Challenge Mini-Games Challenge (Now Open For NEW 2024 Challenges!)

For @Raissa Baiard's Idiot Array Sabacc Card Challenge, I have a short (500 word) entry starring Ben and Luke Skywalker for my card, The Wheel.

The Shape of Life

 

Alrighty! Let's see if we can get some muses sparked with the First Line/Last Line challenge!





Sometimes the hardest part of writing is figuring out just where to begin, and then how to tie it all together at the end! With that thought in mind, the rules for this challenge are simple: pick a number one through five and I will provide you with the first line and the last line of your story. You, dear author, then get to fill in the rest of the tale from there! I tried to keep the lines relatively versatile, and, of course, feel free to change tenses or POV or anything else of a technical nature to better fit your narrative. Think of the prompts more like guidelines, but they should be your first and last line.

Sooo . . . any takers?


The Participants
1. @divapilot | First Line: "Are you going to leave me standing here?" Last Line: "I always appreciate a worthy opponent."
2. @mavjade | First Line: "Just so you know, we're not friends now." Last Line: "We can be gentle, too."
3. @devilinthedetails | First Line: "Well then, is it going to be a yes or a no?" Last Line: "Or maybe it was just my imagination."
4. @Findswoman | First Line: "A crash sounded in the still of the night, followed by a curse." Last Line: "For the rest of our lives, if possible."
5. @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha | First Line: "I can explain my behavior." Last Line: "Footsteps followed behind, determined to catch up."

The Index
1. The Compromise, by divapilot
2. Hard Bargain (The Martian), by mavjade
3. Bumping Elbows with Aristocrats, by devilinthedetails
4.
5. Easier Than Hoped (Star Trek), by WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

 

Yay! But of course you can!

#5
First Line: "I can explain my behavior."
Last Line: "Footsteps followed behind, determined to catch up."

 

Yay! Here it is!

#1
First Line: "Are you going to leave me standing here?"
Last Line: "I always appreciate a worthy opponent."

 

I love this, I just love this! Wonderful idea, @Briannakin, thank you so much! And what wonderful challenges people have offered! I really love this! (jumps for joy)

So, it's taken me a bit, because things have been hectic, but here is mine:

The JOYS OF YIDDISH Challenge!

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Yiddish, the historical language of Ashkenazic Jewry, is a warm and evocative language, with a wealth of colorful words that have either (a) made their way into English, (b) can't really be translated in to English, or (c) both. For this roulette, I've selected seven (7) evocative Yiddish words—some perhaps familiar, some perhaps less so—which you can use as story prompts in whatever way you choose. So send me a number, and I'll send you a word (and its definition), and you can have at it!

1. @divapilot | haimish: cozy, homelike, warmly sociable
2. @devilinthedetails | kvetch: to fret, complain, gripe: Acronyms of the GAR
3. @Kahara | rakhmones: mercy, pity, compassion
4. @Raissa Baiard | shlemiel: A person who always has bad luck, born loser, hard-luck type, doofus: Conversational Mando’a for Beginners
5. @mavjade | zaftig: buxom, appealingly plump, voluptuous (usually said of a woman’s figure)
6. @Briannakin | chutzpah: nerve, gall
7. @TheRynJedi | nakhes: pride or joy from one's child's (or child figure's) achievements
8 (see this post). @Mira_Jade | kvell: to be bursting with pride or pleasure (over someone’s achievements, especially those of a child or child figure)

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And now I'd like to ask for a few prompts for myself. Just a few for now, because things are still busy, but I will likely almost certainly be back for more. So:

@Pandora, may I have classical piece #5?
@Mira_Jade, may I have first and last sentences #4?

Thanks so much! Did I say I love this?

 

Of course you may have #4! It's shlemiel: A person who always has bad luck, born loser, hard-luck type, doofus.

 

Certainly! You get haimish: cozy, homelike, warmly sociable.

And wow, @Pandora , wonderful a piece! Way to get me out of my baroque- and classical-era comfort zone—thanks so much!

 

Yes, of course! No. 6 is probably a familiar one to most here: chutzpah: nerve, gall.

And oops, sorry about that! I kind of was taking "mini" to be along the lines of "under 10." If it would help, I can shave a few numbers off mine.

 

Yes, of course! Number 5 is zaftig: buxom, appealingly plump, voluptuous (usually of a woman’s figure).

 

This challenge is generating so much awesomeness that I just can't even!!!

Of course you may, and especially if I can have Yiddish Challenge #7 in return! I've already gleaned a few gems from you - like makhtanim! - and I'm excited to expand my vocabulary even further.

And, as requested:

#4
First Line: "A crash sounded in the still of the night, followed by a curse."
Last Line: "For the rest of our lives, if possible."

YOU KNOW THAT THIS ONE SPOKE TO ME. YES TO THEM ALL.

But, ahem, in the interest of sharing I would love to start with Number Three.

You had me at the showtunes! Number Two for me, let's just load these prompts up, we die like men here.

And of course you may! Here you are, and happy writing!

#2
First Line: "Just so you know, we're not friends now."
Last Line: "We can be gentle, too."