Finish The Story - Week #47

[bananafish]

A contest with a pot of 10 STEEM + 4 @steembasicincome shares? You're in the right place!

218 @steembasicincome shares awarded till now, plus 22.558 SBD and 123 STEEM, through the contest in 46 weeks!

What awaits within the Bananafish treasure chest?

1st place: n. 5 STEEM

2nd place: n. 3 STEEM

3rd place: n. 2 STEEM

popular vote: n. 2 steembasicincome share (remember to vote your favorite!)

Best comment to the stories: n. 2 steembasicincome shares

你们好吗? Personally, as Comrade Prof. Dr. Victor, I am very fine, but I wonder how are ye people doing? Tonight I, as your unfortunate Antiimperialist-decolonialist tour guide of illusive poems from Nightmare Kings to Witches with Pirates, shall open the way to ol' chum o' oures~ May the real Dr. @f3nix stand up and present thy work for tonight as I bless upon thee more hours for this late arrival. Had to deal with number creeps.

As such, the Drs. are in the house tonight and we shall begin the operation together; he with beginning the procedure and I the assessor of everything that goes on. Pay fair attention to words and the hypocrisy of oure numbers, in the hour of testing times. Have a good fight or not, the choice is yours~

It pay ye people to learn to team up, for the eyes are needed when the hands go blazing on the modern typewriter. Oj, and listen to what @f3nix will do in the comment § below~

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Map of the Bananafish Realms from a piratey perspective!

• Share the love and tell a friend about the contest!

• Join the Bananafish Realms discord chat for fresh updates and other amenities.

• Vote, vote, vote your favorite story in the comments below!

• Use the #finishthestory tag.

• Try to post your story as early possible and not at the last moment (or after the results! argh!) to give people chance to read yours before they vote

• Respect the dreadful 500 words limit! o_0

• Help our contest & workshop to grow by giving it some visibility and consider linking back to this post in your entry.

And now.. let's dive into the story!

Try a Game in The Hall

^{by @f3nix}


"Five.. twenty-eight.. twenty-two.. twelve.. seventy-nine.."

The marker's mottled surface is like that of a glass marble. It's hard to say where it starts and where the woman's fingers end. It flies on the large bingo card: a tablecloth covering the entire table, whose borders move in a capricious Moebius ribbon. Slender curls emerge rhythmically on the plasticised surface each time the marker grazes it. Now, the instrument is obeying to the imposed angle and pressure, producing the sound of a cat tongue licking a window. Between a number and the other, the woman clings to that image like a castaway anchoring to a slimy rock.

"Thirty .. thirty-one.. ninety-eight.. sixteen .. forty .."

The room has no windows but its walls are brightened by an arabesque of pulsating lines. When the plot detaches from the walls, it innervates on the orange rug and converges on a humanoid obelisk in the center of the hall. Thin wrists flex in synchrony, marking the numbers on the tablecloths every time that the obelisk punctuates them in a propagating fibrous echo. The fleshy organ of this creature is the only hallmark in an otherwise completely smooth mannequin's face. Its mouth unfolds through a complete circumnavigation of the dull head. Its lips are the valves of an agonizing oyster.

"Six .. thirty-three .. sixty-six .. eighty-six .. forty-one .."

The woman's slender fingers move a lock of hair back to the ear. In the time of a sigh, a caress lingers on her temple without the marker losing its rhythm. Sometimes, a new customer enters and takes a seat at a table sinking into one of the faux leather chairs. Soon enough, his face will begin to melt, dripping on the card's elusive signs, becoming one with them. In one of those ephemeral moments between a number and the other, the woman was able to raise her head and glance beyond the bingo door. The outside is the mute vowel of a blinding white expanse.

Sometimes, she struggles to remember her arrival. A cat licking a window reappears in her mind until a number sweeps it away. If there were windows in the hall, would that white nothing leak through them and fill the hall?

"Eighty-one .. thirteen." All in a sudden, the electricity of a look runs through her. It's a man from the table nearby. "..ty .. ninety-two.."

The marker hesitates in mid-air barely enough to make her lose a number.

Let’s grow together!

The wise pectin-packed Bananafish wants all of its beloved people to benefit from rich upvotes. The more of us join the trail or delegate SP, the more our vote on your entries is worth.

Unity is strength, if you would like to contribute to the cause, click here to delegate 25 SP, 10 SP or find out here how to delegate an amount of your choosing!

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Let’s raise a glass to @foffelius, @steelochlaver, @f3nix, @marcoriccardi, @anixio, @gwilberiol, @calluna, @ntowl, @dirge, @seesladen, @theironfelix, @letalis-laetitia, @vdux, @felixgarciap, @tristancarax, @khasa, @stever82, @brisby, @drazeus, @robinsonr810, @michaias who are already in the trail.

Join the fun! Here is how this contest works:

• An unfinished fiction story or a script is posted.

• You finish it with your own post or a comment in the comment section. A limit of 500 words is recommended.

• WIN 10 STEEM + 4 @steembasicincome shares to the writers with the best endings and comments.
  
  

The results will be out on Wednesday - March 13th, 17:00 PM GMT+7 avg. (U.S. West Coast time zone). Submission deadline: Tuesday - March 12th, 17:00 PM GMT+7 (U.S. West Coast time zone). You may vote your favorite story until the results are out!

