Topic: July Writing Comp: Aesop's Fables *Voting Time*

[MashPotato]

In hopes of getting more participants in this competition, I tried to select a topic that wouldn't take too long and will hopefully be fun to write and read:

AESOP'S FABLES[/color]

We all know the story about the tortoise and the hare ("slow and steady wins the race"), and the mice belling the cat ("it is easy to propose impossible remedies"), now make up your own fable that demonstrates words of wisdom... or be wacky and make a fable that teaches lessons in idiocy!  Whichever one you want ^_^

For examples of fables, you can visit here: http://aesopfables.com/


RULES (they're slightly different from the usual, so please read):
 
1) Although there is no maximum length, fables are usually short and to the point (often being only a paragraph long), so try to be concise. 
2) Don't forget to put a sentence at the end that tells the moral of the story ^_^
3) You do not need to write in the style of Aesop's fables, your fable can be in first-person, presented only in dialogue (like a play script), in verse form, etc.  Feel free to be creative!
4) If your entry is very short, you can put it in your post.  However, if it is medium to long in length, please upload your entry on a host somewhere, and provide a link here.
5) I might enter this one (as is allowed), but I promise I have no idea at this time what I'm going to do ^_^
6) Please get your entries in by July 28 12:00 EST.  Voting will last until July 31, 5:00 EST.
7) The winner will get the keen prize of choosing next month's theme and rules, as well as a spot in the Hall of Fame!

If you have any questions, please ask.  I hope many of you will participate, and will have some good old-fashioned wholesome creative fun! ^_^

[DeadSuperHero]

This DEFINATELY looks interesting. I think I'll go write one now.
EDIT: Here is my submission. I'm kind of obsessed with William Howard Taft, so I wrote a story about him.
I put it in a zip and loaded it up on 2dadventure.
Taft and the Magic Penny

[Kweepa]

The Rebellious Daughter

An earnest couple was blessed with three daughters. The mother tried to instill in them courtesy and kindness. The father guided their education as best he could.

The eldest daughter worked hard, and became a successful doctor.

The middle daughter was a gifted artist and opened a gallery with her husband.

The youngest daughter rebelled, experimented with drugs, slept around and was kicked out of college having learned nothing. Her parents were distraught and their worst fears were confirmed when she won the lottery.

It's better to be lucky than good.

[MashPotato]

Wow, 2 entries already! ^_^

Steve, technically the entry is supposed to be hosted elsewhere... but I guess that rule (which I copied out of the previous rules) is meant for long stories.  Your way makes sense for this particular comp ^_^

So to anyone else who is entering, if your story is short you can post it like Steve did; however, if it's lengthy, please only link to it.  Use your own good judgment as to which method it should be ^_^.  I'll update the rules.


EDIT:
Alliance, would it be possible for you to link to your story directly (or just post it here straight, since it's short) instead of zipping it?  It would make it easier for people to read, because then they wouldn't have to download it.  Thanks ^_^

[DeadSuperHero]

Sure, I'll post it here since it's rather short.

Taft and the Magic Penny
  Once upon a time, there was a fat man named William Howard Taft. Taft was a big fellow, and his favorite food was a dreadful concoction he called Butter Waffles. One day, he looked in the fridge, and saw it was empty. This broke his heart. He grew frantic, and decided to go to the store. He only had one penny, however. So, he went to the store so that he could STEAL butter.
  "Oh, how I wish I had a trillion dollars" said Taft. And then he did. He bought all the butter in the store, and had a horrible heart attack and died.
Moral of the story:

there's more things to life than butter.

[fred]

Here's my fable in broken english, it's kinda short too, so I'm posting it here. :-)

The Worm and the Hare
Once there was a hungry worm, travelling West towards lusher and greener pastures. On its way, it had to traverse a puddle of vile mud, and as the sun rose high and dried the mud around it, the worm was miserable stuck, fixated in a cement-like cast. A hare jumped over the dried mud, I mean, it's a hare - it can easily do that, what with it's oh so long and slender legs.  "Help me!", shouted the worm, and behold, the benevolent hare stopped and loosened the worm from the mud and carried it on it's back to it's lair where they feasted on ripe green grass. The hare was soon nourished, but the worm with it's insatiable appetite had not had enough. "This is so cool," said the worm, "Will you now carry me to the pasture where I were headed so I can continue my eating? You're my best friend ever!" The hare responded: "Well, I'm full now, and will go to sleep. If you're still hungry, you must travel along on your own." And with a smile it added, "Besides, friendships between worms and hares are never long-lived." "Well, if that's the way you want it", the worm gruntled and travelled on in its laborious way. The hare never missed the worm or regretted what it had said. Although, from then on, occasionally, during the summer, it would stop and send faint smiles at the butterflies.

