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Thread: TotW 259: Banquet - VOTE THREAD

  1. #1

    Default TotW 259: Banquet - VOTE THREAD

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    TotW 259: Banquet

    You have ONE vote.


    Submission 1
    It was late in the night when my little child cried for her medicines,I was there in the dark side of the semi-destroyed mansion.hope was not an answer , smile is not an option, my heart was only overlooking her smile when her older sister asked me "she is suffering,I will stay with her and you must search for help".How could I found help at such a period ?,I did not know where to go and where to get that few coins.with the sunrise's the red light of sun which marks the standing *banquet* of the city of baghdad , I had no choice but to go around the building to steal few coins , I found a servant whom was sleeping, but an old man suddenly was insight. he shouted "today is a Mystery where to solve the puzzle and to reshape it . My dear I see you a honest man .? What's your profession ?..i replied "I am in Command of the police officer post in the market . He asked "if you killed the man laying sleep here isn't it against your oath ? ... "and what oath let my child die ?! I ransom his for her life ? .. The old-man replied "my dear ,come to the market post at the midday your problem shall be solved if god will it ." . I returned home and founded my child nearly slept , I carried her and told myself "we shall find a solution" .. When we went to the post in the market I founded that the man was the *Banquet* chief he ordered his *servant* to take my child to the hospital . How strange was that ...Indeed in the evil we cure the light shines brighter for our soul ,he was a good man he offered me a journey to the near geysers to cure the illness of my child. I refused with kindness ,at the same moment the servant came and said that "my child was died",Cry havoc! , no tears was able to help , I abandoned my seat with my friends at noon, I left our old mansion , but nothing will ever find the cure , I remembers her smile when she wake up at morning,and sleep down at night ,Tell my story my friend i only a host of poor,illness,hunger .WHY? said the old man, I replied "everyday we will loss a child, if we did stop caring for them, how bad was I ?. ".. I answered myself " I must have got a doctor".


    Submission 2

    Banquets are supposed to be happy occasions. Wedding banquets, even more so. This one, however, was not.

    The great hall was draped with bright banners and adorned with tall stands of flowers, while the sun streamed in through the stained glass windows, lighting the tables and the guests with equally radiant patches of colour. The tables were laden with all manner of food, as you would expect. Great platters of roast meat whose scent wafted across the room and caused more than one guest to apologise for the unseemly rumble from his innards; shining piles of fruit – apples, pears, even exotic oranges and pineapples, grown in the constantly-heated greenhouse; freshly-baked bread; vegetables so beautiful and so appetising they would have tempted the sternest carnivore; and the centrepiece – an enormous wedding cake, shaped like the house itself, and iced to make the resemblance perfect.

    Everything had begun well. The guests – even those whose journeys had been the longest and most fraught with danger – had arrived safely and in good time. The cooks had toiled for days to produce the grandest meal any of them had ever seen. The servants had swept, and polished, and decorated. The gardeners had trimmed lawns, pruned bushes and weeded flower-beds. The wedding itself had proceeded without the smallest hitch, and everyone had returned to the house, laughing and talking, eager to see – and eat – the feast they were assured awaited them. They had dispersed to their rooms, to dispose of their coats and cloaks, and repair any small deficiencies of their appearance, and then they had made their way to the great hall.

    Except that once the guests were all assembled, it became apparent that not everyone had arrived in the great hall. The bride was missing.

    The groom, who had left her pinning a recalcitrant curl of hair into the precise shape she wanted, had been one of the earliest to reach the great hall. He had not begun to worry until almost everyone else had arrived. He thought his new wife intended to make a grand entrance in front of all the assembled guests, so it was not until all but three of the seats were filled that he commanded a servant to go and find her. As the host, he would be expected not to keep his guests waiting too long for their food, but it would be improper to begin a wedding banquet without the bride.

    Moments later – moments that felt like hours to the groom – the servant returned. The bride – or rather, the bride’s murdered body – had been found. One mystery had been solved only to reveal another. Who among those present could have done such a thing?


    Submission 3

    The Banquet

    The antechamber was bustling with people, lords of the realm, envoys from the Empire, come to seal the peace, collect tithes and taxes, as well as the most important merchants in the capital. They were all excited, all perfectly aware that the long period of strife and uncertainty had ended.

    As they entered the main hall, they came upon the long tables that awaited them, each set with expensive linens, upon which flagons of ember red and deep, dark crimson wines stood, ready to be emptied and refilled. A host of hors d’oeuvres were set on all tables, smoked and devilled eggs, shellfish and sturgeon eggs, an innumerable variety of fruit and nuts and, as the guests started taking their seats, servants appeared, pouring cup after cup of the delicious wines.

