[Entries] WOW #7 - September 2016

[|♚|KK|♚|]

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We're accepting both poems and short stories for this round too. Prose may be more suitable for those with more leisure as it can take quite some time to plan, write, and proofread. Poetry may cater more to the adventurous as it can take a higher level of challenge to compose and construct. By allowing both, we hope to see more participants and more diversity without alienating anyone who leans more to either side.

As usual, all participants will get this award...

...but the winner will get this!

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I suppose it's more appropriate to call these "criteria", but referring to them as "rules" may help ensure that people pay attention to them. At least, I hope so. Anyway, the rules for WOW are pretty simple:

1. Your entry can be EITHER a short story OR a poem.
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2. For short stories: Minimum 500 words. Maximum 1500 words.
   For poems: Minimum 4 lines. Maximum 40 lines. (Line breaks don't count.)
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3. No racism, religious topics, overly obscene depictions, animal/child abuse or other inflammatory topics.
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4. You can pick any title you like for your entry as long as it conforms with #3.
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5. Please post your finished entry wrapped within spoilers in this thread.

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The theme for this month's Weavers of Words shall be...

NEW BEGINNINGS.​

"“No, this is not the beginning of a new chapter in my life; this is the beginning of a new book! That first book is already closed, ended, and tossed into the seas; this new book is newly opened, has just begun! Look, it is the first page! And it is a beautiful one!”"
― C. JoyBell C.

In the simplest sense, positive means good — or the opposite of negative. If you have a positive attitude about homework, for example, you're more likely to get positive feedback on your report card.
Keeping track of positive's many meanings can be positively confusing. For starters, if you're positive about something, you're totally sure. In math, any quantity greater than zero is positive. In medicine, a positive result on a test indicates the presence of a disease. And that isn't a very positive experience for anyone.

Anyway, to clarify:

The theme for WOW #7 is POSITIVE.
“One of the best times for figuring out who you are & what you really want out of life?”

The deadline is on 30 SEPTEMBER 2016.
You MAY edit your entry submission post as many times as you please before the deadline.​

Please submit your entry before the deadline. If you're unsure about certain aspects of your draft entry, feel free to ask around in the discussion thread. You can have only ONE post in the entry submission thread, but you're not restricted from discussing the WOW as much as you want in the discussion thread. The deadline may be extended on our discretion if circumstances necessitate it, but it won't be shortened for no reason, so rest assured and don't rush. Take your time to make a masterpiece!

This thread is only for ENTRIES!
For discussions, questions and comments, please go to this thread instead.​

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[srebro]

Spoiler: Death

............o3o

 

[Leggy]

One Really Bad Day

1064 words

Spoiler: One Really Bad Day

One Really Bad Day​

Some people think a positive attitude is along the lines of, “The Sun is shining and the grass is green, and all is right with the world.” This may be a nice way of thinking, but it has little basis in the real world. The reality is, sometimes it’s cloudy and rainy, and grass can wither.

Yes, sometimes bad things happen. One can let bad things defeat them, or one can find a positive aspect in the worst events. A positive attitude is a survival mechanism that can help someone live through almost any situation.

This brings us to the story of a man who had one really bad day.

Author’s note: This story is presented as a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual persons or events is known only to the author.

One morning, a man was driving to work. As he passed through an intersection with a green light, a two ton truck ran a red light at a high rate of speed. In the middle of the intersection, the truck T-boned him right on the driver's side door. He was hit so hard, the car was flung out of a four lane intersection, off the road, into a pole. The big metal pole that holds the lights bent. The impact was so hard, the seatbelt broke his ribs. The whiplash broke his neck. The dashboard dropped down and shattered his right knee. The entire car was crunched around his body. Glass flew into his eyes, blinding him. He was helplessly trapped in a cocoon of steel, and couldn't see a thing, his eyes closed by glass.

It would have been easy to panic, or injure himself, further, but a policeman came to his car door, and calmed him down. The officer became his eyes, describing the situation, how things looked, what was being done for the rescue. Through the officers eyes, the man could see the massive effort unfolding, which involved both the jaws of life and a crane, and over a dozen people. The policeman stayed with him throughout the entire ordeal, till he was safely in the ambulance. When his eyes were washed out in the emergency room, and he could see again, the policeman was nowhere around. He didn't stay there, waiting for a thank you, or applause. He was just helping a person in need, and moved on.

The man did, however, see his boss in the emergency room. He had come across the accident site, and went to the hospital, following the ambulance. And then the man did the damnedest thing. On the table, smashed, broken, half paralyzed, and in horrible pain, he looked at his boss and said, "Ed, I think I'm going to take the rest of the day off." And the room laughed!

Right then and there, the man knew he had been blessed. Whatever might become of his body after the accident, The Lord had left him his mind, and his sense of humor. As long as he had them, he knew he would overcome any adversity.

And he did! His recovery from injuries that would leave almost anybody crippled for life, were..... Well, Do you believe in miracles? Knee shattered, literally flattened by the dash board, neck broken, right side paralyzed… The owner of the wrecker service that hauled off what was left of the man’s car, said that in eighteen years, she had never seen a car that badly wrecked, that someone came out alive from.

So the man knew that he was ahead of the game. He had an absolute certainty that a higher Power had saved him. And he knew, in the deepest part of himself, that he would be all right.

And he did overcame! A brilliant surgeon rebuilt his right knee from scratch, using what was left, using bone from the man’s hip, and using metal plates, to hold it all together. Another master surgeon repaired his neck, carefully realigning the pieces of vertebrae, and fusing his neck together with metal plates. The rest of him healed slowly, but the rest of him did heal.