Morale: "Friendships between worms and hares are never long-lived." or "There's more to butter than flies."

[Nikolas]

The Dark Green Forest

Once upon a time there was a very poor couple who lived in the verge of a dark green forest. The forest was dark and green . Anyway...

The man unfortunately was unable to make any children, and so was the wife. And thus they were sad and happy at the same time. Because although they didn't have the happiness to have children, if they did the children would surely starve to death since they were both so poor.

Never the less. beinh naive both of them, they praide each day to the dark queen of the dark green forest, to give them happiness. More happiness that they could handle.

And one day the Queen responded, in the form of a new medicine called Fertilite pill, for the lady and blue pill for the gentleman. And more over from then one the gentleman stoped being so gentle

And after nine months the couple had a first child. They named her happiness, as it brought much happiness to their lives. But after 9 more months another 2 children were born. The one was called Semi, and the other Happy. The first one of the twins always cried while the second always laughed, for no good reason.
And after 9 months another 2 twins were born. They were named after their current economical situation. Fucking and Ugly.

After that the pills kept on working and the couple kept on having children although the couple didn't want anymore. And fate had brought it that indeed the couple and all their children, including Happiness, died of starvation.

Then the Queen took their property and turned it into a luxury Sex Hotel, for desperate couple.

The end

First of all I knwo that the words Dark, Green and Forest are repeated and it is on purpose . The ethical moral of the story is: Never trust the Dark Queens, Never trust the pill, and never ever ever have unprotected SEX children

PS. Maybe I should reverse the hides???

[Radiant]

   It all started when our over-heralded star, Hansel, woke up in a magical cornfield. It was the ninth time it had happened. Feeling excessively displeased, Hansel grabbed a wolverine, thinking it would make him feel better (but as usual, it did not). Absolutely thrilled, he realized that his beloved golden apple was missing!  Immediately he called his overtly elitist, rich friend, Gretel. Hansel had known Gretel for (plus or minus) half a million years, the majority of which were curious ones.  Gretel was unique. She was smart though sometimes a little... stupid. Hansel called her anyway, for the situation was urgent.

   Gretel picked up to a very unhappy Hansel. Gretel calmly assured him that most South American hissing sloths sigh before mating, yet long-haired sea monkeys usually flamboyantly sigh *after* mating. She had no idea what that meant; she was only concerned with distracting Hansel.  Why was Gretel trying to distract Hansel?  Because she had snuck out from Hansel's with the golden apple only eight days prior.  It was a electric little golden apple... how could she resist?

   It didn't take long before Hansel got back to the subject at hand: his golden apple. Gretel belched. Relunctantly, Gretel invited him over, assuring him they'd find the golden apple. Hansel grabbed his whale and disembarked immediately. After hanging up the phone, Gretel realized that she was in trouble. She had to find a place to hide the golden apple and she had to do it aptly. She figured that if Hansel took the spaceship, she had take at least nine minutes before Hansel would get there.  But if he took the shining white horse?  Then Gretel would be very screwed.

   Before she could come up with any reasonable ideas, Gretel was interrupted by nine funny-smelling two-tailed squirrels that were lured by her golden apple. Gretel sneezed; 'Not again', she thought. Feeling stunned, she aimlessly reached for her wolverine and recklessly grabbed every last one of them. Apparently this was an adequate deterrent--the discouraged critters began to scurry back toward the disease-infested jungle, squealing with discontent. She exhaled with relief.  That's when she heard the shining white horse rolling up.  It was Hansel.

----o0o----

   As he pulled up, he felt a sense of urgency. He had had to make an unscheduled stop at Sears to pick up a 12-pack of live hand grenades, so he knew he was running late.  With a apt leap, Hansel was out of the shining white horse and went exotically jaunting toward Gretel's front door.  Meanwhile inside,  Gretel was panicking.  Not thinking, she tossed the golden apple into a box of ninja stars and then slid the box behind her whale. Gretel was concerned but at least the golden apple was concealed.  The doorbell rang.

   'Come in,' Gretel flamboyantly purred.  With a quick push, Hansel opened the door.  'Sorry for being late, but I was being chased by some selfish noble genius in a hippie-pleasing hybrid vehicle,' he lied.  'It's fine,' Gretel assured him. Hansel took a seat uncomfortably close to where Gretel had hidden the golden apple. Gretel sneezed trying unsuccessfully to hide her nervousness.  'Uhh, can I get you anything?' she blurted.  But Hansel was distracted. Before anyone could take off their pants, Gretel noticed a pestering look on Hansel's face. Hansel slowly opened his mouth to speak.

   '...What's that smell?'

