Writing Contest Again

I hated missing Janet Reid's last writing contest. But she has one today and I just put in a paragraph. Again, what I like about her contests is that she limits them to just one hundred words. So you don't have to spend a lot of time writing a full page or more. Just one paragraph or so. Takes hardly any time.

Another thing I like is that she requires five preselected words. That inhibits the use of a pre-written paragraph from someone's already in-existence writing. I suppose someone could get an already written paragraph and just substitute the words she requires. But overall, I think, it forces people to come up with something on the spot, and I think, mostly that's what happens.

Sadly, she said this is the last one of the Summer. I hope she has more in the Fall, and Winter, etc. We'll see. I've only had the opportunity to enter once until now, and this is my second try. It's my own fault. I should be more consistent in reading her blog.

Her five words today are: Java, Labrador, Miracle, Devotion, and Serve.

They didn't reach out and grab me like the five words of the first contest I entered. But still, I wanted to play. Here's what I came up with:

It was a long day in Java when the cuckoo failed to fly. But that’s what happened when the Labrador got loose. No one expected a miracle. Every time Lanier escaped, another bird would disappear. Still, the king had just arrived and nothing stopped the show. He loved his royal animals. The lions, trained to sit and stare, always had it easy, but the dogs would leap through rings to serve with absolute devotion. The young monarch loved just one thing more than his pack of dancing canines – his flock of feathered friends, and the cuckoo was his favorite.