A cold cold life - A short story contest

[May 258]

Hello dear gaians! Welcome to my first contest ever!

As you probably are wondering, what I expect from you are three things-
• 1,000 words minimum
• Short story
• Finished by: Feb. 25th

The short story can be as simple, as complicated, and as long as you want. It must be 1,000 words at a min, and there is no max.
As for the story itself, I want people to extend on this:

You are, for whatever reason, stuck in a world full of never ending snow. There are no people, animals or anything on this world but you. You must figure out how to survive, or it will cost you dearly.

There is no limit to how many people can enter, so feel free to do so!
You can post your entry here, or send it to me in a pm, whatever you are comfortable with.
You may also put as many twists in it as wanted.
If you are posting an entry, fill out this form and post it, including your entry after.

Username:
Entry Name:
Word Count:

As for the prizes, here they are!

• First place: 10k or Mushi moga (More if I really like your entry)
• Second place: 5k
• Third place: 1k

If there are any questions, please, do ask!

Ps: Any rules breaking and you will be eliminated!

[May 258]

People entered:

1. Vicky Nicky B
2. LadyDiannaSyrus
3. DruidTigeress
4. Chaos Minus Hope
5. iDatenshi
6. Essande
7. polychromatic cupcakes
8. Roy_Mustang_11
9. starsmaycollide
10. Kalidah
11. Chocolate13utterflyKisses
12.
13.
14.
15

[Vicky Nicky B]

Username: Vicky Nicky B
Entry Name: Hypothermia
Word Count: 1001

"Night sweetie." My mom said to me as I fell asleep. “Night mom.” I yell to her. I am laying on my comfy big bed with four blankets and a huge comforter. It is totally purple. My favorite color. I am tired so I close my eyes and I'm plunged into darkness. Suddenly I see a bright white light. It seems so peaceful and pure that it draws me in. I walk into it as if it is hypnotizing me. Then I am falling. All I see below is snow. Pure, fluffy, white snow. I kept falling and falling and falling. Until suddenly I land and the snow is exactly the opposite of how it looks. It is cold, hard, frozen, white snow. IN fact it doesn’t even seem very deep. It just seems to turn into ice after about an inch. I get up and I am covered in the snow in my pajamas. I always sleep in shorts and a tank top so I was freezing. I was so cold I could feel the blood in my veins freezing and clogging up. My heart was about to stop any second I was sure of it. But then a fuzzy black mink fur coat and a big pair of snow shoes and a pair of black fuzzy boots with down on the inside and a pair of snow pants fell from the sky. I quickly put them on and looked into the sky wondering where the clothes came from. Nothing. Not even a bird was in the sky. Just a light blue sky with no sun. Just a plain blue slate. I yelled to try to see if anyone was around. No one responded. I trudged through the snow and after a few steps I sink into the snow. It seems the snow got deeper instead of abruptly turning into ice. I start to trudge through the deep snow again until there was no snow left at all. And all that was there was ice. I couldn't feel my feet anymore so I looked down and right before my eyes the snow shoes turned into ice skates. I skated across the ice and came to another isle of snow and again my shoes became snow shoes. I walked for about another four hours. Then I see a cabin up ahead. I run towards it but I trip right before I get to it and then it disappears. It must have been my imagination. Then I hear a voice from above say "I love you." It sounds like a boy about my age. Seventeen. I yell back up at him "How did I get here???" "I brought you here to let you be mine forever." He says back. "If you will be mine I can give you everything you want. Like that cabin you imagined,” He said and I saw the cabin appear again right in front of me. So close I could almost touch it. “I gave you the snow shoes, The boots and the coat and the pants. I control this world and if you will be mine I will let you have everything you could never have before in your old life." He said. "Will you be mine???" he said. "No!!!" I yell. “I just wanna go home!!! I don‘t want to be your stupid true love!!!" I yell back at him. "Fine. then you will be alone and cold for eternity then!!!" He yells back. Suddenly I am naked and I can hear the evil boy who brought me here to this eternal world of cold and sadness laughing. He is laughing at my suffering and my sadness. I walk on for about 5 minutes until my whole body starts to freeze up and my heart beats so slow that I can feel every beat with the force of a thousand drums beating at once. I lay down because I am sure that I can’t walk any more. I stare up at the sky and it is Black. Pitch Black. No moon. No stars. Nothing. Just deep dark depressing blackness that seems to go forever and never ever stop. The boy is probably watching me lay there unable to move. He is probably pleased with himself at causing pain to a harmless seventeen year old girl. The snow picks up from just a slow steady snow fall to a fast never-ending snow storm. A complete blizzard. He probably knew I was thinking about him so he made the snow worse. I am starting to go crazy. My whole life flashes before my eyes and my last breaths bring little heat to the cold air. My breaths are so shallow and abrupt that I can’t even feel myself breathing. My lungs are freezing up and it is starting to hurt to breath. I wish I was back at home in my mom’s arms. I am just hoping that I will wake up and this will all be a nightmare. A horrible vivid terrifying nightmare. Then...
Back at her house at 7:00 am:
"What happened to her doctor???" An FBI agent asks a coroner. "Well I did a full autopsy and it is very apparent that she died of hypothermia." The coroner responds. “Just feel her hand she is frozen.” The coroner says gesturing them to touch her hand. "But how is that possible???" Her mother says crying hysterically. "She was in her room all of last night. She didn't even get out of bed once. It was 75 degrees in our house." Her father said holding his wife's hand. “ Plus she had four blankets on her and a big comforter.” Her mom adds. “That just doesn‘t make any sense Doc.” The FBI agent says. “How is it possible to die of hypothermia when you are covered with four blankets and a comforter in a 75 degree house???” Her Father asks with a tear crawling slowly down his cheek. "That's just it. It's not possible." Says the Coroner.

