Inscribe Winner for August Word Challenge A

Congratulations to Bruce Atchison who won the most recent ICWF Word Challenge.

I am the Ontario Representative for Inscribe and one of my responsibilities includes creating a mini contest for Inscribe members. We have a lot of fun doing this and it helps give participating writers at all levels, motivation and encouragement.

If you are not familiar with Inscribe Christian Writer's Fellowship - check out the website. http://www.inscribe.org/. I promise you, you will not be bored! This is one of the most deliciously filling sites I have savoured. The information found on this site for writers will tempt the palate and before long you will find yourself tasting and being filled beyond your expectations (can you tell I haven't had supper?)

This most recent exercise for Inscribers was the following:

"Write a paragraph about a cat attacking something, but don't use the words, HISS, SCRATCH OR POUNCE. This might be a good challenge for those of us who have quite a time telling rather than showing. Find some lovely descriptions and make it a visual treat."

The votes are in and the winner is Bruce Atchison who wrote the following piece:

The Queen

Though summer is a time for memorable family activities, minor episodes can also leave lasting impressions. This recollection from my teenage years comes back to me as clear as if it happened yesterday.

Brilliant sunlight poured through the living room picture window early one evening as my family and I watched TV. Cocoa, our Siamese cat, gracefully entered, intent on stretching out in one of her customary spots. Then she froze, her sky blue eyes locking onto her favourite game.

In the centre of the rectangle of sunlight on the light brown carpet, a foolhardy fly sat motionless and exposed. This chance was too good to miss. Like a hunting jungle tiger, she slunk through the shade cast by the chesterfield to within two feet of the unsuspecting insect. Seeing that the fly hadn't noticed her stalking it, Cocoa crouched lower, gauged the distance to the target, and launched herself. Her lithe creamy body described a perfect arc as her dark chocolate forepaws pinned down her prey. Cocoa's expression abruptly changed as she sniffed the inert object.

It was a watermelon seed that a careless human dropped. With all the haughtiness a feline could muster, she straightened up and strode underneath the chesterfield. She flopped down and glared at us, her violently swishing tail conveying her righteous indignation. The raucous laughter from my sisters and me only deepened her chagrin at making such an undignified mistake. The Queen, as we nicknamed her, was definitely not amused.

Every so often on our Inscribe Christian Writer's Fellowship (ICWF) listserve that I belong to, I post a word challenge that is designed to promote a little chatter and encourage writers. I will post a criteria along with a deadline. Once I have received the submissions and the deadline is over, then I strip all the entries of any identification and arrange them in order. Then they are sent out once again for members to vote upon. Voters also usually send along comments on some or all of the entries. It is a wonderful way to receive some feedback and to get some encouragement.
This month's Word Challenge was to write a paragraph about a girl named Dot, but to use no letters with dots (that would be j & i). It wasn't quite as easy as you might think and we had some interesting entries.
Starting this month, the first place entry will be published here for everyone's reading pleasure.

Joyce Harback of Calgary, Alberta is the winner of our 'No Dot' Word Challenge for July. Congratulations, Joyce. Here is her entry:

“From Small to Tall” by Joyce Harback

Dot. Not a bad name, but so average. So short. The end of the sentence. A spot on a map. The smallest of the small, not tall at all. The trouble was, Dot was small. Patty loved to taunt her with “Dot the tot has teeth that rot” and other unpleasant rhymes about snot and pot. One summer day, as Patty and Dot made sandcastles at the beach, Patty chanted, “Dot’s not hot, she’s a crock pot.” Suddenly, Dot dumped a bucket of sand on Patty’s head. Patty let out a scream and ran to her mom, teary-eyed. Dot’s mom took Dot home and gently sat her down on the bed. “Why would you do that?” she asked. Dot hung her head and told how Patty teased her about her name. “Mom, why Dot?” she wept. “Everyone bugs me.” “Why, sweetheart, we named you Dorothy, or Dot for short. When you were born, we felt you were a present from God. That’s what your full name means.” “Wow,” Dot’s eyes shone. “Could everyone please call me Dorothy from now on?” “Okay,” her mom nodded, “but you must say you’re sorry to Patty.” Dorothy agreed and suddenly she felt very tall.