Once a writer started questing....


Do you remember that wonderful March, five years past, when we came together to squash all of our talent, wit, and insight into just six little words? Have you perhaps been wondering what happened to the annual quest that we were promised? Well, it was not forgotten, simply postponed. Until now, that is...

We write again! The quest is the same as last time, albeit a bit shorter. String six words together, submit them to me, and we shall let them duel each other in the democratic arena that is E2!


February 6th: The quest begins!

February 16th: The fun ends, and the judging begins. Please have all of your votes in by the 26th at the latest.

Oh, did I not mention? You will be expected to pass judgement on your fellow writers, messaging me with your choices for the best six entries. You must vote, even if you do not write for the quest. If you don't vote, EDB will get you. As you may have deduced, awards will be awarded to those winning the most votes.

The best way to send votes is by author's number and story number: 1.1 is Andrew Aguecheek's "Strip poker isn't fair!" moaned Death."; 28.1 is 2ti6x's "She was dancing by his grave.". Please send all six votes in one message if possible.


The Rules:

  1. Stories must be six words long. Yes, words in pipelinks are counted as part of your six.
  2. Stories must be your original work, and have not been submitted to past quests or nodes.
  3. Stories should be /msg'd to me directly; do not post a new writeup.
  4. You can submit absolutely no more than 100 stories.
  5. You must vote.
  6. Other than that, it's a free-for-all.

Seriously, that's it. You may compose six-word haikus, you may use words like nonredefenestrated, you may write in Spanish or Klingon.


The Rewards:

Grand Prize: 600 GP and 60 eggs.

  • Zephronias: The cat’s walking through walls again.

Second Prize: 216 GP and 36 eggs.
  • Demeter: His widow never once wore black.
  • drownzsurf: Self-examining, he put the gun down.
  • drownzsurf: Plato handed the drink to Socrates.

All Participants: 6 GP
All who submit votes: An egg.


All entries receiving more than one vote are marked by asterisks -- one asterisk per vote.

The Contestants:

  1. Andrew Aguecheek
    1. Strip poker isn't fair!" moaned Death. **


  2. andycyca:


  3. Byzantine:
    1. I cried when I remembered her.
    2. But you don't believe in love?
    3. No one deserves, but all receive.
    4. "A consummation devoutly to be wished." (*)
    5. "Sic semper tyrannis," said the assassin.
    6. "That always happens sometimes," he said.
    7. Such pretty white points. So sharp.


  4. corvus:
    1. I fell asleep to the screams.**


  5. Demeter:
    1. His widow never once wore black. ****
    2. "It was a joke!" protested God.
    3. After four years, his daughter returned.
    4. Girl, boy, lost kitten returned. Bestseller.
    5. Woman cast as Doctor. Internet implodes. **
    6. So few words. So many stories.


  6. drownzsurf:
    1. Self-examining, he put the gun down. ****
    2. Plato handed the drink to Socrates. ****
    3. Pilate then yelled for a towel.
    4. They said goodbyes after missing Mars.
    5. Illegal

      Haiku

      Best

      He can do

    6. One God,

      Three persons,

      Three nails. **



  7. Eniteris:
    1. "Do you remember what we promised?"


  8. etouffee:
    1. Letter sent. Phone called. Answer? Silence. ***


  9. go ahead I'll listen:
    1. Hemingway, you brute. Just stay down. **
    2. Apple cider shoulder blades. Fingertips. Home.
    3. Chromatic fingers shake the world. Tremble.
    4. Stakes were low. We had fun.


  10. LinkVanyali:
    1. "Recruit! Keep your head down sol-!"
    2. Feeling down. Coffee! Feeling better. Repeat.
    3. Flappy birder flips Flappy the bird.
    4. Abort test, Freeman. Resonance cascade imminent!
    5. Funny feeling it was you there.
    6. You should now have enough supplies...
    7. Hexaprosaic
      haiku are challenging
      amateur writers ***


  11. LocusSolus:
    1. "I miss you."


  12. mad girl's love song:
    1. He waited, motionless. “Yes,” she said. ***
    2. One time. It only happened once.
    3. So many corpses, so little time. ***


  13. mjijm:
    1. Burn the bridge, not the town. **
    2. La verdad no está completamente real.
    3. We lost that in the fire.
    4. We lost him in the fire.
    5. Apparently masking tape melts on stage.
    6. I am her only hurricane shelter. **
    7. Why can't this world be enough?
    8. Backflips, bragging, and booze: bad idea.
    9. Thirty-six is a big number.
    10. I've been clean for two months. **
    11. April died with him, last May.
    12. Please damn this, New York Times.