[May 258]

Vicky Nicky B

Thank you for adding onto that, I am happy you didn't forget.
Just one more thing, when I pasted your words onto my word document, it said 995 words. Could you at least squeeze in a sentence or two so it meets the min? Thanks.

Edit: Okay, its all set now. Thank you!

[May 258]

Bump emotion_bigheart

[May 258]

Bump heart

[May 258]

Bump heart

[May 258]

Anybody?
Bump yum_puddi

[Vatilla]

I might join rofl

[DruidTigeress]

An interesting prompt! You have stirred my Muse:

Username: Druidtigeress
Entry Name: Stuck in Limbo
Word Count: 1057


Day 1 (Aka, the day the world exploded and got covered in snow)

I don't know what just happened. I can't even really describe it, but I'll try.

We were coming back from a trip to visit my grandma in Michigan. Mom and dad were in the front seat, me and Buddy were in the back. One minute we were driving along the interstate and the next there was a bright flash of light. And I mean really bright. Like looking straight at the sun, only it filled up your entire window. My dad slammed on the brakes because he couldn't see. I was wearing a seat belt, but I must have hit my head, because I don't remember anything after that. When I woke up, I was lying on the ground outside on a bed of snow, and it must have been snowing the whole time too, because it was starting to cover me up, all the way up to my legs.

I stood up and brushed it all off. I looked around, but all I saw was a sea of white. Not a person, not a thing. I’ve walked around for hours, but I couldn't find anybody. My voice is hoarse from yelling. I'm tired, I'll have to find somewhere to sleep soon.

It's cold. I wish my mom was here.


Day 2

I dug out a shelter like they do in all the TV shows. At first it was cold, but I fell asleep last night and when I woke up it was pretty toasty in here. So, that's good, I guess.

I had a theory about what happened, but I forgot the word for it. It's, like, when all the ash goes into the atmostphere and blocks the sun so it's a perpetual winter all the time.

I still want to know what happened to the car, though. Did it get blown away? Then, why did I survive and no one else? How did I get so far away from everyone? At least I have my backpack still. I don't know how long I can survive out here.

Where are the rescue teams? Where's my mom and dad and my dog? I want to go home.

Later

I remembered what they call it. It's called 'Nuclear Winter'.


Day 3

Hungry. It's hard to find anything to eat here. So far, I've survived from the food I had in my backpack, but pretty soon I'll have to find something to eat by myself. I don't know what. All the animals are gone too. Where is everyone? Where am I? Am I even still on Earth? I haven't even seen a single plant.

...At least I can eat the snow for water.


Day 4

Still no sign of anyone. Still hasn't stopped snowing.

Still cold. Still hungry.

Am I the last person alive?


Day 5

Am I alive?