   Gretel felt a stabbing pain in her ear when Hansel asked this.  In a moment of disbelief, she realized that she had hidden the golden apple right by her oscillating fan. 'Wh-what?  I don't smell anything..!'  A lie.  A funny-smelling look started to form on Hansel's face. He turned to notice a box that seemed clearly out of place. 'Th-th-those are just my grandma's ninja stars from when she used to have pet South American hissing sloths.  She, uh...dropped 'em by here earlier'. Hansel nodded with fake acknowledgement...then, before Gretel could react, Hansel recklessly lunged toward the box and opened it.  The golden apple was plainly in view.

   Hansel stared at Gretel for what what must've been nine seconds. Just as zero people expected Gretel groped sassily in Hansel's direction, clearly desperate. Hansel grabbed the golden apple and bolted for the door.  It was locked. Gretel let out a eccentric chuckle. 'If only you hadn't been so protective of that thing, none of this would have happened, Hansel,' she rebuked. Gretel always had been a little annoying, so Hansel knew that reconciliation was not an option; he needed to escape before Gretel did something crazy, like... start chucking carrots at her or something. A few freaknasty minutes later, he gripped his golden apple tightly and made a dash toward the window, diving headlong through the glass panels.

   Gretel looked on, blankly. 'What the hell?  That seemed excessive.  The other door was open, you know.' Silence from Hansel. 'And to think, I varnished that window frame two days ago...it never ends!' Suddenly she felt a tinge of concern for Hansel. 'Oh.  You ..okay?' Still silence. Gretel walked over to the window and looked down. Hansel was gone.

----o0o----

   Just yonder, Hansel was struggling to make his way through the lemur-infested moor behind Gretel's place. Hansel had severely hurt his prostate during the window incident, and was starting to lose strength.  Another pack of feral two-tailed squirrels suddenly appeared, having caught wind of the golden apple.  One by one they latched on to Hansel.  Already weakened from his injury, Hansel yielded to the furry onslaught and collapsed.  The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was a buzzing horde of two-tailed squirrels running off with his golden apple.

   About seven hours later, Hansel awoke, his kidney throbbing.  It was dark and Hansel did not know where he was.  Deep in the lonely magical cornfield, Hansel was very lost. Just as zero people expected he remembered that his golden apple was taken by the two-tailed squirrels. But at that point, he was just thankful for his life.  That's when, to his horror, a misshapen two-tailed squirrel emerged from the foxy forest.  It was the alpha two-tailed squirrel. Hansel opened his mouth to scream but was cut short when the two-tailed squirrel sunk its teeth into Hansel's scalp. With a faint groan, the life escaped from Hansel's lungs, but not before he realized that he was a failure.

   Less than three miles away, Gretel was entombed by anguish over the loss of the golden apple.  'MY PRECIOUS!!' she cried, as she reached for a sharpened potato.  With a hasty thrust, she buried it deeply into her double chin.  As the room began to fade to black, she thought about Hansel... wishing she had found the courage to tell him that she loved him.  But she would die alone that day.  All that remained was the golden apple that had turned them against each other, ultimately causing their demise.  And as the dew on melancholy sappling branches began to reflect the dawn's reddish glare, all that could be heard was the chilling cry of distant two-tailed squirrels, desecrating all things sacred to virtuous men, and perpetuating an evil that would reign for centuries to come.  Our heroes would've lived unhappily ever after, but they were too busy being dead.  So, no one lived forever after, the end. :'(

[SSH]

Dear Sir/Madam

I am the eldest son of the late Henri Obi Kabongo (a foremost human rights activist in the Democratic Republic of Congo). My father died in March 2000 as a result of the inhumane treatment meted out on him while in prison by the government of Laurent Kabila. However, it is particularly important to mention here that before the death of my father, he was a successful businessman and his business empire includes real estate, exportation, and consultancy services which cut across Africa. He was able to accumulate enough money both in local and foreign currencies through his business empire. In fact, he was at one time rated among the first five richest Congolese businessmen by one of the leading business magazines in my country. His entire business has been on the upward trend over the past ten years, bringing his net profit during the period under review to Twenty one million U.S dollars ($21,000,000). This of course does not include his assets which are already running into millions of dollars. Having said all this, there was a twist in my father’s success story following his confrontation with the government of Laurent Kabila who has been quite high-handed and dictatorial in his policies and day-to-day running of the affairs of the Congolese people. My father being a human rights activist, criticised his government in both local and international newspapers. This infuriated him and he clamped my father in jail until he died in March last year due to ill health. Fortunately, before the arrest of my father, his attorney acting upon his instructions, transferred the sum of Twenty one million U.S dollars ($21,000,000) from his local banks to a security firm overseas. He did this for fear of this accounts being frozen by the government. Following my father’s death, my entire family decided to seek political assylum in Lome-Togo, as the eldest son of my late father and according to our tradition in Africa. I have now inherited all my father’s wealth. Considering the present face-off between Kabila and my family, I was then advised by my father’s attorney (presently my attorney) to seek the assistance of someone based in your country to receive the amount in question being ($21,000,000). Since I have the intention of relocating my family there with the aim of settling down there and investing. I have decided to give you 5% of the total amount involved and I have also set aside 5% for any expenses that might be incurred in the course of this transaction. To finalize this transaction you will have to contact me via my e-mail address (419scam@ssh.me.uk). further discussions will be centered on how and when we shall be meet after the fund is in your account. I shall expect you to keep this transaction confidential due to the present circumstance of my family and I urgently await your response.
Yours faithfully
Peter Obi

