Contest entries- 15 for 15

Subject: June 17 - Frogs

It was a strange feeling. He had never felt like this before and he definitely needed some very sound advice, from someone very reliable and trustworthy. He knew that it was time to have a talk with his father on the ways of life. And this was the perfect occasion, his mother being away. He and his Dad were enjoying a rare moment in solitude, and he thought it was the perfect occasion for some some true man-to-man talk.

"Dad, we need to talk."

"I could see that coming."

"Well, Dad, I've been getting this strange feeling deep down inside me, you know this tickle i my stomach?"

"Hmmm. I know. Didn't your friends tell you anything about this?"

"Don't even mention them Dad." He hung his head a little shamefully." They all think I'm a sissy." He said in a barely audible voice. "Dad how do you attract females?" He couldn't look at his father in the eye, as he spoke. But he had to know, so that he could avoid all the embarrassment he faced when he met his friends. I was almost spring now, and most of his friends had not only attracted females, they had laid eggs since autumn. He was so embarrassed!

"I was a lead singer in our band. What a chorus it was! We sang through the rainy nights and made sure the girls notice us! And you bet they did! Your mother and I fell in love at first sight. I remember she was at the edge of the pond and when she looked at me with those big bulging eyes, I saw heaven in her eyes! Then when she came closer, I jumped at the opportunity, jumped on her and held her tight." The older frog almost jumped from the branch they were holding onto on the edge of the pond as he reminisced his olden days. " Then you were born along with all your brothers and sisters. Rest is history."

"You sang in a chorus? Wow, I've never heard you sing. I always envied all those who sang, because I could never sing."

"Son, if you never open your mouth to sing, how will you know how well you sing?"

"I'm scared the girls will run away when they hear me sing. What if I sing bad?"

"If every bird thought like you before it sang, we would have very quiet forests son. Think about it."

"How will I know she's the one for me?"

"Some frog somewhere will like your song and she will blink at you, look at you ,croak at you in a very special way. Then you will know. You will recognize love when it happens. Till then, keep croaking and be happy!"




Subject: June 12 - Alien


She could hear three voices. Though she did not understand their language, she knew they were looking for her. She tucked herself in the corner even more tightly to avoid detection. She was so afraid they would spot her and shatter her to pieces recklessly, just as they had done with the others. She was now all alone, on an alien planet, in the midst of aliens, hunting down every one of her species. They would not rest till they found the last of them. And she had been spotted, so they knew she was around. She was afraid she would be traced by her smell. She had seen a huge beast track down one of her people because of their smell. She closed her eyes and just wished she could be at home, safe, happy and in peace.

The nightmare started when their space rover crash landed into an unknown planet on an expedition. An asteroid had accidentally caused them to steer off their course and crash down badly. But due to the genius of their designers back home, who had spent painstaking hours on the safety design of their ship, they could crawl out safely, unscratched. They were overjoyed when they spotted life forms on the planet, but to their horror the life forms were hostile! The aliens captured two of their crew who had landed near them at the time of the crash. She had watched in utter horror, the exchange of fire.The poor injured crew members, half exhausted by the crash, could not endure it all. She closed her eyes and mouth tightly with her fingers, lest any sound passed out. She later realized her voice would not be audible anyway. This was a strange planet indeed.

The three voices had now gone away, and she gathered the courage to creep out and look for a way to escape, for means of survival. She looked around her. There was a large handle . She slid her long fingers around them, grasped it and tugged. Just as she thought. It was a door. Thankfully, it did not make any noise. She had been very hassled by the loud sounds all around her, ever since she came to this planet. The door opened to a large enclosure, all stacked with boxes. She felt a sudden chill and realized the temperature here was very very low. As she picked up a tin to inspect the contents, the door suddenly opened behind her. She turned back, dropping the tin, and tried to hide herself somewhere. But there was no way to go. She was trapped. She now had no choice , but to fight for her survival, till the last drop of her plasma.

In a flash of a second, she reached her belt, and had the laser gun in her grasp. As she flung it towards the two men in the doorway, the gun unfolded. She wasted no time in pressing the trigger and all that remained was ash! Her deep sunk eyes were full of as much fear as excitement. This was not what she wanted, but she had to do it. Brandishing the gun away from her, she searched for any more of such invaders. Stealthily, she found her way out of the structure. The Sun had never shone so brightly on any of the planets she had visited.

"This is the third planet from the Sun", she thought. "I've never been so close to the Sun. Will I melt?" She bent down and kissed the ground and blew a kiss to the Sun. Just as she was rising, shadows surrounded her and her eyes almost dropped out of her sockets. A hundred footsteps, big sounds. She closed her ears with her hands unable to bear the sounds. Her sunken eyes, a strange black before, turned green as she slumped into a pool of green,all around her. Her face towards the Sun, she silently prayed even as the sliver of light turned to a deep abyss of darkness.


Subject: June 15 - Cat [Writers / Writer / Creative Writing]
"Mrs. Johnson, I'm Kenneth. Please can you repeat what you said over the telephone? I just want to confirm I heard right."

"Why, yes of course! But I'm afraid it will escape if you don't make it real quick. My little boy has managed to trap it in our garage. But I don't know how long he can hold on!"