Day 6

It's been snowing worse and worse all day. It's like a blizzard now, I can barely see a foot in front of my face.

I go out every day to try to find people, but there's no one else around. There's no buildings either.

I thought more about what I said yesterday: am I still on earth? I can't see the sky for all the clouds, but I don't feel like it's earth. Am I in space? Am I on another planet? Anotherdimension?

The more I think about it, the more I think that must be what happened. The flash of light must have been, like, the mothership, or an inter-dimensional portal, or something. Now all I need to do is think of a way to get back.

Later

I’ve been thinking. I somehow got magic-ed here, maybe I can get magic myself back. I’ve been concentrating really hard on home. Hey, it worked for Dorothy. Maybe it will work for me.

Somehow, I’m not hungry anymore. It must have to do with being in another dimension.


Day 7

I think this is going to be my last entry. I think I finally found a way home.

I was wandering around as normal when I thought I heard a noise. I froze in place, afraid it was going to go away, or that it was just my imagination, or the wind. At first I couldn’t hear it over the howling blizzard, but then it came back, even stronger. I could barely hear it, but it sounded… melodic.

And then I saw something. It was like a light flickered on in front of my face. Almost just as quickly it was gone, but then it appeared again, further off and not as bright. I started running after it, and I’ve been following it ever since.

I don’t know where I am anymore, or where my shelter it. I hope I’m not crazy, or I might die.

I think I see it. I think I see the light. That must be the portal, or transport, or whatever. They must have found it on the other side and came to call me back. I tried calling out to them, but I couldn’t find my voice.

I’m so tired. I really want to sleep, but I’m almost there. I can hear the noise again. It sounds like singing. I think it’s my grandmother’s voice.


***

The girl’s eyes fluttered open. All of a sudden, she felt as though something soft and warm surrounded her. The white haze lifted. She was in a clean, bright, white hospital room. There was an IV sticking in her arm and tubes attached to her nose.

She blinked her eyes a few times. There was a soft beep-boop beep-boop from behind her, keeping time to her grandmother’s song. She looked to the side. Her grandma was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. Her eyes were closed as she sang an old lullaby, looking like she was about to fall asleep herself.

When driving home from her grandmother’s house, their car was hit by a truck and pushed off of the road and down a ridge. Both parents were killed and the girl was buried in snow for 7 hours before she was found. The girl was taken to hospital in a coma, where she didn’t wake up until she heard the sound of her grandmother’s voice singing her a lullaby.

[May 258]

Vatilla

I might join rofl

Great~ No pressure. You have until the 25th to decide. Good luck :3

[Chaos Minus Hope]

Add me to the list! I'm all in for this~ However I'll probably PM you the story when I'm finished because I don't like people reading my stuff if i think it's not the best ;~;

[May 258]

Chaos Minus Hope

Add me to the list! I'm all in for this~ However I'll probably PM you the story when I'm finished because I don't like people reading my stuff if i think it's not the best ;~;

Alright, sounds like a plan :3

[iDatenshi]

Username: iDatenshi
Entry Name: Into the end.
Word Count: 1112 words


One foot in front of the other, left right left right, stumble, fall, repeat. Leaving behind a trail of imperfection in the white, trudging forward just the same. What else was there to do though, really? It had to have been at least two days since she found herself here. First screaming, then whispering out for help, she had found none, and truly found nothing at all. Blinding, white, cold, snow was all she had seen in the last forty eight hours. It could have been longer though, with the sun refusing to show its face to brighten the day and spirits one just could not tell. If anything, time didn't seem relevant here. Left, right, left, stumble.

Was this some sort of hell? Did she die and finally been proven wrong? Was she forsaken? This could not be the end though, this could not be all she had worked towards, all everyone worked towards. Never one to blindly accept fate she moved forward more, head down, wind howling not only around her but now through her as well.

There seemed to be a curve on thought patterns based on how much pain or strife a person was or is in. A small amount is often fixed by distracting oneself, but a larger amount is hard to ignore. Now though, she discovered that she could not begin to fathom her situation without bringing herself to the edge of a breakdown. Thinking of something, anything, other then the future and the stinging wind was important, but damn it was hard. She spoke out loud to herself.

“It's so silly-” 'I am cold' “Really, this has to be a dream-” 'I am thirsty' “-that I will wake up-” 'This won't end' “-from soon enough-” 'It really is hopeless' “-and laugh.” 'I can't feel my feet.'

