100% upvote giveaway: tell me a story!
I really enjoyed the last 100% upvote giveaway I had done; previous ones I had a bunch of rules like follow, upvote, resteem, and comment, and then it was rather tedious verifying the rules. So for the last one, I just said "tell me a story", and loved reading them!
This one has slightly more structure to the story, and I will explain why, first: I want to help content creators create compelling content (and alliterate a little :) ).
So, the rules are fairly simple: story must be in English, and 100 words or more in length.
Last time I had said I will give out upvotes until my voting power reaches 20%, but it never really got below 50% before the 7 days were over. So two stop points: if this reaches the 7-day payout; and, if my voting power goes below 20%.
Some quick art: I used MS Paint to write the "Comic Sans MS" text; then used Gimp to convert the white background to an alpha channel; then used Flame Painter and created a second layer, on which I drew some flames and "soft lines" (brush name), made them glow and slightly blur, and then changed the "blending" of the layer with the text to "Hue" and it changed from black to a nice red with some transparency (you can see the lines going through the text). This is fun! :)
PS Thanks to @grow-pro for the slick logo!
A Pie Eating Contest (what I learned)
When I was in the 5th grade I heard they were going to have a pie eating contest at my school during the Spring Fair. I decided right then that I was going to enter the contest and win it. (be goal oriented) I asked my mother for permission to enter. She acquiesced and gave me the $2.50 entry fee. (be able to persuade others to help you achieve your goals) On the entry form I had to choose from a selection of 3 pies; apple, cherry or blueberry. I knew that every choice I made going forward would be critical to my success. Blueberry was the smallest fruit so less chewing and easier swallowing. However, cherry was my favorite pie and only slightly larger than blueberry. I decided that my favorite flavor trumps slightly smaller fruit so I checked cherry pie on my entry form. I knew I could eat faster if I loved the taste. (use strategy) The final hurdle was skipping dinner the night before the competition. I had to persuade my mom that if I was going to win the contest I was going to have to be as hungry as possible and could not eat dinner that night. After a little pushback, she agreed to let me fast. (preparation is key) On the day of the competition I was feeling very confident until I saw that most of the other entrants were 7th and 8th graders and I was the 2nd smallest kid in the 5th grade. Nonetheless, I thought back about everything I had done to get there; I persuaded my mom to let me enter, I selected cherry pie, I skipped dinner and breakfast, I was very hungry. (let nothing shake your confidence) The pies were on the table. Our hands were behind our backs. The whistle blew. I stuffed my face into the pie and began consuming. Everything was a cherry blur. (laser focus on your objective) The next thing that happened was one of the judges grabbed me out of my chair and lifted me in the air declaring me the winner. They handed me a $10 bill and everyone cheered for me, the runt that beat all the junior high kids. (take this contest and apply it to everything you do)
This comment has received a 0.10 % upvote from @drotto thanks to: @otage.
Awesome story thanks @otage! Combines strategy with "David and Goliath". :)
I read a book by that name years ago, by Malcolm Gladwell, and it has a really neat take on the Scriptural story: https://www.amazon.com/David-Goliath-Underdogs-Misfits-Battling-ebook/dp/B00BAXFAOW/ (Basically, that the contest was severely weighted towards David!)
Thanks you! I like gladwell's work haven't read that one. I'll check it out!
This comment has received a Bellyrub and 0.37 % upvote from @bellyrub thanks to: @otage. Send SBD to @bellyrub with a post link in the memo field to bid on the next vote, every 2.4 hours. Be sure to vote for my Pops, @zeartul, as Steem Witness Hope you enjoyed your bellyrub!
I got the rights to drive a year ago, and for the first time I went on it. I decided to go to the clinic for a scheduled examination. And at the left turn I took the fence off the clinic!
In a panic, I decided to go back, and again took another part of the fence clinic. The boards flew apart, and the director's car was killed.
It was an unforgettable trip.
That was only 68 or so words, but it was an excellent story so it gets a pass. :)
Roddy couldn't help but stare. It was her hair that drew him in. Emi's hair was like a raging fire, a burst of sunlight on top of her head.
The fact that she never tamed those gorgeous ginger tresses only made the flame comparison more apt. And the morning sun glistened off of the oils she ran through it each morning creating new colors of red, orange and yellow.
The cook fire that Emi worked at was a pile of disinterested embers by comparison. Hell, the sun couldn't compare to her beautiful hair.
Roddy approached just as one of the other village boys took his morning stew from Emi with a nervous giggle and walked off. Roddy wouldn't be that guy! Everyone loved Emi, but he was going to play it cool.
The best laid plans as it were.
Roddy walked up and held his bowl out for his portion. Running his free hand through his own long brown hair he did his best to give Emi a confident smoldering smile. "Hey Emi." he offered in what he thought was a sexy confident tone as he moved to lean against the wooden frame holding the cook pot over the fire.
As soon as his weight hit the support beem, the timber gave way. Roddy stumbled and fell to the side, his face inches away from the fire which had been stirred up as the combination of wood, stew, and Roddy fell on top of it.