    This great assembly was a mystery to none that were present. The young king had organised it to ease the burdens of the lords and to restore confidence to the Empire that had supported his claim to the throne. Long had the kingdom suffered as the civil war had raged for almost a decade. The pretender had been supported by many lords of the realm, and initially was thought to prevail, yet the new king had taken refuge in the neighbouring Empire. There, he had gained the trust and admiration of the Emperor and had won him to his cause, albeit promising much in the way of economic repayment and exclusive rights to the income from various exploits.

    Some lords wanted to retain their privileges, others wanted to get back old ones that their families had lost, while the Imperial envoys wanted only to protect the Emperor’s interests. More than a hundred men were seated round the tables and all wanted something from the king, but neither truly knew what the king wanted from them, if anything.

    - Friends, noble allies, the king spoke, standing up from his seat. Most of you have journeyed from far away to be here and I want to thank you for it. The war is ended, he continued...
    - Hear, hear, a multitude of voices interrupted him.
    - Peace is now here, the king continued, yet I urge you to think about it not. Feast, eat, drink and rejoice. Tomorrow we shall see what is to be done. To the kingdom, to all of you, the king toasted.
    - To the king, a hundred voices roared.

    As the entire hall went back to talking and drinking, the king rose from his throne and walked towards the door behind his throne. A man held it open for him and as he exited, the king but whispered “Give the command!”

    Minutes later, as new alliances were forged and old friendships rekindled, as lucrative deals and profitable exploits were being discussed, nobody noticed the barred doors, nobody noticed the creeping smoke, nobody noticed the slithering flames caressing the tapestries, indeed, nobody noticed anything...until it was too late.


    Submission 4
    The incessant beeping had died down and all was still, except for Elon’s heart which must have been beating loud enough for the entire world to hear it. He was strapped into his seat with no escape and despite knowing that his entire life had led up to this moment, Elon was petrified. He carried with him the hopes and dreams of an entire planet, fate had given him this command and he dare not second guess himself now. He had no free will anymore, he was merely the servant ushering in the days of tomorrow.

    Elon’s mediation was broken by a thrumming which charged through his body like wildfire. The countdown had begun, the realisation that humanity would be doomed if he failed crashed down upon Elon. He gasped and suffocated under the pressure, the weight of billions of mothers and fathers; sons and daughters; who would die if he failed at his task. He felt their pitiful last gasps wrack his breast, strangling him and starving him of air. That would be the price of his failure. He was the host of humanity, they clung to him and fed off his body, demanding more and more.

    The countdown blared its final note, and Elon’s world rumbled and shook with the force of a thousand volcanos. It felt as though he would be torn apart by the sheer power acting upon his body as the Final Voyager thrust off and fought gravity tooth and nail to abandon this forsaken planet and its dying race. Elon glanced out of his cockpit window as he surged through the atmosphere, the pale blue dot that he and so many billions of others called their home would soon pass out of sight. Elon would uncover the mystery of the void and save his people, this was his sole purpose. With this realisation, he embarked upon his journey with resolve flooding through his veins. His people would be saved.


    Best of luck to all of our entrants!

  2. #2
    Darkan's Avatar Senator
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    Default Re: TotW 259: Banquet - VOTE THREAD

    Voted! May fortune smile upon the TotW!
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  3. #3
    Commissar Caligula_'s Avatar The Ecstasy of Potatoes
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    Default Re: TotW 259: Banquet - VOTE THREAD

    Good job on the pieces, the descriptive language in all of them sets the mood quite well.



  4. #4
    Shankbot de Bodemloze's Avatar From the Writers Study!
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    Default Re: TotW 259: Banquet - VOTE THREAD

    Best of luck to the entrants.
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  5. #5
    Alwyn's Avatar Frothy Goodness
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    Default Re: TotW 259: Banquet - VOTE THREAD

    Voted, good luck to everyone!

  6. #6
    Mhaedros's Avatar Brave Heart Tegan
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    Default Re: TotW 259: Banquet - VOTE THREAD

    As always an array of impressive entries, a difficult choice Good luck everyone!
    Under the patronage of Finlander. Once patron to someone, no longer.
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  7. #7
    Caillagh de Bodemloze's Avatar to rede I me delyte
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    Default Re: TotW 259: Banquet - VOTE THREAD

    I'm almost having to resort to flipping a coin to decide which way to vote!

    (It's nice that it's a difficult decision, though, since it means I'm struggling to choose between several good entries. )






  8. #8
    Cohors_Evocata's Avatar Centenarius
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    Default Re: TotW 259: Banquet - VOTE THREAD


  9. #9
    M.A.E's Avatar Miles
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    Default Re: TotW 259: Banquet - VOTE THREAD

    Voted ..

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