Despair was setting in fast. That would be the end though, and she could not let that end come. For all that this was, the end would be worse, the end was the end after all. Alone, with no one to see, she couldn't let that happen, this was not how it should happen.

'It might be how it will happen though'

Like the wind cutting through her skin the thought was abrupt and make her sick. It didn't make sense, there should be people, animals, or at least trees and rocks. Despite what had been happening so far, she braved a look straight ahead into the wind and snow, her eyes immediately watering. A monochrome landscape was all that greeted her efforts. Perfect and unmarred the snow would have been beautiful in any other context.

Without a plan, and now almost without hope, she prepared to drop to her knees, for a short but maybe final rest. Before she was able though, something caught her eye. A tower in the distance! It raised all the way to the clouds, tall and majestic, a welcome sight indeed! Eyes going wide with something akin to joy for the first time in what now seemed to be an entirety she tried to break into a run, but faltered and almost fell on her face.

Too weak to run, she would have to deal with walking for the time being. Once she got to the tower it would be different, she was sure of it. It probably had a door, and an inside, and a fire, and food, and people, and more things that she went over in her head like a small child describing something. It was her hope now. No matter what, she had to reach the tower, then everything would be okay, she was sure of it.

A smile seemingly printed on her face, moving as quickly as her condition would allow, and with a spring in her step even. Things were looking up, and the tower was getting closer. It had to be less then a half mile away!
Walking and imagining all the things that lay ahead, the tower moving ever closer, looming over the sky still, it was the tallest and most flawless building she had ever seen! Less then a hundred yards away, she gathered the last of her energy and lumbered forward at a speed almost as great as if she was actually running.

Closer, closer, closer... Closer! Overwhelmed with emotion she did run, breaking into a sprint, towards the tower, almost there, almost touching it. With a final burst of speed and an outstretched hand, she reached for it. The accumulation of her efforts! Her own saving! It felt... empty?

Head flying up in a panic induced glance, the snow went through the tower, tearing it down till nothing remained. If it had ever been there at all. As the last of the tower, her hope, her strength, was swept away, it hit her. Hard and without mercy, the dark fell. Falling, she was vaguely aware of it, but made no move to stop herself as her right knee hit the ground, collapsed out from under her, and she fell to her side.

Her head hit the snow. Her eyes were open, they looked like nothing a person should ever see, and certainly like nothing a person should ever become. The snow started covering her feet, it seemed to only be concentrating on that one part to start with. Mind wandering, she could not think of a single word to say, except one, to no one in particular she shakily posed her question.

“Why?”

This was the curtains close. Somewhere away from and off the edge of the earth, somewhere not a single soul could hear her scream, in a pile on the ground, this was now the finale. Everything she had done, everyone she met, turning into this white cold emptiness. Was this just the fate of being human? The snow had managed to work its way up her legs now.

She was disappearing, from everything. The snow would make it all white again soon, with the cold she would not even bleed, nothing would taint the ground. The wind had stopped hurting, so had the snow, so had everything. For the first time, there were tears, for the lack of pain was so much worse.

Blue eyes, a single color against the black inside and white out, closed slowly, as the wind howled and the snow fell, covering the imperfections she had made, covering her, with a final gust, erasing all that was.

“Goodbye”

The last words, before the end, were not spoken to anyone she knew, nor to a God that forsaken her, but a final farewell to herself, as she finally left.

[Her refers to me, I prefer to write in the third person.

That came out a lot darker then I originally foresaw. xD]

[Essande]

Username: Essande
Entry Name: Knowing Only Snow
Word Count: 1224

The snow floated down in lazy swirling motions through unnaturally thick air. Moments ago it had swirled around you like a swarm of locusts and the ground had done everything in its power to eject you from its surface, but now? Now you're lying on your back against the unyielding, frozen ground and watching snow drift towards you. Is it cold? Maybe. No wait, yes. You lift up gloved hands and gawk at them a long moment. The cheerful red is practically violent against the expanse of white, but staring at your hands doesn't tell you whether or not you're cold. You don't feel a thing actually. That's bad.

