Hello fellow writers and story enthusiasts! We’re happy to announce the winners of last month’s writing contest! We had a lot of great entries, but we can choose only three to feature. We picked our favorites based on how well they followed the prompt, originality, and composition.
Check out the original writing prompt and the winning entries below!
Prompt:
Everyone loves the latest game from Gamecom’s genius programmer, Max Power. Everyone that is, except for his friend and business partner Erich Bertin. Always stuck in Max’s shadow, Erich does most of the boring drudge work while Max gets all the credit. But not this time and not with this game. Erich’s hidden piece of code will change the world of gaming forever.
Write a story about Gamecom’s latest game and the secret Easter Egg hidden within. What kind of game is it? What happens when Erich’s code is discovered and what does it do? You have 1000 words to create a compelling story.
First Place
Mr. Cellophane
By Emily Sauer
It was only a matter of time before someone discovered her, the old woman, Mae W Prox, hiding just out of sight, waiting for an adventurer to find her, to give her thanks. Erich watched as gamers passed through the area, without searching, without noticing, waiting for someone to stumble upon Mae and access his hidden code. The code, his revenge for Max Power, his onetime friend, for taking all the credit for all the games they’d made together. Erich had always done the real work, while Max insisted he was the face of the company, the one people wanted to see, and his actual role in game creation didn’t matter. Max had never even given Erich partial credit. He got the money, the women, the attention, while Erich did all the work. Max’s lack of involvement was the only way Erich could have hidden a piece of code that would not only ruin Max’s life, but destroy other lives as well.
Erich sat up, as a player named Gunnersmate0229, playing an elven knight, approached the tree. Erich hated elves, but, wasn’t surprised it was the first race to get close. Gunnersmate0229 approached a tree, it was slightly darker than the others around it and a bit more twisted, though only noticeable if the player was paying attention, and circled it. Erich held his breath. The knight circled it again, quicker this time, then hit it. Clearing hoping to find something. And he did. By circling the tree and hitting it, he’d called Mae. An old woman appeared behind the character, hunched over, long grey hair blowing in an unfelt breeze, dressed in a ragged black robe.
“You have freed me from my prison. I am Mae W Prox, Death’s sister. For your kind service, name a person you wish dead, in my world or yours.”
A box popped up, “Would you like to provide a name?” Gunnersmate0229 clicked ‘YES’.
He was then prompted to enter in a name, he entered in ‘Wolfman69’ and the screen dropped.
“As you wish dear, Wolfman69 is will die in 5 minutes time.”
Erich double checked, Wolfman69 was currently playing the game as well. After 5 minutes, he checked again. Wolfman69 wasn’t there. Erich searched further. Wolfman69 no longer had any sort of profile or evidence he’d ever existed. Not just in this game, but online.
Wolfman69 stared at this screen confused. He couldn’t get into a single game. His account had been wiped. He was furious, he’d been playing some of the games for years, now everything was gone.
Erich smiled. It had worked in game. But, would it work with a real name? It would be another month before someone stopped at this tree. This time, it was goblin barbarian being played by PiePipper314. PiePipper314 circled the tree just once, then struck it with his fits. Mae appeared, hair braided this time, but her body was just as crooked and her cloak just as ragged.
“You have freed me from my prison. I am Mae W Prox, Death’s sister. For your kind service, name a person you wish dead, in my world or yours.”
A box popped up, “Would you like to provide a name?” PiePipper314 clicked ‘YES’. He was then prompted to enter in a name, he entered in ‘Troy Johnson’.
At that, a new screen appeared, ‘Which best describes your Troy Johnson?’ A list of Troy Johnson’s appeared. Basic information like city or state, approximate age appeared. PiePipper314 selected the correct one. The screen dropped, back to the game.
“As you wish dear, Troy Johnson will be dead within 24 hours,” a smiling Mae bowed then vanished. PiePipper314 continued to play the game.
Erich watched as it began to unfold. First, the bidding. The code was set up to select the lowest bid and it worked. The funds would be transferred shortly from one of Max’s offshore accounts. He didn’t have much longer to wait, the lowest bidder also appeared to be extremely efficient. Twelve hours since PiePipper314 had officially submitted the request and it had been completed. Erich smiled when the email came through, to Max’s email, saying it was done. He quickly deleted the message, making sure it stayed in the “deleted” folder. He closed the lap top, which he’d ensured was using Max’s IP address.
Fifteen hours after the request had been placed and Troy Johnson’s body was discovered. His throat slit, taken by surprise while playing Gamecon’s latest game. A black card was left in his lap with silver writing “MAE W PROX.” It was on the news within 16 hours. PiePipper314 was shocked. Had he done that? That’s the name he typed in. Mae W Prox was the old woman. He sat there, wondering if he should say something, but decided, it was best to keep Mae and his involvement with Troy’s death a secret.
Now that Erich knew it worked, he knew it was only a matter of time before it would be traced back to genius programmer, Max Power. He put in his resignation and walked out. There were other people who needed pay the price, and he knew just where to find the help he needed, and just how to win Mae’s favor.
Player MrCellophane999, a dwarven necromancer, approached a tree that only slightly stood out from the others. He walked around it once, then hit the tree with an open hand. Mae appeared. Her hair was down again, and this time she had a staff to hold her up straight.
“You have freed me from my prison. I am Mae W Prox, Death’s sister. For your kind service, name a person you wish dead, in my world or yours.”
A box popped up, “Would you like to provide a name?” MrCellophane999 clicked ‘No’.
A new box appeared, “Are you sure?” MrCellophane999 clicked ‘No’.
The window changed, “Enter names below, separated by a semicolon:”
Erich typed in names of those who’d wronged him.