A special thanks to @gwilberiol, @dirge, @tristancarax, @theironfelix, @raj808, @brisby, @maverickinvictus, @cyemela, @marcoriccardi, @hidden84, @calluna, @oivas, @ntowl, @f3nix, @felt.buzz, @khasa and @vdux for their precious delegations, making this project a reality! If you like this contest..SPREAD THE GOSPEL! We're grateful for your resteeming and word of mouth. Everything helps to grow together!

GOOD LUCK, BRAVE STORYTELLERS!

Comments

[f3nix]

Hello, yellow finned friends.
Talking about my story is always like a minefield, especially before the entries. I feel like adopting a haiku-like perspective: the more you self comment or explain the less freedom you leave to the reader. Hence, my personal nightmare is there for your perusal and, eventually, to stick to your own ones. I will write my own ending on this so I strongly hope that you won't find it. In case you will find it, I will sacrifice to Yog-Sothoth, go back in time and haunt your ancestors (since I'll be Yog's slave, better to have fun). Potassium & Omega 3 blessings to everyone!

[cyemela]

Interesting. Looking forward to reading your ending. I've some idea. Only this prompt feels like a dream. Got to really push the imagination and reach for the stars. LOL

[f3nix]

I know you can do it. I'm looking forward for your interpretation my friend!

[raj808]

I like it mate! The surreal narrative of a dream comes across and I think I grasp what's happening... or at least I grasp what my reality paints to the nightmare.

I shall write an entry b4 I drink any coffee which addles my brain these days for writing. Peppermint tea for the writing, coffee for the edit 😂

P.s. bit of advice, if you don't want to influence peeps, write your ending asap but don't publish it until the day after the contest ends. Hard to wait I know but that's what I did when I wrote 'Astral Echoes' 🙂

Posted using Partiko Android

[f3nix]

Indeed, your advice will be folowed! How I like your functional doping bud 😂 I wanted to talk to you about matcha green tea.. did you ever try it? It's a kinda super green tea powder with 20 times its properties and without the bitter taste. It could be a good add in your drugs cookbook!

[contestkings]

Hi White List Author!

Thanks for being part of our contest community.

Here is a 100% upvote from @contestkings

Official Discord Server: https://discordapp.com/invite/SMSNk7w

[bananafish]

Vote here your favorite story!

[gwilberiol]

I vote for @tristancarax and @salvao.

[calluna]

Even with just a few entries it's so tough, in the end settled on @cyemela

[cyemela]

My vote goes to @tristancarax and @salvao. Much like the FtS contest itself this entry demonstrates a trend on Steemit where authors write stories together.

[tristancarax]

Tough choices - I’m going with @calluna this week.

[stever82]

I am going to vote for @gwiberiol

[gwilberiol]

I might manage to squeeze in this entry of mine. 😬

[bananafish]

I was wondering about the good ol' Master Gwil!

[cyemela]

Little over on the word count. Enjoyed the prompt and got carried away. Once I realized I could still get "First Blood" went in for the kill:

https://steemit.com/finishthestory/@cyemela/finish-the-story-week-47-try-a-game-in-the-hall-bananafish

[bananafish]

First blood for Cyrus! Biting our 47th edition like a seasoned shark.

[cyemela]

Yes, almost like Jaws.

[stever82]

I am late again to the show but wanted to take part off to read a few of the others
https://steemit.com/finishthestory/@stever82/finish-the-story-week-47-entry-try-a-game-in-the-hall

[bananafish]

Wahh you're late bit we still love you! (Platonic love)

[salvao]

I know, I know... participate is in english but... here it is the Spanish versión from collaboration betwen @tristancarax and I. For you enjoy:

https://steemit.com/spanish/@salvao/juegosdesaln--relatoporf3nixtristancaraxysalvao-2rzds9c21n

[calluna]

Gosh this is a meaty one to work with, there is just so much that can be gone on. I can't wait to see your actual ending @f3nix, as well as the offerings we get for the great bananagod this week.

[bananafish]

Thank you Cal. Now i feel pressure! Looks like I've to squeeze my neurons this weekend 😁

[tristancarax]

This is a collaboration piece between one of our speaking Spanish friends, @salvao, and I. We hope you enjoy the fruit of our tiresome work.

https://steemit.com/finishthestory/@tristancarax/try-a-game-in-the-hall

[bananafish]

You two had an amazing idea! Was it from you or from Salvao, Tris?

[salvao]

Mmmm... can´t remember. I think was just talking about things, and me saying I would like to participate in FST but my english is not enough for literature :)
And we found a funny thing here!!

[tristancarax]

I had it in mind. I was thinking about doing an English edit at first. Then I thought it might be way more fun for me to get half a story written by him and then I'd have room to fill in the rest, working from what I was given.

For someone who can read Spanish, I'd love to hear about the difference between the two. I translated his Spanish version back into English and I get something back that reads a little different.

I want to do this again with any language.

Aha! might be a fun contest idea ...

[bananafish]

We'll call you Tristan the inspirer, or the potassium whisperer!

[co-in]

This post has been manually selected, curated and upvoted by CI mod staff team. Supporting all posts that are in high quality and don’t get enough recognition.

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This post was submitted for curation by: @theironfelix
This post was voted: 100%