2016 MH Summer Art Contest

[Holt]

Creative Writing!

Hello, everyone! It’s time for the next seasonal contest of the year! It's Summer Time and with it comes a special contest. Your task is to write a short story based on the pictures below .

By artist Pascal Campion​

What do I need to know before submission?

• All members are welcome to join the contest. There is no minimum post or user status you need to have to participate.
• Entries for the contest must be posted in this thread.
• Each participant can only submit one entry and it should be a new piece. So don’t try to be smart and enter a piece used in past contests.
• Submissions not following the weeks theme will result in disqualification. If you have any question about the contest, you can ask it here.
• Maximum text length is 50 lines or 3000 characters (with space). Be mindful that this is a short story.
• No excessive, suggestive, spoiler, or porn-related imagery in the contest.
• No plagiarizing is allowed.
• Submission is open until July 3rd, 2016 at 11:00 PM (GMT)

How do I upload and submit my entry?

1. Post your full text here in this thread.
2. Choose a title for your entry, and post it in the format specified below.

Post Format:

"Theme Name" - "Work Title" by "Artist Name"

"Full text here"

"Comments"

"Credits"

Voting Details:

• Voting will proceed after submission period is over, that is July 3rd, 2016 at 11:00 PM (GMT).
• Announcement of winners and next contest and new theme will be done as soon as possible after the voting period is over.

Good luck, everyone!

 

[riki]

Creative Writing - "The Rhythm of Life" by riki
Comment: Full story is available on my site, as usual.

Anya was first introduced to him through his music. She was sitting on her bed, just thinking about to draw in her sketchbook while trying to ignore her playful kitten, who was swatting her legs. Just when she was about to give up, she suddenly heard a guitar strumming through the wall, which caused her to pause and listen. “It looks like someone’s playing the guitar, Ollie,” she told her cat. The feline just looked at her before continuing his antics. Amused, she chuckled and pet his head before she continued to listen to the music.

It was a nice song; it started out slow, but the tempo picked up quickly. The music was upbeat and has a nice rhythm, which caused her to tap her fingers to the beat. As she was listening, inspiration came to her. “I got it!” she exclaimed and quickly sketch a picture into her sketchbook while humming to the music. After a few minutes, she was done. Holding the sketchbook up, she admired her drawing.

Several years passed, and life went on. By then, she has completely forgotten about her obsession with the mysterious guitar player. Nevertheless, she would sometimes hum his or her songs while she worked though she couldn’t recall where she heard them, which drove her crazy. Where on earth did I hear that song? she wondered.

She finally got that answer. A mutual friend has set her up on a blind date with someone named David. When they met, she was somewhat nervous. As they wandered around the park, she ventured, “You know, Karen told me a couple of things about you, but I really don’t know much so why don’t you tell me about yourself?”

David blinked. “Like what?”

“I don’t know… Like, your first crush or something!” She didn’t know why she blurted it, but she was desperate to keep the conversation going.

“My first crush?” He stared at the ceiling as if trying to remember. “There was a girl once; she looks almost like you, in fact. Anyway, I was heading home from guitar lessons when I saw her playing soccer with a group of friends. I don’t know why, but I was mesmerized by her. Something’s about her was… I don’t know how to describe it, but I fell hard for her. However, I was too scared to talk to her so I did something else instead." He hesitated. “This may sound silly, but I composed songs about her.”

“Aw, that sounds so sweet!” she gushed. “Can you hum one of your songs?”

“I don’t know… It wasn’t that great or anythin-”

“Just hum it,” she interrupted. “I’m just curious, that’s all.”

He didn’t say a word at first, but he eventually sighed. “All right. Here it is.” Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and began.

As Anya listened, her heart began to race. She recognized that song! It was one of the songs she hummed while she was working. Childhood memories filled her mind, and she recalled the “mysterious musician”. Staring at him now, she began to hum along and added some parts that he missed. As soon as she joined him, David opened his eyes and stared at her, shocked. Nevertheless, he continued until they finished the song.

 

[shionoro]

Creative Writing - "Stars don't judge, they cheer" by shionoro
Comment: Meow Meow I am a cat with giant paws. I hope the story is not too explicit. if it is, let me know and i edit it away.

It's him! After looking up his name online and finding so many wrong guys,I found him eventually.
The second I heard the song he played for me when we first met is the second I start to smile like a maniac.
Summertime. This song used to remind me of falling in love with him at a concert of his shitty garage band.
Now it reminded me about how he raped my sister when she was wasted on a party after our break up. Was it revenge? I don't know.
She didnt sue. No witnesses. She killed herself accidently with downers in a panic attack.
I tried to be there for her, but I failed.
Didn't know what to do. After she killed herself, i did know.
That fucking song...

