The B/Gr Ajah Limerick Event's Limerick Prose Competition! Winners Announced!

[Liathiana]

Limerick Prose Competition

 

Hi everyone! Welcome to the Prose Competition part of the Green/Brown Limerick Event!

 

The Green and Brown Ajahs are co-hosting a Limerick event! Anyone can participate but only 3 will win per competition! (Look soon for the Limerick writing event!)

 

Rules:

 

Essay or short story.

 

400 - 500 words long.

 

Must relate to a limerick written previous to today's date.

 

Must include WT Org rank.

 

Due by August 16th at 7 pm GMT. Submitted via pm to Liathiana.

 

Votes due by August 18th at 7 pm GMT via pm to Liathiana.(Participants can vote but not for themselves)

 

Details:

 

This is how it will work. You will compose a 400-500 word essay or short story that relates in some way to the limerick.  It can be a creative re=telling of a limerick, a sequel, a prequel, or whatever comes to your mind as long as it bears any relation to a limerick that has been in existence before this contest was announced.

 

I will provide 5 limericks you can choose from. If you don't like any of them you can find one online as long as you provide the link. You then pm your entry to me. The contest runs until August 16th and leaves 2 days for voting.

 

The Limerick essays/short stories will be posted in the post following this one. Each entry will be anonymous.

 

Votes will be submitted to me via pm. You can vote for what you deem to be the 3 best essays/short stories. 1st place will earn 4 points, 2nd will earn 2 points and 3rd will earn 1 point. I will then tally up the votes and post the top 3 winners! They will win a super special siggy from me! Once in a lifetime baby!

 

Feel free to ask any questions! ;D

 

Limericks by Edward Lear:

 

There was an Old Man with a beard,

Who said, 'It is just as I feared!

Two Owls and a Hen,

Four Larks and a Wren,

Have all built their nests in my beard!'

 

There was an Old Man with a gong,

Who bumped at it all day long;

But they called out, 'O law!

You're a horrid old bore!'

So they smashed that Old Man with a gong.

 

There was an Old Person of Dover,

Who rushed through a field of blue Clover;

But some very large bees,

Stung his nose and his knees,

So he very soon went back to Dover.

 

There was an Old Person of Basing,

Whose presence of mind was amazing;

He purchased a steed,

Which he rode at full speed,

And escaped from the people of Basing.

 

There was an Old Man of Peru,

Who watched his wife making a stew;

But once by mistake,

In a stove she did bake,

That unfortunate Man of Peru.

[Liathiana]

Well, I only got 3 entries! Which means, every one is a winner! (literally)

 

To vote, send me a pm rating each short story with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. I will then add up the points for every vote cast and announce the winners! I'll give 2 days to submit votes before I announce.

 

1st = 4 pts

2nd = 2 pts

3rd = 1 pt

 

And now for the short stories!

 

The following short story is based on the limerick:

 

There was an Old Man with a beard,

Who said, 'It is just as I feared!

Two Owls and a Hen,

Four Larks and a Wren,

Have all built their nests in my beard!'

 

I was walking in the desert. I was thirsty and tired and could hardly move. Suddenly I saw a man. He was sitting on the sand, his eyes looking merrily at me, his long black beard stretched on the sand, his wide grin showing his teeth. Suddenly a little bird flew out of his beard. The bird chirruped something to the man. The man chirruped something in return. “That’s a mirage”, I though. “I’m going crazy”. “Hey,“ I said to the mirage. “What are you doing here?” “Earning my living”, replied the mirage. “Earning- er- What?” “You see, it’s a big desert, and until I came here there were no bird hotels in it.” “Bird what?” “Bird hotels. You see, even birds have trouble flying through this desert. They need to have a rest somewhere.“ “To have a rest?” “Yes. Just imagine. A bird is flying through the desert. It’s tired, and the end is nowhere in sight. And here I am. A hotel among the desert. In return for my services they bring me water in their beaks, as well as food like corn and worms. Not much, but still enough to survive in the desert. And they often entertain me with stories of what is happening in faraway lands.”

 

“Can I open a hotel here too?” I asked.  “Well, you can. Only, please, move a mile or two away. I won’t have you luring my clientele away from me.“ I obeyed. When the man was out of sight I sat down on the sand and started waiting. Finally, when my beard was seven feet long I saw a small black spot in the sky. The spot flew closer to me and I saw it was a little bird. It sat on my beard and looked at me with its intelligent eyes. “Chirrup”, it said. “Chirrup what?” I asked. “It’s my name,” it replied. “Chirrup. Are you one of the Big Bearded Ones?” I thought a little. “Well I guess so.” “It was prophesied that more of you will be coming. Many more of you. Do you know when?” “Well, I’m not sure. But I promise we will.” “Good to know,” said the bird. “Can I stay here for a night? Sorry, I don’t have anything with me to pay you with. I couldn’t know you would be here. But I guess as your first client I qualify for a free service.” “Yes, of course,” I replied. “Fine,” said the bird.

 

That’s how I got into bird hotel business. I sat immobile days and nights. The birds brought me water, corn, and worms in their beaks and entertained me with stories of faraway lands. For many days I didn’t see a single human. Then suddenly I noticed a man passing by. He was tired and thirsty and could hardly move. “Hey,” he said to me. “What are you doing here?” “Earning my living”, I replied.

 

The bird prophecy was in action.

