My thanks to everyone who entered, and especially to those of you whose entries made me laugh out loud:) Our story took a few turns, but in the end, it came together. Here’s how I finished it off:
The end of the story “Not my father?” Maia tripped over the threshold, but Jackson held her up. “But he looked just like--”
“Maia, darling!” the man called after her. “Wherever are you going?”
“Darling?” She forced herself to hobble faster, ignoring the cobblestones underfoot. “Yeah, there’s no way that’s my dad.”
At the end of the alley, Jackson dragged her around the corner and into a recessed doorway. She collapsed against one side of the doorframe; he pressed his shoulders into the other and peeked around the edge. But the sidewalk was empty.
“Who--was that?” Maia asked around (unnecessary) gasps for air.
“Who else?” Jackson muttered. “The enchanting Cleveland Codswallop, the city’s favorite son.”
“Why was he pretending to be my dad?”
“He must need another Carryon--and you happened to be fresh meat.”
She blushed, or tried to. It was hard to blush without any blood. “I don’t feel very fresh. Or meaty.”
“Oh, you’re fresh, all right. Freshly dead. Which makes you just the kind of partner Codswallop needs to pass back over.”
“To the other side, you mean?”
“No. To the living.”
It’s just begging for another chapter, isn’t it? We might have to come back to that:) And now for the winner!
The winner After much sorting of comments (to identify the story ones) and lots of random die-rolling (well, two die rolls, to be exact), the winner came up as…Esther Vanderlaan! Esther, please e-mail me at kvandolzer@gmail.com and let me know which book you’d like (here’s the list again), and where to send it.
Thanks again, everyone, for playing!
That was fun! My girlfriends in Jr high and I used to have a 'mystery notebook' and we would write mysteries and the next person would have to write the solutions. Thanks for taking me back;)
ReplyDeleteYes, lots of fun! I do this with my kids when we go camping. It gets crazy :)
ReplyDeleteIt does need another chapter. Thanks, Krista!
ReplyDeleteWow, Kelly, all my friends and I did back in junior high was write inane notes to each other - and invent a thousand different ways to fold them up. Your writing exploits sound like a lot more fun:)
ReplyDeleteAngela, what a fun game to play with your kids! I'll have to remember this...
And thank you, Myrna, for playing.
That sounds like a great idea for when they kids are off school. :D
ReplyDeleteI agree, Stina. Of course, I may want to wait until the one can talk and/or write - and until the other stops using "pee" in every other sentence... :)
ReplyDeleteI am 13 years old,but a big reader, so if you could help me pick a book, I would be grateful.
ReplyDeleteEsther, I loved, loved, loved WHEN YOU REACH ME by Rebecca Stead. It's about a sixth-grade girl who discovers a note that asks a favor of her: write a letter describing the events of that school year, and then deliver it to the note's unknown sender. It's a fantastic mystery, and it also won the Newbery Medal this year. Highly recommended.
ReplyDeleteIf you'd like something with a bigger story, you might try THE LIGHTNING THIEF by Rick Riordan. It's the first in the Percy Jackson series and was recently made into a movie. Lots of Greek mythology, lots of wacky adventures. Great.
And if you prefer books with slightly older characters (the boy and girl in this one are both fifteen), I also loved LEVIATHAN by Scott Westerfeld. It's steampunk, so there's lots of gaslights and airships and dreadnoughts. It's a really interesting world. (Actually, it's an alternate telling of the start of WWI, with a lot of fantasy mixed in.)
So just e-mail me to let me know which one you'd like, and where to send it. And if your parents would rather contact me, that's great. Just pass the info along.