Mini-Contest #36
The 36th OTP mini-contest was held in December 2017. This mini-contest asked contestants to write a story no more than 40 words long in which sound effects played an important role.
Here are our winning entries, then our honorable mentions. Four out of six authors are new to OTP.
Third Place by Phil Yeats (published in mini-contest #35)
Flames shooting from the reaction chamber generated a WHOOOOOSSSH. Then KABOOM, the prototype exploded, spewing shrapnel. The scientist tore at his unruly mop of red hair. How could he design a rocket engine that produced the WHOOSH without the KABOOM?
Second Place by Joann Brosnan (new OTP author)
Click, click, click, of paws on wood…
Uhnn, morning!
Flappa, flappa, flappa of silky ears…
Fwoooshhh of wet breath…
Fwump! of paw on bed…
“OK, coming.” I moan.
THUMP, THUMP, THUMP of tail against furniture.
Time to walk the dog.
First Place by Laura Ruth Loomis (published in several issues and mini-contests)
“Officer, I heard a boom, then kerpow immediately followed by a whump.”
“There’s no box on the form for whump.”
“Like a dead body splatting on a pile of car horns.”
“Oh! A hwoomp.” He reached for a different form.
Honorable Mentions (no money, just fame)
Three other entries scored highly enough to earn honorable mentions.
Bam. Bam. Richard looked outside. Men, women, young, and old took gleeful turns battering the wall. Bam. Bam. Through the newly formed holes he glimpsed the other half of his country. Bam. After twenty-eight years, the wall came tumbling down.
(by Nicholas Marcus, new OTP author)
Chris drew his sword.
Frowning, he re-sheathed it, then drew again.
Another frown.
The charging orcs shuffled to a stop.
“CUT,” the director sighed. “Once again, Chris, swords don’t ‘SHING!’ on their own. We have to add that in post.”
(by Graham Scott, new OTP author)
I woke up in the middle of the night, feeling strange and covered in a tense sweat. I rolled out of bed and found myself hunched over and suddenly… Whoosh! I realized, I will never have Mexican before bed again.
(by Ariel Rubio, new OTP author)
Congratulations to the winners and our sincere thanks to everyone who entered the mini-contest.