Halloweensie Contest Entry

Each year, Susanna Leonard Hill hosts a "Halloweensie" writing contest on her blog. The rules are that it must be 100 words or less, it must be a story about Halloween night, and each year, there are three words that must be included somewhere in the story. This year, the words were: wings, spell, and fog (in any grammatical variation).

You KNOW I love a word-count challenge and a contest opportunity! They're a great way to find inspiration, write something out of my comfort zone, and just be involved with the KidLit community.

One thing I've started to notice is that my subconscious writing style is poetry. Not always rhyming, but poems are what pour out of me nonetheless.

Below is my entry for the Halloweensie Contest.

THE BONE-LY HEARTS SNUB

100 words

“Ignore him—he’s not real!” parents hustle petrified tots past.

“He’s so fake!” teens sneer.

The hollow ache returns.

Can’t they see?

I’m trying to be authentic.

Down-to-earth.

On full display

amidst foggy, strobe-lit sky:

baring my soul…

            spilling my guts…

                        …if I had any.

Either teased

or avoided,

but never really seen

as The Friendly-but-Terrifying

            Twelve-Foot-Tall Skeleton.

Trick-or-treaters bustle by:

Rainbow-winged fairies, wicked witches.

Superheroes, scarecrows, stegosauruses.

Even pudgy pumpkin babies.

Suddenly,

a spirited bumblebee

stops for a spell.

Delightfully nervous,

she holds my gaze…

Marveling.

She can see my non-existent heart.

Lovely warmth bleeds,

mending my many fractures.