Roddy stared at a glowing orange ember while the sounds of laughter came from behind him. Blushing an angry red, he began to get to his feet, only to have an arm put under his elbow to assist him. It was a gentle pull, and he looked up to see that the assistance was coming from Emi herself!
He had never touched her before. And her hand on his skin felt hotter than the fire itself. He swallowed hard. Trying to gather himself to say something bold.
"Look! Emi's gonna give Trip a kiss!" it was Gery. Of course. The older boy laughed as Roddy's face grew further crimson. Emi turned an angry frown at the bigger boy, but that didn't discourage him "Don't trip on your way in for the kiss Loverboy!" Gery continued.
"Now Gery!" Emi started. But Roddy had heard enough. His empty food bowl forgotten, the memory of a touch from the girl with the flaming locks still burning on his arm, he ran. Took off like a deer being chased by the lioness. He didn't stop until he made it back to his own hut, where he slammed the door. The echos of laughter passing back and forth in his brain. The images of Flaming beautiful hair, and the feel of her touch haunting him as he tried to catch his breath.
I went a little over 100 words I think.... :-)
Hope you enjoy!
I did! Thanks!
Now, I hadn't anticipated "fictional" stories, and didn't specify that I wanted non-fiction -- I want to know what has happened to all y'all that made you who you are now. I'll note that in the next one. :)
bahahaha! I took the fire as a prompt. Oh well. I'll know better next time.... but... you know I have been known to be mesmerized by a fiery redhead from time to time, so this is fictionalized true story?
Nice! :)
When i was young i used to love watching wrestling. I could watch the whole day without eating food. Mother had issues with me because of this. Several times she has barred men from watching it because it looked like it was taking over my life. She actually felt that it was taking over my life because i was not doing well in my academic work. This is the main reason why she barred me from watching wrestling several times. But my father didnt seem to bother me about watching wrestling, in fact he even occasionally did not allow my mother to stop me from watching it. But it took a turn for me for the worst when i thought that could practise in real life which didnt go down well with me. I broke my hand has a result of it and this forced me to loose interest in wrestling.😁😁😁
I watched wrestling when I was rather young, until I learned that it's all staged.
It wasn't until decades later that I learned most things are staged! :/
Sorry to hear about your broken hand but perhaps it was for the best? :)
Yah, it made me concentrate more on what was more important to my life.
i read in 6th standard in those days and it was hot summer i go to my village to spent holidays, in village we normally sell milk to hotels at evening so it is one of those evening me and my three cousins take milk from home and went towards hotels to sell milk, but to sell milk we have to cross the most dangerous river which comes in our way named as river jehlum, but we have the option to cross it using bridge, so on that evening when we sell milk and comes back to our home we saw a scene which i can't forget i saw a bus is coming and suddenly stops in front of us a young lady comes out of the bus and then bus go away and the lady go down towards the river me and my three cousins are stand still watching her going towards river, when she reached so near to river she have some sort of papers she first exit those papers and then she saw towards us and then suddenly jump into the river, when she jump inside the river me and my cousins start shouting to her and said her come back to shore so we can save you but she did it intentionally, we are running on the road and start shouting but she goes deeper and deeper in the river and at last she drowned, so what we can do now we ask to each other but we have no answer to it, so we start walking towards our home with quiet steps, this accident shocked my brain so badly that when i reach home i start crying my grand mother ask me what happens to you my son then i tell them the whole story and she look at me and smile and gave me motivation that you try your best but she do it intentionally it's not your fault, so i can't able to forget that's day when ever i close my eyes and think about that day the whole story plays again.
Wow! Your story about the men with rifles on the previous one was amazing. What is "6th standard" -- was this story before or after the previous one where you were 13?
I really like your grandmother's approach. Sometimes there's nothing you can do. It's sad what happened to her, but don't beat yourself up because it was her choice; you might have been able to stop her, but she might have decided to take the same action the next day, when you aren't around.
this scene i saw little earlier in my life when i was 11 years old and 6 standard means reads in 6th class and yes you are right sometime we can see wrong things and want to stop them but they are out of our reach so we just can't able to take action and stop them.
Okay, that makes sense. So is "sixth standard" is like "sixth grade" here in the States? (Yes, that seems to line up with my age -- I was 8 when we moved here in 3rd grade, so I'd have been 11 in 6th grade.)
I'm glad someone stopped me before the 7-day period was up and I was able to reverse my downvotes. Well, nobody "stopped" me except me; but, I did get some very useful feedback from my followers on the post just before that, which led me to change my mind.
And it's sad because you often don't know when you can't help -- I want to help all the time, but I know there are situations I just can't affect positively. I know someone hooked on heroin, and after several attempts to help, I just cannot be around him; it's sad.
Even in a crowd of people she was separate, disconnected & always alone. The idea of joining almost repellent even as she watched the rapturous joy beaming from the faces of those that could not be so tightly coiled.
A near brush with death & playfully flirting like a butterfly with an essence that felt like love, wonder & a jubilant sense of 'what if' wasn't enough for her to let go & risk losing herself. She wanted to do her own thing, even though it felt a lot like turning her back on the divine & choosing to live the life she'd spent a lifetime trying to escape.
