Wednesday 2 September 2009

And the winner is.............little old me!!! (Col Bury's first fiction comp' win).

Over at Writers News Talkback - a global forum for writers - I've been entering the monthly One Word Challenge Competition on and off for the last year or so. The judge is the previous month's winner and he/she selects a word and the entrants then have up to write a 200 word story as they see fit. It's pretty tricky and the competition is fierce and of a high standard with some excellent and experienced writers participating.

The word for August was 'SET' and there were twenty-six entrants this month. I'm honoured to reveal my winning piece below...
(Feel free to let me know what you think).

GAME, SET AND MATCH.

It was a simple plan, for a simple man. If things worked out there’d be no blood on my hands.

Andrea originally joined the Tennis Club after Cheryl had told her what ‘great fun’ it was. Six months on and Cheryl’s hubby made her quit, but Andrea’s appetite for the club grew stronger somehow.

Initially I was pleased she felt slimmer, fitter, though the fees were somewhat steep, credit crunch and all. But I noticed, despite her new zest, our love life had died.

Being a cop, I decided to investigate. And sure enough: advantage Dempsey, a poser if ever I saw one. ‘Thirty-love?’ More like ‘Dirty-love!’

And so I was set to serve my ace with plenty of top spin. I considered delivering Dempsey my best backhand, but that wasn’t nearly enough. So I volleyed his head and ironically he made quite a racket. Especially when I smashed Andrea’s racket into his nether regions: ‘New balls, please!’

Andrea had just left his flat. I’m forensically aware, remember, plus my alibi was concrete. Motive-wise, Andrea’s the jealous type and Dempsey was rampant at the club. The next court she attended wasn’t half as favourable to her.

Game, set and match.

12 comments:

Clare said...

Only one word comment required - ACE!

Unknown said...

LOL.
Gee thanks, Clare.

Anonymous said...

This is super good! The ending line is so perfect!

Great job Col!! =D

Unknown said...

Hi Sara,
'Super good?'
Now am liking that!
Cheers.

essygie said...

Congrats! - made me smile :-)

Author said...

I was just 'wimbledon' where you get your ideas from?

Thanks for 'serving' up another winner.

You won at last, go and celebrate, but keep the 'racket' down.Then go and 'net' another one.
Volley good, Col.

Sorry about the puns. You're probably thinking..."You cannot be serious!?!"

Unknown said...

Matt,
'Love' your comments so instead of doing yourself a dis'service' you should take 'advantage' of the fact that they're 'smashin!'

Of 'court' that's just my 'commentary.'

Barrel's running empty now!

Essie - sorry to subject you to all that - many thanks!

Paul D Brazill said...

Owzat! Ooops...I'll get me coat.

Unknown said...

"Touchdown!"
See yer int pub, Paul.

Christopher Grant said...

I think everyone beat me to all the good puns. Perhaps a McEnroe fit is in order.

Who'da thunk it? A tennis court crime story.

I'm telling you, it's all around us.

Congratulations, Col.

Unknown said...

Thanks, Chris.
This is now up TKnC.

Katherine Moriarty said...

Very good Col.

I'm still longing for my chance to win.

I'm sure I'll get it soon...

*Sigh*