by Stacy
I came up with a short story today, because I refuse to miss Halloweensie in 2020.
Word tells me it is exactly 99 words, so we’ll hope it’s correct.
Halloweensie is a tiny (100 words or less) children’s story contest created by Susanna Leonard Hill. There are hundreds of entries each year. You can get your spook on by reading them here.
Entries are for children age 12 and under and must contain the words creep, skeleton, and mask. Here’s my attempt.
New Friends
By Stacy S. Jensen
For Halloween, Henry drew a sugar skull design on his face.
“Creepy!” Dracula yells.
“Spooky,” Spider mutters.
“Let’s play,” RBG says.
They crawl, swing, and leap around the playground.
“Are you new?” Frankenstein asks.
“Yes. I’m Skeleton,” Henry says.
After playing, they visit neighbor after neighbor.
“Trick or Treat,” they yell.
“Dissent!” says RBG.
With full buckets, they return to the playground to trade candy.
“Sticky. Not for my braces,” RBG says.
“Nuts,” Spider says.
“I don’t like this,” Henry says.
After all the swapping, Dracula declares, “Let’s eat! Remove your masks.”
Henry blinks, “I’m not wearing a mask.”
***
So, that’s what you get for 99 words. Hope you all have a safe and Happy Halloween!
by Stacy
Happy Halloweensie! It’s that time of year again when children’s writers gather ’round the cauldron to craft a story in 100 words or less. Author Susanna Hill is the gracious founder of the contest. She and her assistants deserve tons of treats for reading all the contest entries.
This year, each 100-word or less entry must contain the words spider, ghost and moon. Variations of the words are allowed. Stories should be kid-friendly and contain no illustration notes. Here are the rules, if you want to participate. You have until the strike of 11:59 p.m. EDT.
Here’s my 2016 entry:
Halloween Tracks
By Stacy S. Jensen
Oliver saw the tracks every Halloween.
They were colorful with a sweet aroma and looked like scat. Oliver never ate it, but other owls did.
“Who?” he wondered made them. He flew over the streets in the moonlight searching
High,
Low,
And, in circles for the critter.
He saw bunnies, coyotes, and spiders and almost gave up.
Until, he heard …
SCRITCH.
SCRATCH.
SPLAT.
Oliver followed the noises to a little ghost.
“Your tracks!” Oliver screeched.
“My candy,” Ghost cried.
Oliver helped Ghost collect his spilled loot.
“Here’s a treat!” Ghost tossed a candy to Oliver. “Happy Halloween!”
Word tells me I’m at 98 words!
There will be plenty of entries at Susanna’s blog. I am always impressed by the very talented work created in this contest and also how similar our thought process can be. I’ve been a happy Halloweensie participant since 2011 — 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011.
I hope you all have a spooky, fun-filled Halloween!
P.S. I’ve been re-working my website in recent weeks between other projects. It’s not “done,” but decided Halloweensie is more important than “done.”