Maybe she was broken or maybe she was just too fully herself to let anything else in, but in small moments she mourned never being enough and too much at the same time. A war inside her head when she dreamed of peace.
Nice, thanks! As I mentioned to @mikepm74, I was really looking for non-fiction but I didn't specify -- I will next time! :)
Wow nice post again. I hope next time I will be the 1st one to comment with a story lol. Anyway I saw BTC went down a bit the other day and there seemed to be a lil panic among crypto gangs lol. I noticed USDT (Tether went up a few digits) then I saw BTC recovered and USDT went down about 2%. Lucky I could not get into poloniex to sell my coins, later I had to change password to get in, weird poloniex ! Seems like poloniex is playing games. I was lucky and as soon as I get into polo, I withdrew my coins and placed them into other exchanges.
My heart hangs heavy. My mind still feels dull. Feels like yesterday, but at the same time a million years ago.
For 12 years, I labored in another land. To bless a people that I had never known, but a people I learned to love. And now home doesn’t feel like home. And I don’t feel like the man I use to be.
I’m unemployed and my skills are not valued anymore. I want to provide security for my wife and children. I want to provide financially for their needs.
And a lot of times, I just want to cry! Because a battle still rages down in my soul.
You are a valued and precious friend. I was so consumed with what was happening in Houston and you even gave me precious SBD to give to people in need. I'm blown away but not blown away because I know your heart.
It was in a magical new year 2000. Many celebrated the Millennium, and my family and I (husband, I-wife, 2 children) went to meet this same millennium in my husband's sister's city. Kind Soviet family goes to visit the same relatives. And I did not suspect that the new era would open amazing opportunities for me and change my life.
Half a day at the stove, the hassle of the festive table, the battle of the chimes, the New Year's light .... They started fireworks on the street, played snowballs .... I somehow quickly fell asleep, somewhere after 1am and naturally woke up by 8.00. As now I remember that extraordinary silence that was in the house, in the apartment. Everybody was asleep - and the owners, and their children, and the guests and their children ... Dog Wilma, Riesen Schnauzer, who woke the masters of the world neither light nor dawn - and she peacefully snuffled in the hallway.
And suddenly in a daze I feel someone's presence.
I open my eyes-no one, just silence became ringing. The light swish of space-air, as if someone passed by and .... again everything freezes. But at the same instant is another. As if someone light and weightless-invisible pulled the shroud from my eyes and I saw the same world, but it was unusually clean. I got up and went to the window. All those streets and houses, but they are different, some thin, clear and airy. I ceased to feel the body like a weight, it was almost gone and my feet barely touched the floor ... There is no thought, there is only one stream of purity inside and out of me and all this continues and not a dream ...
Field lunch our family went home - 200 km by car on the snow-covered road, it was necessary to hurry, or to go at night. In Siberia, trails at night, especially in winter, this
hardly visible road, on the roadside of which drifts, age-old pines and rare lights of small villages.
We're going to overtake a hardly creeping truck and here at a meeting at a stunning speed, no one knows where the black Volga comes from. We squeezed into the armchairs, my husband did not have time to understand, the cars sweep in a centimeter from each other, but I immediately felt that I had been returned to my usual reality - ordinary houses, ordinary snow, and I - with a bunch of unnecessary thoughts and desires.
Beautiful, spasibo! (Ya guvariu ny mnoga pa Russki -- solo, ny mnoga! (Pretty much just that... :) ))
When I saw The Matrix in the theatre in 1999, in south Florida, I walked outside to a beautiful vista of thunderheads on one side and clear skies on the other; the clouds down there are huge, miles high (it seems), looking like mountains in the sky.
The movie is about a virtual reality, and I wondered whether I might possibly be in one. Later I learned that I am -- one created via Genesis. We live in the "universe" -- "uni" - "verse", the single spoken phrase that God brought everything into existence with. But I didn't come to that realization until about two years ago.
That day in 1999, everything looked "off" just slightly. It was so weird, you captured the feeling quite well with your words. Excellent writing; I've followed you and hope that you write more!
thank you for appreciating me so much, I will continue to write of course) I also know the movie Matrix very well, it pushes on various thoughts.
I remember when I used a personal computer first time. It was portable Sharp PC 2000 or something like that (I forgot the exact type). It was many years ago when computer was not commonly used. It weighs around 5 kg and the screen was about 2,5” x 6” monochrome. It had plug in memory type, called “Bubble” with the capacity 32 KB, seriously it was considered huge, the physical size of that memory bubble was about the size of a cassette tape for tape player. That computer could use external 5 ¼ “ floppy disk drive with capacity of 64 KB. Main function for that PC was to type letters using custom made software.
My first PC was a Timex/Sinclair TS1000, a monochrome computer -- which my parents won by listening to a timeshare presentation! My dad went in saying "We're either getting the game (Odyssey, prior to Atari 2600!) or the computer" -- and he almost bought into the timeshare! Those guys are good!
Used it on a black-and-white TV, writing BASIC. Don't really remember what I produced with it, but it was a good learning experience. Glad I got it instead of the game system.