chase tries hard not to remember the events of the past week, and just to concentrate on opening that tomb door.
The key to all my problems is right there. Just keep thinking, Chase. Don't stop until it opens, he thinks.
He thinks for another good hour or so, when he feels a disturbance in the air. He looks up, done thinking. He feels that he has accomplished his task. The Dukkan will be proud. A crevice begins to form in the sphinx's mouth. It gets longer, and longer, deeper and deeper, until finally the pathway is clear. Chase stands up, relieved. He dusts off his shorts, fixes his hair, and strides off to face the holy one, The Dukkan.
He disappears after the rubble closes up the doorway, sweating and nervous and finally realizing what exactly he got himself into, just three days ago.
July 12, 2013. Albany Int'l Airport, 3:00 A.M.
Chase shrugs, as he is offered a free drink on his way past the check in terminal. He puts his hands up and says no to the woman. She shrugs, and hands the drink to an elderly man behind him. Chase walks down the corridor, looking for his flight. Ah. He sees it, flight A-23, to Egypt. The sphinx, to be exact.
He finds an empty chair and sits down. His stomach growls. In all his hurry this morning, he forgot to eat breakfast. Taking that water wouldn't have been so bad, but Chase doesn't speak english well and decides, in most cases, not to try talking at all.
Looking around, Chase notices the crowd of people waiting for the plane to leave, in exactly 20 minutes, are mostly buisness people. He then realizes that he is on a buisness trip too, just not the same kind they are on.
20 minutes go past pretty quickly when you're reading up on the history of Egypt. Of course, Chase already knows all of it, having grown up in Giza, Egypt. He needs to review though, just in case. He boards the plane confidently and chooses a seat all the way in the back, where he was directed to go by someone by the name of "Shamra." He sits, waits, and waits some more. Finally, in boarding group D, a man sits down next to him.
"Dia duit. Tá tú Chase, nach bhfuil tú? Lig dom a mhíniú do beag "tionscadal ..." ( Hello. You are Chase, are you not? Let me explain your little "project...") The man then proceeds to tell Chase about every aspect and detail possible about his "assignment..."
July 13, 2013. Egypt. 7:30 A.M.
Chase runs along the sidewalk, looking for a place called: Barzo's Tavern.
Nope, nope, no, no, no, nop-Ah! There it is! An old adobe building, very run down and by the looks of it, busy. Chase steps in.
(the rest of the dialogue will be in arabic, but english for your convinience
"Hello, I'm Chase, and I'm looking for a Barzo?" Chase proclaims loudly over the noise. Everyone quiets down.
"You, are Chase?!" an older man, sitting alone drinking a third beer, asks.
"Um, yes, I am. I'm Chase. Why, am I not what you exp-"
"Chase! Where's Chase?" A big, surly man, Barzo, steps out of the back. Looking curious and eager, he scans the crowd.
Chase raises his hand timidly. "Uh, I'm Chase sir. Er...Barzo."
"You? Eh, expected someone a little more...strong. Anywho, lets get started shall we? Follow me, young man.." Barzo gestures to the door, and he and Chase step outside.
The city is bustling, and the air smells crisp and odorous. The narrow car packed streets are crammed end to end with small buisnesses, restaurants, basically anything you could ever need is right here in Egypt. Chase loves it. He smiles just at the sight of it.
Chase follows Barzo to his car, and they both get in. Barzo doesn't say a word, he knows the boy's got no time to waste. He puts the pedal to the medal, and heads off in the direction of the sphinx.
July 13. 2013. Egypt, the sphinx. 10:00 A.M.
Chase gets out of the car, thanks Barzo for the ride, and watches him speed away, a trail of dust following close behind. Half of him just wants to get back in the car. The other half knows that he has to do this. He just has to.
He walks quickly over to the Sphinx. Now he must begin the process to get in. Shamra needs him to talk to The Dukka, and right away. Something is amist in Egypt, and he's going to stop it. He's the only person contactable who can read and translate the type of Egyptian written on this tomb. He is to read it, do what it says and deliver a message.
First, it says, he must get "the beetle, put it on the temple top and wait for sundown." Good! He already has the Golden Scarab, and now he just needs to climb the Sphinx and put it at the top, and wait for sundown.
And so he climbs...brick by brick, over and over until he's at the top. And just in time too. The sun goes down right when he places the beetle on the tippy top of the temple. It glows a brilliant gold, glitters, then disappears.
July 14, 2013. Egypt. 12:00 P.M.
Time for number 2 out of 3 steps. Now he has to do the Shaka. That's a traditional dance, and he's all prepared. He sets down his lume, asks it to play for him. He puts on the dancewear, and begins to dance.
Step, step, clap, snap, turn, jump, LEAP. LEAP. LEAP. Step, step, clap...
July 15, 2013. Egypt. 1:00 P.M.
Chase is in the middle of step 3. He's praying, levitating, and thinking about opening the door with his mind. It's working, he can feel it. Only till sundown, about 7 more hours. Halfway through.
July 15, 2013. Egypt. 8:00 P.M.''
The door has opened. Chase walks in, feeling it close behind him in a seemingly normal wall of rubble. But its not, he can sense it. It's magic. He turns the first turn, and there he sees. Behold, the Great Dukkan! Dukkan looks to him, curiously.
What is it you want, special one? The voice echos around in his head, powerful and great.
"I...I..I have a message, Great One." Chase nervously walks forward, places the scroll on the shrine, prays, then retreats. He can't stop his knees from shaking.
Thank you. Your presence was here, now it must begone. 10 SECONDS UNTIL THE DOORS SHUT ONCE AGIAN, FOR ETERNITY!
Chase takes a second to comprehend, then turns around and sprints. Wait! He went the wrong way! He realizes his mistake just in time, for he bolts out of the door just as the mouth snaps shut again.
He's done his job. He saved Egypt, possibly the world.
Scarabs were popular amulets in ancient Egypt. According to ancient Egyptian myths, the sun (Ra) rolls across the sky each day and transforms bodies and souls. Modeled upon the Scarabaeidae family dung beetle, which rolls dung into a ball for the purposes of eating and laying eggs that are later transformed into larva, the scarab was seen as an earthly symbol of this heavenly cycle.
Edited because the picture didn't auto resize.
Take this as a free bump!
Can't wait to read some more!
Tutankhamun (King Tut):
He ascended to the throne in 1333 BC, at the age of nine or ten, taking the throne name Nebkheperure and married his sister, Ankhesenpaaten, with whom he had two stillborn children -- his death ended their family line. In historical terms, Tutankhamun's significance stems from his rejection of the radical religious innovations his father had imposed.
If Tutankhamun is the world's best known pharaoh, it is largely because his tomb is among the best preserved, and his image and associated artifacts the most-exhibited. As Jon Manchip White writes, in his foreword to the 1977 edition of Carter's The Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun, "The pharaoh who in life was one of the least esteemed of Egypt's Pharoahs has become in death the most renowned."
Nine days left -- plenty of time.