One of these mornin's, you're gonna rise up singin'
Then you'll spread your wings and you'll take to the sky
But 'til that mornin', there is nothin' can harm you

Fitting. You can be sure I will rise and spread my wings after i got this over with. Petting my cat, I brainstorm how I am going to do it without getting caught. Can't leave mom alone.
That guy left home right after the rape. He knew he would be gone for college anyway, so he did not fear consequences. But college kids do partys, right?
And parties can lead to accidents. Too many drunkards.

I joined courses he was in and made friends with his collegues.
Just had to avoid talking to him directly, so he would not notice me. I went on a couple of house parties where he didn't show up, but in the end, I got lucky.
Theme party. Suits and dresses. Fine by me.
He drank himself silly before it was even midnight. I knew he would. Old habits die hard.

Betting on him not remembering my face in that state, I approached him with my best naive barbie act.
He reacted clueless and horny.
Noone would suspect anything. He hit on many girls that night and I made sure to be flirty and
act drunk.
I waited to the moment at which most people went home and spiked his beer.
"Hey Tiger", i whispered.
"You know the old fountain near the park outside? Tell people you go home now but go there. We can have fun there. Just don't want folks
to think I am a bitch or something".
He was so eager that he stood up at once, told his goodbyes and was gone.
I stayed some more minutes, kissed another guy and went on my way.

When I arrived at the fountain, he was already weak. Still standing, but I knew I timed it well.
"Hey, let's go into the water and get kinky."
He did it, and once we were in, he almost fell over. I led him to the ground and waited until he was passed out cold.

The water arc would wash away all fingerprints. Now the hard part.
I knew I had only one chance to do this. I opened his pants so that the cops would not think twice about a drunk college kid who fell over while pissing.
Then I grabbed his head and postured myself. After a moment of hestitation, i looked up into the summer sky. The beauty of the stars made it feel right.
Blissfully, I smacked his head against the edge of the fountain wall with all the power I had.

 

[Holt]

Creative Writing- "That Guitar Tune" by Holt

It was a typical Saturday morning and Nicole felt bored out of her mind, with nothing to do. Suddenly a sound stopped her short, someone was playing a guitar next door! She jumped on her bed where the sound was clearest, and a smile came unbidden to her lips. It was just that good a melody. Even restless Kat was purring satisfactorily and was calm for once.

Too soon for Nicole, the tune ended. She resolved to go and meet this mystery player. An excellent guitarist living next door was too good to be true, that was the stuff of fantasy. Soon she found herself at the door. She only hesitated for a heartbeat before knocking. After hearing some fumbling inside, the door finally opened and she found herself staring at a handsome face about her own age. Nicole composed herself and offered her hand, introducing herself. The stranger took her hand and offered his own name, Max. For a while, they stayed like that, staring at each, then Nicole finally realized that she was the one who came knocking and hadn't said why she came. She couldn't help going straight to the point and afterwards Max offered to play a tune for her.
That became the routine every Saturday. Max will play his guitar, sure that Nicole was listening next door, and sometimes she'd go over to watch as he played.

But it was sure to end someday. Time flew and then college came, Max was moving away. On the day he was to leave, Nicole was right there with him in his room, he had promised to play for her before leaving. And boy did he play. Nicole stared at him with misty-eyes and before she could stop herself, she found her lips meeting his. She pulled back and looked away shyly, but Max only smiled and gently turning her head, he kissed her, long and proper this time. After saying their goodbyes, Nicole returned to her room. She put her hand to the wall where the sound always came from, and felt as though an irreplaceable part of her had been ripped out.

They kept in touch often, and Nicole often listened to him play via Skype, but it wasn't really the same.
In her final year of college, a ball was organized for them. Max promised he'd be there, and Nicole was eager to see him. Finally, the day came, and then they met. He had broader shoulders, was taller and was sporting a beard. It was the face and body of a young man she saw, but this was unmistakably still Max. They hugged and kissed briefly and shortly after, Max asked for a dance. As they stepped onto the dance floor, a peculiar tune began to play and Nicole stopped short. The tune that was playing was Max's, it was the one he played on the day he left, when they last saw each other. It was a bit different and she could tell he had gotten a lot better but she would never forget that tune. Somehow, he had gotten them to play it at the ball.

As Max took her hand, Nicole closed her eyes and held him tight. She was that high school girl again with her fantasy guitarist neighbor. She had him in her arms, and in this moment, he was all hers.