You push yourself up with a grunt and locate your hat. The clothing article screams at you from its place abandoned in the snow, as obnoxiously bright as everything else you're wearing. A question flits across your mind: If you're so easy to see, why has no one found you yet? You snatch up your hat and stuff it back atop your head in time for another earthquake. The ferocity of the shaking ground is so much so that snow bursts upwards, blinding you temporarily as you're forced prone. There's a harsh thud as you connect and you desperately cling to your hat. You don't know why you bother. Keeping all your clothes just seems important to you.

Like all the tremors before it, this one is over quickly. Snow whips around in all directions, seemingly not knowing what to do with itself or where to go. You pity the snow, because you don't know what to do with yourself or where to go either. You also hate the snow. You think it's killing you. No. You know it's killing you. This time your efforts to achieve a state of vertical are clumsy and quick. If no one is going to find you, to save you, you have to save yourself. You take a breath, preparing to run. Just run forward and get as far as possible before another earthquake takes you off your feet. Your preparation earns you a mouthful of snow and you gag on the taste of it.

The snow scrubs chemical flavoring along your tongue before you're able to spit it out in disgust. Some time ago, you don't remember how long back, you tried eating some snow. It had made you feel like a possum was clawing at the inside of your stomach and you'd sworn never to ingest it again. You wipe your mouth against your sleeve, glaring at the white flakes as they calmed and danced prettily down to the ground. You kick at the loose fluff that's already collected around your feet, out of spite. It's petty but it makes you feel…well it makes you feel. You actually don't recall the last time you felt anything. You're starting to wonder if you're already dead and this is some sort of punishment.

You take a step forward, snow filling in the ugly impression your boots have made in the landscape. You're not going to lie, this place would be better off without you. It would be prettier at least without your reds and blacks and marring the scenery. You're practically doing the place a favor by removing yourself. The world shakes again and you're glad you're numb. The ground catches you with all the care of a toddler catching a frisbee. You're surprised you don't hear snapping. You're surprised you're not covered head to toe in bruises. The wet air practically sloshes with the force of the whipping snow and you force yourself into an unsteady stand. That's when something different happens.

The tremors had always had a pattern: quake, snow storm, gentle snow, quake. This had always been the case as far back as you can recall. Granted, you fallen and hit so many body parts against the hard, frozen floor you don't know if your memory is all that reliable. Sometimes, very rarely, it would be still for a long time and you'd look into the sky and pretend that at any moment, the last snowflake would become nestled in with its siblings. It would just be you and an expanse of pristine white. But the earth would always begin to shake and the snow would always turn into a silent vortex and the cycle would repeat.

Right now? The snow had barely come out of its blinding tornado phase before your feet betray you and send you crashing downwards again. Panic settles inside your core as you realize the environment you've become so used to is breaking its own rules. You surge to your feet, arms pinwheeling as you fight off snow and gravity. You have to leave! You have to! So you run the two steps your equilibrium always you and then you crawl. You don't even know what direction you're going but it doesn't matter. There weren't any markers to tell anyway. You haven't seen the sun or the moon in… You've never seen the sun. Nor the moon. You want to though. The earth's shaking gets more violent and you can't keep your hands underneath you. You drag yourself forward because you want so many things and you can't have them here.

You want to feel. Warmth, pain, joy, something. Anything. You want to see more then white snow, red clothes and black boots. You want the sun and the moon. You want--the list in your head crashes to a halt as the world stills. Snow flies up around you as you shoot up to your feet. You run. You run until you can't anymore because suddenly you just…can't. Gloved fingers scramble at some smooth, solid barrier that divides this place. "Glass" your mind supplies and suddenly all you want to do is break it. Break through and get to--Your desperate motions cease. There's nothing beyond the barrier now that your mind has stopped racing and the snow has settled enough to see through. You place a hand on the surface and walk its length, sitting through one more earthquake before you decide to abandon your hat and run the gambit of the clear wall.

You don't know how long you run before you find your hat again, partially buried in thick flakes of snow. This world, your prison, is entirely circular. You pick up your hat and settle it back on your head, more numb than ever as you process this. Distantly, you think you hear some voice above saying, "Stop playing with that thing, it's expensive." But you brush it aside. The earth gives one small, gentle heave and then the world is still. You allow yourself to slide down the barrier. This time, the snow actually does settle entirely leaving nothing but a rolling blanket of white before you.

You look up.

You don't see the sky.