Vivian Kirkfield describes herself as a writer for children and has books out that have received good reviews. She threw out a challenge that she calls “50 Precious Words” on her blog. She began doing this in 2016, but I only knew about it when it was referred to me recently by a writer friend. The challenge in the contest is to write a story for 12-year-olds and under, in fifty words or less, in any format. Oh, what fun!
I am grateful that she gave permission to post our entry on our own website as well. I took the end I had already written of a true happening out here at the Butler-Taylor Place and added a beginning so that I would have a whole story. My daughter-in-law had been unable to stop her vehicle in time to miss a snake as she took the gravel drive up to our houses. By the time she returned to clean up the carcass, it had already been restored to a pristine condition by the scavengers who remain on watch in the sky out here. So, here is the story in fifty precious words:
Flying high comes buzzard
scanning the open space,
foraging fields and roads,
searching for a tidbit,
wanting to feed his face.
Snake’s too slow for car wheel.
Guts splay from its center.
Sharp-eyed scavenger
spies carrion and cries,
“Looks like I found dinner.”
Vivian already had 260 entries by noon on March 4 with the final day on March 7, but if you want to add yours, find your opportunity at
https://viviankirkfield.com/2021/03/02/50preciouswords-2021-is-officially-open/ . The odds of winning are similar to Lotto chances, but with a much more enjoyable activity than buying a ticket!