 

This one is also based on the same limerick:

 

In an imaginary world and at an imaginary school known as Hogwarts lived a gamekeeper known as Rubeus Hagrid.  Hagrid was a very large man, being half-giant, with a bushy head of hair and an extremely large and bushy beard.  Being gamekeeper, Hagrid spent a great deal of time with creatures large and small.  Though he had a self-confessed passion for monstrous creatures, he loved all creatures, even the tiniest of sparrows.  The tenderness this large man exhibited to all creatures belied his rather scary appearance and even the most timid of creatures learned to trust him in spite of how ferocious he might look.

 

As part of his game keeping duties, Hagrid nursed ill and injured creatures back to health.  During one eventful autumn, the Whomping Willow victimized more birds than usual, and the injuries they sustained from this monstrous tree sent two owls, four larks and wren to Hagrid for healing.  Over a period of several months, these creatures came to depend on Hagrid for their every need.  He would carefully clean and bind their wounds, provide them with an abundance of food, and talk to them constantly, reassuring them of his good will.

 

One day, a young arachnid showed up at Hagrid’s door, requesting assistance in injuries it obtained while trying to consume a unicorn foal.  Hagrid gladly agreed to nurse it back to health, although he chastised it soundly for attempting to harm such an innocent and magical creature as a unicorn foal.  The spider, shrugging off Hagrid’s rebukes, accepted Hagrid’s care as its due and settled down on a comfortable settee, ostensibly to rest from its ordeal.  However, as soon as the door closed behind Hagrid’s back, chaos ensued as the spider immediately set to stalking the birds who were recuperating from their own injuries.  Fortunately for them, Hagrid heard the commotion and returned immediately into his hut, at which time he chased the arachnid out, yelling, “and don’ yeh come back here no more, yeh hear?”

 

The birds were understandably jumpy for the remainder of the day.  Night fell and Hagrid made his way to his enormous bed, where he fell fast asleep.  However, upon waking in the morning, he found that during the night the birds for whom he was caring had taken steps to ensure that they would never again be endangered by Hagrid’s absence . . . for while he was asleep each bird, in its turn, carefully made a nest in Hagrid’s extensive beard.

 

And the final short story is based on this limerick:

 

There was an Old Man with a gong,

Who bumped at it all day long;

But they called out, 'O law!

You're a horrid old bore!'

So they smashed that Old Man with a gong.

 

There was a charming old village in the south where an old man lived.  He was a healthy old man and he never talked to his neighbors. The other thing about him is that he played a big Gong. Unfortunately for the old man there was an old law in the old village down south that said you couldn’t disturb the peace with too much noise.

 

The old man thought it was a silly law and began to go to pubs often to get a beer and complain about the stupid law to no one. Unfortunately for the old man in the old village down south this caused the other dwellers of the village to despise him and his Gong. One day, they vowed, they would get this Old man with his Gong without people thinking badly of them but they didn’t know how just yet. The people of the village stood by their laws just like jelly and jam sticks on bread. It was the very element of their existence. Besides that the people of the old village down south hated the sound of the Gong.

 

The old man in the old village down south played his Gong one day after he complained harshly at the pub and the next and the next without care. That is until his next door neighbor, the priest, complained about the noise to the Town Hall Meeting one day.

 

“His Gong is too loud. His attitude needs work. He also doesn’t appreciate living here.” The priest told the Town Hall when they had a meeting that day. Someone shouting, “He’s not gracious” Another shouted “He smells” Then yet another shouted, “His Gong is too loud!” There was a hush around the Hall. Had they found a way to get ride of this boring Old man with a Gong?

 

Well you can guess what happened next. The people of the old village down south finally gave in and smashed the old man with his Gong. They didn’t even dig him a grave. They just threw him over a cliff, as they were so eager to get rid of the remains. You may think that was the end of the old man with a Gong though even now that he’s dead you can still hear his Gong playing throughout the old villages down south. And that is the end of the story of the old man with a Gong.

 

Pm me your votes!

[Narina Menderlin]

I'm in the middle of thinking of a short story for the Gong one. *grins*

[Liathiana]

Deadline for your stories has been forwarded to the 18th! I only have one, c'mon people, it's not a competition if no one participates! :tug

[Mystica]

will try to think of something to write Liath. It's not as easy as it looks :P

[Kara_J]

Final day today!  ;D

[Ludmian]

Yeah. If any of you have any ideas for stories that you would like to tell, please, hurry up. I don't think we'll delay the deadline one more time.  ;D

[Mystica]

im having a really tought time finding inspiration for this, so I'm afraid I have to bow out. :(

[Liathiana]

Sadness!

 

Last night to get them in folks!

[Liathiana]

Short stories are up! Look and vote! ;D

[Liathiana]

1st place goes to Luddy for The Bird Hotel! (so named by one of the voters)

 

His prize is:

 

2nd place goes to Daruya for The Nested Beard!

 

Her prize is:

 

3rd place goes to Narina for her Man with a Gong story!

 

Her prize is:

 

Prizes were made by me so do not feel as if you have to wear them! LOL

[Minuet]

Congratulations to our winners! Awesome job too.

[Ludmian]

Excellent prizes, Lia!

 

Thanks to everyone who voted and/or participated in the contest.  :)

[Mystica]

congratulations you guys!! and great artwork there Lia! :D

[Liathiana]

Thank you Luddy! <3 Thank you Myst! <3

[Narina Menderlin]

Thanks, and I like my image Lia!

[Torrie]

Wonderful job everyone.

 

 

 

The Blue and Greens did great handleing this, too!

[Liathiana]

Thank you Narina! ;D