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Logan Shafts
Dec Member 2023

Logan Shafts

Posts: 3,211 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
I am impressed by the turnout so far, as there are 7 contestants. The scores are really close too (though I won't divulge anything more than that yet), good work everybody. =]
I wonder how many more people will enter before the deadline? ^^

06-May-2010 08:04:44

Esperanza
Oct Member 2019

Esperanza

Posts: 193 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Wow, getting alot of entries! And some really good ones, I simply must come back and read them all :D (cant right now, the laundry summons me, hehe)
Hopefully I will get mine done in time, but I dunno. Still alot I have to do in prep for 'opperation lobster', but we shall see :P
Either way, good luck to all! And gratz Logan on the turnout :)
†Hawky†
~The Original Drama Queen~

06-May-2010 19:08:34

Logan Shafts
Dec Member 2023

Logan Shafts

Posts: 3,211 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Ah, good to see you around here again Hawk. I hope you get an entry in before the deadline as well, but I understand you're busy an all.
I'm afraid I can't move the deadline back at this point - but be assured there will be another contest soon after this one, though the theme will be different. =]

06-May-2010 19:35:02

Logan Shafts
Dec Member 2023

Logan Shafts

Posts: 3,211 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
-=[Attention!]=-
Due to the fact that I am going to be gone tomorrow, and won't be able to grade late entries, I am moving the deadline up to midnight on Sunday, the 9th.
The results will be released by Monday, hopefully.
Good luck to all. =]

07-May-2010 23:33:58

Esperanza
Oct Member 2019

Esperanza

Posts: 193 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
The Origami Bird.

The breeze blew through the streets, bringing with it a very peculiar smell. The little bird turned his head to the side, breathing deeply. The smell was unknown to him, but that wasn’t a surprise, he was after all very young.
He shuffled closer to the edge of the sill. Where could that smell be coming from? He looked around, peering down the alley outside his little house. He couldn’t see the source. Maybe he just couldn’t see anything from here. He went closer to the edge, but still unable to see he went closer. And closer still.
The wind blew through again, knocking the little bird from his precarious perch. Down he fell, the air rushed by him, tearing at his fragile wings, keeping him from unfolding them and gaining his balance.
His heart slammed against his rib cage. Panicked, he flailed around, desperately trying to right himself.
The ground closed in, closer and closer it came, until… Yes! He hit an updraft, the gust snapping his wings open, riding on the air he soared up into the night. He narrowly missed colliding with the dirty sidewalk.
He flapped his papery wings experimentally, gaining some altitude. He tried it again, gaining a little more. Encouraged he beat his wings faster, flying up above the roof tops. This wasn’t so bad; he could get use to it. It was kind of fun actually.
He hovered over the little brick houses and looked around. His eyes widened in awe. It was beautiful, simply beautiful.
The air was colder up here; it clung to his wings like mist. The stars were just waking up, they shown in the darkening sky, disappearing every now and then behind little gray clouds.
But the most amazing thing of all was the lights. They shown from thousands of little windows set in little houses. Their lights flickering off and on as people moved about, playing hide and seek with him. He watched them, trying see them all at once, but couldn’t, there were just too many of them.

09-May-2010 03:46:50 - Last edited on 09-May-2010 04:16:41 by Esperanza

Esperanza
Oct Member 2019

Esperanza

Posts: 193 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
He breathed in deeply, enjoying the crisp air… wait, his eyes flew open; the smell was still there.
Curious once more, he looked around. He couldn’t see anything, but then, what was he looking for? He closed his eyes again, letting his other senses guild him.
The smell was riding on the breeze. He tilted towards it, his little body straining to fight the oncoming air.
The smell was getting stronger now; it clung to the walls of his lungs making it hard to breathe. He opened his eyes.
He was in front of a little house. It was a great deal like the little house he had been made in. It was very narrow, with two stories. Made of a faded red brick it had three small windows on the top floor, and a tiny door on the first.
Intrigued, he landed on one of those window sills. The wood beneath his feet was worn and rough from weather, splinters coming lose. The joints lacked paint and he could feel drafts pushing past him into the house.
He rocked carefully from foot to foot, and peered through the water stained panes. A little girl played on the floor, her long brown hair was pulled into two pony tails on either side of her head. She played with a small red ball, rolling it back and forth across the floor before running after it. She looked very much like the little girl that lived in his house.
He looked again to the streets and sniffed. No, the smell wasn’t coming from here.
He jumped from the sill and once again followed the scent, closing his tiny black eyes. Across the night sky he went, the lights from all the little windows shining on his pale body.
The sounds of the city greeted him, car horns and human voices hummed in harmony. Crickets and night animals join the orchestra. The breeze blew at him lifting him higher and pulling him along.
The smell was stronger now. It filled his lungs, burning his eyes and throat, but still he followed it. He had to know where it was coming from; he had to know what was making that smell.