  14. moeyz:
    1. I'm writing this for imaginary eggs?
    2. Sixty eggs, an odd grand prize.
    3. Ten days, sixty eggs, troubles triglycerides.
    4. Cool Hand Luke, want ten more?
    5. Paul Newman's ghost laughs, unreal eggs.
    6. Neighbors relocate, leaving behind Palestinian map.
    7. Astrophysicist seeks understanding of dark energy.
    8. Best advice, be kind, slow down.
    9. Better advice, be good to yourself.
    10. Worst advice, don't marry an atheist.
    11. Alzheimers', unpredictable, both good and bad.
    12. What could possibly go wrong next?
    13. Through lace, trees look less dangerous.
    14. Tapdancing dream, Neil deGrasse Tyson appears!
    15. Pope's Harley donated to soup kitchen.
    16. Vladimir Putin against gays and yogurt.
    17. Pope Francis' leather jacket feeds poor.
    18. ObamaCare? Big business wins. Individuals lose.
    19. Elle vit paraitre le matin, Scheherazade.
    20. Henri Matisse, dying, collages colorful pentaptych.
    21. Vote! and you'll get an egg!!!
    22. Winter Olympics in Sochi. Curling rocks!!


  15. Noodle Salad:
    1. Agonizing over six words seems futile.


  16. Old_New:
    1. infinity


  17. Olivinerain:
    1. The dolphin uprising wasn't exactly unexpected. **
    2. We floated through space. Cold. Immortal. **
    3. What a wonderful world we've destroyed. **
    4. Everyone on earth forgot to breathe.
    5. Frozen waves lap at timeless shores.
    6. Inside lives something sick. With teeth.
    7. You awake. Nothing stares. Screaming ensues.
    8. Last man alive recieves text message.
    9. Forgotten, she slept under glass forever.
    10. He died. He'd never been happier.
    11. Monsters do not exist. Not yet.
    12. You don't have much time left.
    13. Immortality discovered Friday. Mom's funeral Monday.
    14. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Inoperable.
    15. Anesthesia found equivalent to death. Oops.
    16. I built a time machine tomorrow. **
    17. Forget everything. Be happy. Only $1999.99!
    18. Ebola sale, today only, buy now!
    19. Forbidden futures frozen forever; futile, frail.
    20. That wasn't hamburger! Where's our baby!?
    21. Six words plus story in punctuation:! ??? !!? !?!?! !!(!) !?!;?!? !! !!!-_____
    22. God is real. He hates us.
    23. Proof of no afterlife. Riots ensue.
    24. The universe is a midnight snack.
    25. Please don't leave me! I'm trapped.
    26. I don't know this "Alzheimer" person.
    27. A dark night. Lives are lost.
    28. Superpowered indie band fights eldritch monstrosities.
    29. Welcome to Wonderland! Paint these roses.
    30. Put down that knife, you're dru-
    31. I'm trapped inside this sentence, help!
    32. By reading this you've doomed us. **
    33. Remember when robots hadn't enslaved us?
    34. Causality is being destroyed. Goodbye. Hello!
    35. Too many words and reality unravels!
    36. The Doctor will save us. Huh? FICTION!?
    37. Dreaming of darkness, we fall faster.
    38. Love is longing for other worlds.
    39. Your mind cages impossibilities. Free them.
    40. Pour your unreality into me forever.
    41. Why is perfection so difficult? *collapses*
    42. Luscious lucid liquid lapiz lazuli lies.
    43. Slow songs, subtle susurrous, sexual scintilla.
    44. Death makes humanity unfinished and incomplete.
    45. Immortality marks the ascent of man.
    46. The colors in you bleed black.
    47. Wordsmithery: easier than vocabulamancy or grammergility.
    48. We danced once, after your funeral.
    49. Which words will win wild wills?
    50. Remembrance of long ago brings sorrow.
    51. Our dreams transcend us, becoming myth.
    52. Our fears keep us from fading.
    53. Cats are our souls given form.
    54. Remember, remember, do the damn dishes.
    55. Remembering you brings sick, slow sorrow.
    56. A broken clock, bleeding cold blood.
    57. Murder most foul; beating heart underfoot.
    58. Breaking News: Atlantis found, accidentally destroyed.
    59. Our hearts, like quicksilver, melted together.
    60. Imagination comes from a dead god.
    61. And that's how you get ants.
    62. Protip: Don't kill your past self.
    63. Remember the Titans. They're only sleeping.
    64. Remember when we danced like rain?
    65. Remember when the wind blew backwards?
    66. Remeber how we laughed, so young?
    67. Your eyes sparkled when we kissed.
    68. Your hair flowed like god's wine.
    69. Our souls trapped within each others.
    70. They're watching us through these words.
    71. Birth. Growing. Learning. Knowing. Forgetting. Death.
    72. Beauty screams from inside us all.
    73. Sunset paints, pouring colors over all.
    74. Our sorrowful songs and colorful canvas.
    75. Sleeping, he lazily, unknowingly stabbed them.
    76. Where's my soul? Asked the robot.
    77. The trees live. The trees hunger.
    78. Your soul is strangling you slowly.
    79. Our need to breathe is psychosomatic.
    80. Forgetting you is harder than living.
    81. No light. No love. No stars.
    82. At universe's end, we danced delirious.
    83. .em evoL .sdrawkcab gnivom si emiT
    84. Time has reversed. Love me again.
    85. So imprisoned, the orgies began quickly.
    86. The dead are keeping us safe.
    87. Look forward to the nothing ahead.
    88. Look! Behind you! Meaningful beauty! RUN!
    89. Shut up, post-apocalyptic robot Walt Disney.
    90. The color had drained from creation.
    91. Eating carrots shouldn't be so deadly.
    92. Forgetting about death, he began anew.
    93. Thanks, Jesus. Thanks. You pretentious asshole.
    94. Breathe brilliant blasphemies and crimson conundrums.
    95. Silver swamps glisten beneath viridian moons.
    96. Gruesome, sexually motivated murder. Sample today!
    97. There is always something behind you.
    98. Broken hearts, broken laws, broken bones.
    99. The song of story was insinuated insidiously.
    100. The finale, my love, comes softly.


