And We Have A Wiener!

Oops, I meant winner...really, I did.

Boy oh boy, was this freakin' tough or what. I absolutely adored the entries I received and picking three winners was tougher than choosing which three desserts I would be having tonight to celebrate. What? Are you saying I SHOULDN'T eat three desserts a night?

As you know, or maybe you don't, this contest was inspired by my work in progress, and those five words appear in less than a hundred words in it. Here is where those five words came from:

The pride in my father's eyes sent daggers through my heart. No matter how much of a loner I was, he was still proud. That cold night in December, when the wind howled at the windows and my family stared at me gaped mouth, my father knew I was leaving.
"One day, you’ll be the next Kerouac," he said. "You'll hit the open road in your Gremlin with Astor. One day, you’ll stop fighting the girl you are. And then you'll see the beauty in the world, Frankie. Then you will look past the ugliness.”

Regardless, you people can write. And you don't hold back, what's up with that?
Not only did you complete the task at hand, but you did it with style, with pizazz and all for some prize a twisted chick from Canada picked out.

Thank you all for participating, but let's be honest, you want to know who won...and these are the winners!

I don't normally do this, because I like to play fair, but I am going to give a fourth prize out to Nick Fuller for his entry. Let's just say this prize is for 'the most fucked up 99 word flash fiction piece' in my contest. Here is his entry:

Messy, red, shredded muscle pulp of what was once a beating heart sat in the hands of a metallic creature. Dripping, sticky and beauty incarnate. At least it was to the machine. It had begun to feel. It was pondering the concept of loneliness. And when it ripped the gremlin called heart from it's master's chest, it found meaning in what humans called a “loner”. The room was now bare. Lifeless. And it was alone. And it liked being alone. It would go on the road, like Kerouac even, but to find meaning for itself in absolute lifelessness.

Third place: Wakefield Mahon This entry was different from the others. There was a sparkle of hope at the end and it made me happy to see that.

It was Kerouac that encouraged me to buy a Gremlin. Ok he didn’t actually, call me up and recommend it but his extemporaneous style. Rather like Bruce Lee’s it was not an actual style but a philosophy of improvisation. I’ve always been a bit of a loner so it wasn’t that hard for me to just hope in my new-to-me car and drive west, where most of my memories of beauty lie, in search of the girl who could mend my heart.

Second place: Miles Brandt - Well, isn't Miles just a wordy fellow. I've always known the boy could write, but to be honest, who knew he could rhyme? I loved this from the first time I read it to the last time, in between I must have read it 13 times.

=Polyester=

The loner in blue, from umbilical rue, worked harder and longer than anyone he knew.
His boss, a gremlin without beauty and heart, asked to have a word, for civility’s part.
“Because of this and that and so-and-so, there’s a division-wide layoff, and we’re letting you go.”
“This is most inopportune.”
“Please have your locker empty by noon.”
“That’s it?” he asked, “A simple effacement?”
“Spare me the tears; call it replacement.”
“With whom and whereof? Kerouac, Bo, Harry or Joe? Don’t tell me it was Vanhove.”
“None of the above; we hired Jackson, don’t blame me, it’s affirmitive action.”

First Place: Robb Grindstaff - I loved this. From the minute I read it. It was witty and funny and just fantastic writing. I love play on words! And it impressed me in such few words, not that Robb hasn't impressed me before. ;)

He’d had a few drinks before he got to my place.
“A snifter of Kerouac, please.”
“Beg your pardon?”
“Brandy. That bottle there.” He pointed to the shelf.
“Courvoisier?”
“That’s what I said. You heart of hearing?”
He scowled at how much I poured then drank it like a shot.
“Now give me a vodka gremlin.” He squinted to focus and looked around the bar while I mixed a gimlet. “Any hot chicks ever come in here? I need a beauty call.”
“The redhead, Fran. But she’s a loner.”
“Perfect. I’m just lookin’ to borrow her for a few minutes.”

I think this was a success and I might just be posting another contest for the masses. I hope you had as much fun writing them as I did reading them! Now I just have to convince these poor saps to give me their addresses so I can send them their prizes. Awkward.

That was some great flash, and I can't wait for the next round!