“As you wish dear,” Mae smiled.
Inspiration:
As far as inspiration, I love two series: ‘Swords, Spells, and Stealth’ by Drew Hayes & ‘Critical Failures’ by Robert Bevan. Both manage to incorporate our world with a D&D (Dungeons & Dragons) like world. I wanted to do something like that in the story: cross over worlds. ‘Grimm’ also had an episode where someone was killing people in game, then, actually murdering himself for revenge. I wanted to find a way to more directly involve the game in the story, and make it about revenge.
Second Place
2020 GPro
By Paula Puolakka
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 2020 GPro event. This year Melbourne was the lucky city to host our annual seminar and we are thrilled to tell you that gamers from over 20 countries have gathered to rejoice and pass on the global message of virtual gaming.”
Applause and dubstep music cut the announcer’s, a South-Korean lady with D cups, introduction. Max Power sneered and sipped his mojito in his on-stage comfy chair. He was in the spotlight, as always, and patted the announcer’s buttocks.
“Now ladies and gentlemen,” she continued and was seen in every one of the 200 screens of the seminar hall. “Put your Octon Raft virtual glasses on and experience the game of the year. We have been waiting for it to come out for the past five years. It’s the hottest hot, the newest buzzing buzz and provided to you by the one and only Gamecom. May I introduce you: our own genius Max Power and his love-child, the game we all have been dying to get our hands on, Generation Z.”
The screens were now filled with Max’s smirk and he hailed the gamers by raising his glass. But only a few saw him as they were already leaning back in their chairs and wearing the glasses, ready to beat the crap out of each other. This is probably how Caesar felt, Max thought to himself. I am the king and these people, they are my lambs.
The screens were now showing the introduction of the game and Max saw what the players were collectively seeing. They were racing to the weaponry and dodging bombs and zombies. But suddenly something unexpected happened. The sexy lady who was the key person in the weaponry and to whom the gamers would get their guns didn’t give a selection to where to pick the suitable guns and ammo. Instead, Max and the gamers saw one simple question:
“What was the number one proposition in Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus?”
Then the options:
“A: The world is everything that is the case. B: Plants are improved by cultivation and men by education. C: A friend to all is a friend to none. D: There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge.”
The color escaped Max’s face. Erich! He was his business partner and friend. But for the past three years, things had gotten sour. Erich seemed to hate the world, in general, where Max embraced new flows and trends. He had managed to make a few under the counter deals and when Erich had found out that Max had more than one team, he had made his disgust and loathing clear. But Max had thought that after throwing Erich a few thousand extra bucks, he would return to be the polite and calm guy he had always been.
Max rushed up from his chair but it was all he could do. Erich’s revenge was on and the hall was filled with sounds of error. And soon the 200 big screens were showing the same message:
“Ah ah ah, you didn’t say the magic word!”
The cut-out of Ludwig Wittgenstein was mocking everyone. And suddenly an electric current went through the gamers. They hollered in agony and tried to strip of the glasses but their fingers were clenched by an inner death struggle and the smell of frying flesh filled the air.
Bio:
Paula Puolakka is a Finnish Beat poet and freelance writer. Her second book of poems written in Finnish will be out later in 2018.
Inspiration:
I took the liberty to pour out my darkest and deepest feelings. The ideas and issues you can see a glimpse of in this piece have been present in my first book of poems and the story continues, in a way, in my upcoming book. I love nature and I love heartful and thoughtful individuals around me. This story was the negative of those pure and beautiful thoughts.
Third Place
Caraway
By Emily Wasylenko
All around, there was darkness.
Darkness so deep, Erich couldn’t have seen his hands in front of his face even if they hadn’t been clasped tightly behind his back—which they were, clasped tighter than ever before, ragged fingernails of his right hand digging into his left palm.
Why so nervous? Erich asked himself. It wasn’t Erich who would be doing the talking. It was Max. Max Power was the guy people came to see. Max Power, the head of Gamecom, the young, fast-talking, computer genius. Max Power, who, three years after dropping out of college, had outsold every other gaming company in the world.
<>
A voice buzzed in Erich’s earphone. Go time. Stage lights flashed on, blinding, almost audible in their dazzling burst. Erich blinked, and the crowd rose, clapping, thundering one voice, one word.
Power! Power! Power!
Grinning brightly, Max Power gave Erich his signature thumbs up, turned about, and jogged towards the center of the stage. The spotlight landed on him, and the audience roared to life once more.
<>
“Hellllooooooo, Seattle!” Max cried to the crowd. “Oh come on, come on, I didn’t fly all this way from SanFran for an apathetic crowd, come on!”
The crowd, delighted, screamed ever louder.
“That’s more like it. All right, simmer, ’cause I, Max Power, have got news for you.”
The crowd simmered, at his command.
“Throughout the last few years,” Max began, his voice slow and suspenseful, “I have been working on a game. A game more different, more exciting, more… how shall I say it… real, than any other game in the market today. Introducing! The audio-interactive, virtual reality game… POWERPLAY 4!”
And the crowd leaped to life once more.
Erich nodded quietly along, smiling. Max had no idea just how “real” the game was.
<>
After Max Power’s speech, there were photographs and autographs and a raffle for free game giveaways. Max Power was ringed by a throng of fans and security guards, and Erich stood silently to the side, eating refreshments.
Once, a long time ago, Erich would have minded Max taking all the credit. But now, as he surveyed the excited crowds, it was all right. It was all right being on the side. The work of art he’d hidden deep in the program was not for his own glory, anyway.
“Caraway,” he whispered to himself.
Missed the contest? Don’t worry, we have more!