  18. O-Swirl:
    1. The divine werewolf preyed until morning.
    2. Confetti in the Molotov cocktail. Surprise!
    3. There is no devil. Only her.
    4. He couldn't talk, so he raped.
    5. Rambo V: First Blood, Then Marriage.


  19. Pandeism Fish:
    1. To become expert fishermen, master bait.
    2. His "sex slave" completely controls him.
    3. My sentient door has become unhinged!!
    4. Busty gal, water, t-shirt, bumpy road.
    5. Story of the Year? Higgs Boson!!
    6. Flat soda. Flat tax. Flat Earth.
    7. Between my toes, microbial galaxies collide.
    8. Powermongers washing hands with innocent blood.
    9. My brain grew legs and skedaddled.
    10. Oh man, this dying thing sucks!!
    11. Can I pay in Canadian dollars?
    12. Nuclear tidal wave!! Hey, let's surf....
    13. Getting harder to resist.... cello concerta!!
    14. Charon's skiff just made a U-turn.
    15. Narcissist Geneticist Gay-Marries Own Clone!!
    16. Newsflash: Cute cleaning tips aren't "hacks."
    17. American werewolf pirates battling Nazi vampires. **
    18. Washing dishes, I discovered a skull. **
    19. Think it'll fit in my nose?
    20. First, they came for the androids...


  20. richardcranium:
    1. Bridget's jacuzzi arouses warm flowing oblivion.


  21. StuartO))):
    1. Only God walks through time unchanged.


  22. Tem42:
    1. I chose the blue pill. Satisfactory. **


  23. thalio:
    1. Purple aliens invaded unopposed. Barney brainwashing!
    2. Time travel worked. Killed my grand-- **


  24. tubular:
    1. Procrasturbation levels low in premature ejaculators.
    2. "Now, don't get mad, sweetie, but..."
    3. New Writeup: Humanity (review) by God
    4. But his reflection didn't smile back. ***
    5. Ithkuil Hemingway would've only needed two.
    6. No final words: nobody would've listened.
    7. Dons cape. Becomes superhero. Self-defenestrates. Dies.


  25. Uberbanana:
    1. "Turn around. It's not done yet."
    2. "Oh no!"
    3. "Three little robots, building the future."
    4. "My love is like the air."
    5. "Where does this go?"
    6. "The mountain called. I set forth."


  26. whitecrow:
    1. Saturn's Monopolar Hexagonal Storm Continues Raging
    2. Perceiving Precocious Propensity; Porous Protons Proclaim.
    3. I had them, hook and sinker.
    4. Fractal balderdash commences: Dark matter's pretenses.
    5. Try saying Angstskrik without screaming anguished.
    6. Make room. Sit down. Turn off.
    7. Only a madman could win this.
    8. Life: A soul's sole. Love: Laces.


  27. Zephronias:
    1. We watched them burn and laughed.
    2. I drag toys under the water.
    3. Nobody but me hears their screams.
    4. They still, eventually, and sink down.
    5. They should last for a while yet.
    6. Eventually I will need new toys.
    7. We are darkness, we are death.
    8. We cut ties binding tethered souls.
    9. Spirits leave bodies through final gasps.
    10. We creep in shadows, following them.
    11. We eat breaths of dying men.
    12. The cat’s walking through walls again. *****
    13. My grandma knits hats for foxes.
    14. Our dog used to be human. **
    15. She bottles laughter to sell later.
    16. She collects color in mason jars. **
    17. Deep shadows bow when she passes.
    18. Monsters flee from her lantern’s light.
    19. He stole time in minute increments.
    20. He stole hundreds of others' hours.
    21. Time ran out; he had more.
    22. They captured Time in crystal clocks.
    23. He smashed clocks and freed time.


  28. 2ti6x
    1. She was dancing by his grave.


  29. Serjeant's Muse:
    1. "That's the story?" / "All I'll share."