And as if one miracle was not enough, he was suddenly blessed with another. Two months after the accident, two weeks after the neck surgery, the paralysis wore off on his right side. He now had full use of his arms, and his legs were healing. He thought he was a strong man, but he wept like a child, when he first realized that his right arm worked again.

Right then and there, he swore he would get his life back.

Months spent in a nursing home, in a halo, months of physical therapy, nights he couldn't sleep from pain. He endured and overcame it all.

One incident in the nursing home truly put his situation into perspective. There was a resident there. She was in her thirties. She used to be a ballet dancer. She was also in a bad car accident. She suffered severe brain damage. She couldn’t walk or talk, and had no awareness of the world around her. She just sat in her chair. She had to be hand fed. She could do nothing.

But late one night... late at night... 2 or 3 in the morning, the man woke up, got in his wheelchair, and restlessly roamed the halls, alone, except for the girl.

And the girl left her wheelchair, and began dancing in the hall, moving beautifully, to some music only she and God could hear. It broke the man’s heart!

And he was so very thankful! He didn’t have it so bad! His body might have been a mess, but his mind was crystal sharp! As long as he had his mind, he had everything!

And he did, indeed, recover. He had been to Hell and back so many times, he’s earned frequent burner points. But he survived more than many people ever could. The man credits three things.

He has an unshakable belief in God. Period.

He has an incredible sense of humor. No matter how bad things get, no matter how serious things are, he can find a positive aspect.

And he has a will of iron. He never gives up. Never gives up.

Every life has a negative side. But every life also has a positive side. Whatever happens to you, always look for the positive.

 

[ancer_nyaa]

Spoiler: Camp Ground (仮)

The cicadas were chirping in rhythm with the birds amongst the trees. The beads of sweat on Akagi-kun's forehead increased in numbers the more step and breath he took. I already offered to help him carry our luggage up to our camp site which was up high in the mountain but he insisted on doing it by himself. I knew that it would be hard and an extreme waste of time to argue with him so I just decided to watch and provide help when he ask for it. He is a bit cute when he tries hard to do something out of nowhere.

My name is Houki and my hobby used to be hiking and camping. I used to frequently go out camping with my friends. However, I started to stop from accepting invitations when I started a relationship with Akagi-kun six years ago. It was not because of Akagi-kun restricting me but because Akagi-kun was unathletic. He couldn't even run a 100 meter in under 5 minutes without taking a break mid run. I did not wanted him to have a hard time while I was having fun. I could have chosen not to bring him with me and go with my friends but all of my friends already had their own children. For being a *PIIIIIIII* years old, I was embarrassed of not experiencing the joy of parenthood. Akagi-kun and I aren't even married yet.

One day, Akagi-kun invited me to go hike up in the mountain and camp for a couple of days. When I first heard it, I thought I was dreaming and immediately pinched myself to see if it was an actual dream. I was so excited to take in nature for a week with the person I love. Apparently he planned the whole thing behind me, he even as far as to contact my boss to schedule my one week leave from work.


「Fi.....nally.....」

Akagi-kun fell on his knees the moment we reached our destination. Sweat was dripping down from his chin as if a bottle water was poured on top of his head. After laughing wryly, I took away our luggage from his back and told him to rest on the portable chair I put up. While I was setting up our tent, I occasionally look at his way to check if he was actually taking a breather instead of doing work. To no one's surprise, after my 54th check he was up from his chair and was preparing our dinner on the grill already made on our camping spot. Since I knew that if I tried to stop him working and take a rest, he would just be uncomfortable so I decided to let him do what he wanted to do.


It did not took long for the sun to set and everything around our camp site became shrouded with darkness. Our main light source came from the camp fire Akagi-kun set up between our tent and the grill where our dinner resided. I sat on a log placed near the campfire. Akagi-kun sat down on the log across me. It struck me as weird since Akagi-kun always sit beside me whenever we eat together. He was also gobbling down his food faster than before instead of usually taking his sweet time savouring his share of food. I was weirded out by Akagi-kun's unusual actions that I did not realize that my hand stopped from feeding myself.

When Akagi-kun finished his food, he placed down his plate down the small portable table we brought. He slowly walked toward me with a serious face and resolute eyes that stared at me. While he was calmly getting closer to me, he tripped from a small pebble sticking up from the ground and fell down face first. I dropped my plate and kneeled down to aid him.

「Are you okay?」

I asked while trying to help him up.

「I'm fine」

A goofy smile spread on his face the moment he raised his head up to look at me. I stood up while he was still sitting on the ground slowly laughing at himself.

「Hold my hand」

I offered him my hand for something hold while trying stand up. Instead of holding my hand, he stared at it with a dumbfounded face on.

「What's wrong?」

「Nothing?」

He extended his hand toward me. Instead of holding my hand, he placed a black box on top of my palm.

「What's this?」

He answered with a big smile and a cue for me to open the box. When I opened the box, I saw a ring that sparkled with the reflection from the camp fire beside me.

「you'll ruin your pretty face if you keep crying」

Akagi-kun pulled out his handkerchief and wiped way the tears that uncontrollably poured down from my eyes.

「Feel free to cry on my chest but before that....」

「What....is it?」

I tried to wipe off my tears as fast as I could so that I could see his face but my tears kept on pouring out of my eyes.

「Will you marry me?」

「.....yes.....」

 

[|♚|KK|♚|]

I'm sorry for the very late announcement of the winner but here it is, this round the winner is [MENTION=35259]Leggy[/MENTION]; :)
[MENTION=2]Ignis[/MENTION]; Also please give the previous rewards of the contestants. :)