Year 1, Week 6: Results!

We were disappointed by the amount of entries that we received last week--there's not much of a competition if there's only two entries to choose from! Even so, two stories are better than one--we'd like to give a big round of applause to our two contestants--Steph Ellis and Ophelia Leong! 

First Runner Up

Steph Ellis' Sometimes Holidays Really Get Your Goat

Rin: Dai and Will are fun characters in their incompetent goonishness and I wonder what made them get into the devil-worshiping in the first place. There was a lot of comical dialogue and back story throughout, especially the idea that the devil had had his holiday fire pit ruined last time. It was greatly amusing to imagine that. My favorite line was 'The small goat continued to chew on Dai's shoe, a picture of innocence.' because I can just see that and I love how it comes out at the end that they'd had the right one all along and he'd tricked them. Sounds just like what a mischievous spawn of the devil might do!

Mars: This was an amusing take on the prompt--a clever play on words. The character dynamics stood out, too--Dai and Will make for a good, humorous character pairing. The joke at the end--actually having the right kid--made the piece complete. It also prompts an intriguing question--what made Dai and Will pick up "this devil worship lark" in the first place?

Y1W6 Winner!

Ophelia Leong

with Changeling Duty

Rin: I love faerie lore and all things mythology, so this was a fun one for me. I especially liked Deenan's character and wonder whose bright idea it was to let him lead a newbie onto the 'child-swapping' field with only one job under his belt. No wonder they bungled it, King Oberon ought to chew out their commanding officer instead! XD The dialogue was entertaining and Deenan's attempt to boss around a toddler with formal talk was amusing. My favorite sentence was definitely 'A dewy blue eye peered down at Sephira and a drop of drool from a toothy grin fell on her face.' It was good description and evokes a strong 'Ew!' response from me. I just squirm at the idea of being drooled on. Gross! Nice job.

Mars: This was another amusing take on the prompt--I don't read a lot of faerie lore (and usually the faeries I read about are closer to the traditional kind), so it's fun to see into a changeling job. I, like Steph, was expecting the toddler to take a chomp out of one of the faerie's heads (which would have quickly turned an amusing story into something much more dark, I suppose . . .). It's also a little amusing that they could be caught so easily by a tiny kid. Well done!

Changeling Duty

“Oh no. We brought the wrong kid.” 

“You’re kidding me.” 

“No, really. Look. He’s too big to be a baby.” 

Sephira glanced at the bundle of blankets on the grass, anxiously twisting her silver-green hair between her fingers. She had to admit it had been difficult to fly whilst carrying it, but… 

“Deenan, you told me you had everything checked out. You said that was the right house! We already put the changeling in!” 

Deenan scratched his long, pointed ears, his fine features red with embarrassment. “I’m sorry. This is only my second time doing this, okay? Changeling duty isn’t easy.” 

“You’re telling me! I waited forever for this and now my partner just bungled my first job!” 

Just then, they heard a yawn and a soft rustling behind them. Sephira’s heart turned cold. Deenan’s purple eyes widened and he trembled. Changeling duty was not known to be dangerous to faeries, since they usually handle babies, but an older kid was another story altogether. 

“Ooh, new toys!” 

Sephira tried to fly away, but strong little fingers grabbed her wings. She struggled, calling for Deenan, but he was caught in the kids’ other hand! 

A dewy blue eye peered down at Sephira and a drop of drool from a toothy grin fell on her face. 

“Ew!” she exclaimed as she tried to wiggle free. “Deenan, talk to it! Do something! This is all your fault!” 

“Human child! Let go of us at once! We do not belong in your realm!” Deenan shouted wobbly as the child shook him about. 

Sephira rolled her eyes. “I don’t think it understands Faerie court talk, genius.”

The kid began walking back towards the house, still holding the faeries. Sephira sighed; what was worse, a scolding from Oberon or playtime with a toddler?

Hope to see more of y'all next week!