09-May-2010 03:47:58 - Last edited on 09-May-2010 03:53:14 by Esperanza

Esperanza
Oct Member 2019

Esperanza

Posts: 193 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
He came around a corner, seeing the light for the first time. It burned brighter than any of the little window lights, scorching his retinas from beneath his closed lids. Blinking back tears he opened his eyes. Never had he seen such a thing, never.
Unlike the other houses, whose only light came from those three little windows, this houses light came from all of it. The whole building was illuminated. The light danced and twirled, reaching out with long arms and touching the surrounding buildings, as if it wanted to share its light with them, to pull them from the dark.
Entranced, he flew closer. Humans scurried about on the ground, running back and forth aimlessly. He did*’t know why they were so agitated, but it did*’t matter anyway. He was much more interested in the bright house then in the humans.
Then the heat wave hit him. It was hotter then anything he had ever felt, it burned at his fragile body, throwing him upwards and away. Shocked, he let it.
The smoke was thicker up here. It smothered him, closing off his lungs and blinding him. He could feel the heat waves burning at his wings, little charred bits flying off in orange specks. No! He was going to burn alive! Just like Icarus he too had flown too close to the sun.
The heat waves came again, but this time they threw him away from the inferno, saving the little bird’s life.
He flew away, his smoldering wings pumping. Tears ran from his black eyes and stained his pale face.
Suddenly, he wanted nothing to do with the strange smell. He wanted nothing to do with the bright house or its vast light. All he wanted was his own window sill, in his own little faded brick house, with his own little girl playing within. He wanted to go home.
And that’s what he did.

09-May-2010 03:48:06 - Last edited on 09-May-2010 03:55:35 by Esperanza

Esperanza
Oct Member 2019

Esperanza

Posts: 193 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Through the alleys he flew, across streets, over buildings he went, dodging people and cars. He was nearly snatched by a dog, but made it away mostly unscathed. He barely noticed anything around him, so intent on getting home he was.
And then it was there, right in front of him. A faded red brick house with three small windows shining proudly on the second floor and a tiny door on the first. Four bricks where missing from the right side of the roof ledge. The bottom step to the front stairs was slightly crooked and wobbled when stepped on. But it was home, and he had never been as happy as he was right now.
He went to the open window, the one in the middle. He quickly scurried inside, as far away from the edge as he could get.
Exhausted, he looked around the room. The walls were a pale pink with little white flowers painted on it. The sparse furniture was also white. And on the small bed fast asleep was his houses child, her curly hair spread across the pillow.
Content, he closed his eyes and tucked his chin to his chest.

Amelia sat at the kitchen table, the morning paper was in front of her and a cup of coffee in her hands.
The paper said that the old grain house had caught fire the night before. It had burned to the ground, taking one life and injuring eleven others. Thank God the old building was far way from here, far away from her family.

“Mummy! Mummy!”
She smiled and set the paper aside, turning to meet her daughter. She scooped the little girl up, swinging her child up and over her head.
The little girl squealed in delight and clung to her Mother. Clutched in her small fist was the little Origami bird.
His white paper body was wrinkled and dirty. Black dust and grime stuck to him. His carefully folded wings where charred black and crumbling at the edges, his tail torn. He smelled like wood smoke.

09-May-2010 03:48:14 - Last edited on 09-May-2010 05:38:09 by Esperanza

Esperanza
Oct Member 2019

Esperanza

Posts: 193 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Ok, there is my entry. I hope its not too late, but even if it is I had a blast writing it :D
My 'something ordinary' was a piece of paper turned into an Origami stork.
I made it extraordinary by throwing it out a window, lol :P
†Hawky†
~The Original Drama Queen~

09-May-2010 04:06:27

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