Congratulations to Danielle Wendt, winner of last month’s Contrast contest. Below is her submission, in which she described what happened when she found a mysterious note with her name on it.
There once was a girl named Giselle,
Who sat in the lecture of hell
Perchance she reached down
And look what she found
But a sealed note that called out her name.
From underneath the desk she took,
And daring to take a quick look,
At a glance she did see
The inside was empty.
And suddenly Giselle was awake.
She showed everyone what she’d found,
How quickly the word traveled ‘round,
But no one spoke up,
So Giselle was stuck.
The mystery made her uneasy.
In a different class the next day,
She discovered with great dismay
A note was held fast
Under the desk, like the last.
This one simply marked with: go
The day had not yet met its end,
When a note was discovered by a friend.
The next said: you
And Giselle’s fear struck her true
She wondered when this torture would end.
‘With’ and ‘will’ followed suit
Her anxiety was absolute.
She wanted to cry.
She just wondered why
Somebody was leaving the notes.
Not even two hours later,
She prayed for someone to save her.
Though she barely opened her eyes,
The note’s existence was no surprise,
‘Out’ was scribbled on the next.
The fear was getting to her head.
She felt under the next desk with dread.
The last said ‘me?’
And Giselle still didn’t see
Till her best friend appeared with the roses.
The Free Press is partnering with Contrast to bring creative writing contests to both of our readerships.
Read this issue’s prompt below, and feel free to contact Contrast Co-Editors Marya Topina and Emma Driban at contrastlitmag@gmail.com, or visit a Contrast weekly meeting, Thursdays at 9 p.m. in Hill 208 to workshop your writing and receive feedback from other creative minds.
This issue’s prompt: Start with the phrase “It was a dark and stormy night.” In up to 500 words of prose or 50 lines of poetry, write the rest of the story. Submissions are due by midnight on Oct. 21.