The lady was clearly terrified and in a hurry to finish matters, but he needed to verify what he heard, because he thought it was very, very strange.

"Trap whom, Mrs. Johnson? I'm not really sure."

"Well, I told you! The alien who ate up our cat! She was my baby ! Oh my poor baby!" She wailed.

Kenneth walked back to his partner who was waiting outside his patrol car, looking around for any signs of disturbance. The headquarters had been alerted and they were all gearing up to send in enough troops for back-up. But they wanted to know the extent of the alien attack. They wanted to know how may of them might be there, and where they might be hiding, so they wouldn't be caught unawares, if the aliens attacked somewhere else too. The Johnson's cat had been the first victim and the cops had now to find out how deadly the aliens might be.

"In there." whispered the little boy to the cops as they carefully made their way to the garage door.

"Is there any other way in or out?"

He shook his head in the negative.

"There you go." Kenneth signaled to Jerry as the little one pulled up the collapsible gate . they were both ready for action and were stunned to see a figure run out of the garage like a flash of lightning. They were stunned and started to chase. The alien was about a foot long, yes long, and it moved really fast, curling up and letting go alternately, like a big worm. Its skin looked like a sack. Suddenly, the alien tripped over the garden fence and one of its ends was caught in the fence. Even as the two watched, it stretched itself and suddenly, out emerged what looked like a head.

"Holy Cow! It looks like a cat!" Kenneth gasped.

"Queenie! Queenie! Oh my baby, you're hurt! How did you land in there?"

"Queenie? Is that you?" Kenneth asked the cat pointing the tip of his automatic rifle at her. The terrified cat scuttled away into the hands of the relieved lady.

"Purr. Purr" she teased at them from the arms of Mrs Johnson, kissing her all over.

Jerry gave her one mean look. "Grrrr. Grrr!"


Subject: June 11 - Raft [Writers / Writer / Creative Writing]
Richard's eyes shone with excitement as he fondly looked at the photograph. There was Nick right in the front, William, in white, almost shaken out of the raft, and he himself in the second row, left, having the time of his life. His deep blue eyes seemed to reflect the icy blue waters from the pic, and he could feel the goosebumps all over his being, as the memories came back to him. Oh! There could be nothing quite like the feeling of rushing down the river, navigating through the rough, wild streams of water. The butterflies in the stomach every time they went down a waterfall, that could beat the excitement of any roller coaster known. The photograph here was of one of their easier rafting experiences, 70 km stretch with Grade 3 and Grade 4 rapids. His mind then took him to one of their grave mistakes, a Grade 6 raids expedition, that made them two friend lesser.
His train of thoughts were broken by the words of the secretary beckoning at him to enter the room. "Mr. Turegano, the Board will see you now."
"Thank you."
As he entered he knew that this was the last chance. He would not get such an opportunity again.
"Good afternoon gentlemen. Richard Turegano. "
"Please sit down, Mr. Richard. You can call me Dave. And you surely know Edmund here."
"Yes of course I do." Richard, replied, half sneeringly looking at Edmund, who looked oblivious to Richard's presence.
"Well now, can we proceed?" Edmund suddenly asked and without even waiting for an answer, proceeded. "Thank you. I have before me reports and geographical surveys of five rivers, mapped and studied over the last fifty years, with the help of satellite pictures. They show that every river has 1) changed its course at least at two places by a margin of 20%, 2) developed variations in the rock bed formations by 17% and 3) found migration of aquatic life and a shift in breeding grounds of almost all birds. And, theses are rivers totally free of rafting activities. So, I wish to know gentlemen, how we could be adversely affecting the environment, as per our friend Richard Turegano." He passed around a thick bunch of papers.
Richard knew he had to now make an impression.
"With all due respect to Edmund, I must say I have enjoyed his rafting expeditions and can still find myself raring to go. But i must speak today, before it is too late. In spite of all the excitement I have had over all the years, the loss of my friends made me look more deeper into the river, and I became aware of many issues I had overlooked in my idea of fun. Edmund here wants to go ahead with dredging to bring the classification of the river stretch down to Grade 4 from Grade 6. It bring me shivers to think of all the plant and marine life it will affect. The mere presence of rafters and rafting equipment is enough for many life organisms in these beautiful rivers to be affected. Have you ever given a thought to what happens to the river bed once you are done with the dredging? It could cause loosening of soil, and landslides, even in places that have the most stable rock strata."
"I just gave you some reports."
Richard could not help laughing.
"I think it is most amusing. Do you know how many rivers are there on Mother Earth? And you could pick only five? Do you know what percentage that comes to? don't you think that's one bloody flimsy excuse? " He put before them all some papers." Here are records of the very rivers where dredging has been done and the river bed transformed to suit rafting. Maybe they can answer you Ed."
Edmund was speechless.
"A grade 6 may not bring you much revenue. But you can shift the venue downstream, where you have a stretch of 80 kms that could qualify Grade 5. You don't have a choice. If you want your child to even know what it feels to have the coll blue waters gushing through, if you want to enjoy rafting with him 20 years from now, you have to revise your decision."
He stood up.
"If you don't, I suggest you preserve your picture out there on your wall, Ed. That might be all your son may see of white water rafting"