A fool and his money are soon parted

[SmootH]

The Tale of Grasshopper and Octopus

     One, dark summer morning, Grasshopper realized it was going to be winter soon and he had no jam in his geodesic dome. He used his big, strong legs to jump high into the trees to pick fruit and nuts for preserves and other olde timey confectioneries.

     Meanwhile, Octopus just mooched of her parents, Mama Fish and Daddy Octagon. She saw the grasshopper collecting fruit and nuts and joked “Yeah, I’ll bet he likes those nuts and there’s nothing more fruity than a homemade confectionery”.
 
     Soon winter was upon the forest, Grasshopper was comfy and cozy in his dome with a thousand Playboy models and poor, old Octopus had to drive her Ferrari to Costa Rica to avoid the Feds, who were after her because of the taxes she refused to pay.

     Months later, Grasshopper received a phone call from Octopus, who said: “It’s better to like nuts than to commit tax fraud and end up in a Costa Rican prison, eating your own tentacles to survive, only to be beaten harder everyday by an uncaring and uncompassionate warden because you said the churros at McConquistadores are a mix of sugar and crap”

Finito!

[adam100]

The King and the Forester
http://www.electronicfiles.net/files/3520/The%20King%20and%20the%20Forester.doc

[MashPotato]

A reminder (and thread bump ^_^) that the due date of this contest is fast approaching!  You still have a week, but get started on your fable now before the memory of this contest, like this thread, falls back into obscurity...

[Phemar]

Just to raise a question, how many people feel that the writing competition is too long? Maybe we should reduce it to something like a bi-weekly competition? One week for entries and the next for voting and admin?

I mean, I feel that the competition takes place over WAAAAY too much time, and everybody had their entry in within 3 days anyway.

Just a thought, tell me you may think!

(I mean, just adding here, I may enter a lot more often if there were more topics to choose from. Waiting a month for a topic change because the current one doesn't really appeal to you is not very nice )

Anyway, tell me your thoughts!

[MashPotato]

I personally wouldn't mind if it was shorter, but I think that's a discussion that would be more appropriate in the Competition Suggestion thread.

3 days left!  Get your fable in today! ^_^

[Phemar]

Ok thank you I did that, somehow that thread slipped my eye.

[MashPotato]

The time for entries is up!
Thanks to everyone who submitted an entry, but everyone else still has a chance to join in the writerly fun by voting for their favourite fable.

Voting will last until July 31st, so gets a-readin'!

[DeadSuperHero]

Voting will last until July 31st, so gets a-readin'!

Why, that's on my birthday! 
Okay, hmmm...I vote for...Nikolas.

[Kweepa]

I vote for SmootH. I liked the moral of the story.

[Heromaker]

I vote for Steve's story!  That cracked me up, it sooo fits my own morality worldview.

I was kind of curious...Radiant, did you just plug words into a sort of MadLibs prewritten story?  No worries, just wondered.  I love MadLibs.

And since my dear MashPotato will be away at the end, she has declaramarated me to tally the final votes and close the competition for her!  (Now if I could just figure out what time 5:00 PM EST is over here in CST. )  Good thing I'm on vacation, or I'd be at work right then, I think.  Anyways.  Cheers, and see you all Monday!

[adam100]

Hmm, well I must say I am deeply concerned with the level of this competition. Apart from SSH's entry all the rest(I am not the one to judge mine own) is well...shallow and uninspired. As to Steve's morale- i should like to say that it is harder to be lucky than good also(apart from what some may say). Anyway, try harder people and invent your own morals rather than forge a story to a already existent and well known proverb... You ARE NOT cool because you mock pure reason and intellect and you WILL NOT be respected for disrespecting the laws of common reason in defiance of the meaning of fables. Fables have to have real morales, they are not merely to amuse and joke, this was not a contest about making the parody of a fable after all people!