In short, we want your writeups, 300 words or fewer.

"February is the shortest month."
— T. S. Eliot, probably

It's the shortest month of the year! Time for the wee madness that is Brevity Quest. The rules are pretty standard, write something good in 300 words or less.

• The quest starts on Wednesday, 1st February at 00:00:00 and ends on Tuesday the 28th February at 23:59:99 (E2 server time).
• We're looking for well-crafted fact, fiction, poetry and prose, the usual suspects. New writeups only, no daylogs.
• Post as many submissions as you wish. It is okay to post hidden writeups if you prefer.
• Quest entries should be labeled as such, and please include your wordcount. A /msg to inform me is recommended.
• Bounty will be awarded at 10GP per writeup.
• It's my birthday month, so like Bilbo Baggins I will give out real physical gifts. The least of them will be a postcard from me. The greatest? Not decided yet. (This means of course that you have to entrust me with a real postal address.)

Check out the BQ submissions from previous Quests, for example 2020, 2021 and 2022.

I am currently the sole judge. If you'd like to help out, please let me know.

Don't rely solely on the word count in the draft/writeup header (as it counts HTML and pipelinked text too). We do have the E2 Word Counter, but please also note the Brevity Quest Word Count Guidelines.

xclip -o | wc -w
242

Shortlist of Entrants

1. cliff fishing by npecom
2. ice fishing by wertperch
3. Round Stic by nicolasstag
4. length by fliphone
5. unholy matrimony by svntax
6. spirit recognizing fate by etouffee
7. Sound Typist by nicolasstag
8. Voice Attack by nicolasstag
9. Old poems I found on my computer by nicolasstag
10. Deepdwn by nicolasstag
11. through the water and the waves by Maevwyn
12. ZTF J1406+1222 by nicolasstag
13. frap by Tem42
14. Ants Corrupt Elephant by svntax
15. The Zettlekasten Method by nicolasstag
16. Zabriskie Point by JD
17. Share Some Soul by e2reneta
18. The Earth Shuddered by losthuskie
19. starry, dirty, dead by nicolasstag
20. Wonderwall by JD
21. every day she stands there, waiting. every day, she's gone when i get there. by etouffee
22. Cindy and Donna by JD
23. Star Wars Kid: The Rise of the Digital Shadows by JD
24. The Devil's Trill by Clockmaker
25. Sewerslvt by nicolasstag
26. PSR B1257+12 by nicolasstag
27. Deguello by vongrim
28. Buying cigarettes one at a time by vongrim
29. The Eyes of Tammy Faye by JD
30. Bodies Bodies Bodies by JD
31. Ankh-Morpork by Clockmaker
32. ne by Tem42
33. Linda's Film on Menstruation by JD
34. The Leads by Clockmaker
35. Honey Bee by JD
36. I dreamt of the eternal waiting room between. by bartholomeu
37. Free Live Free by Clockmaker
38. Bridge of Sighs by Clockmaker
39. Cabiria by Clockmaker
40. The Tavern Knight by Clockmaker
41. Marcus Porcius Cato, Episode III by Clockmaker
42. Scarlet Street by JD
43. This is why I wear my shawl low over my eyes by Chord