[Gail White]

Here's something that should appeal to all you mad Spherians:

The Scent of an Ending Contest
White Eagle Coffee Store Press
P.O. Box 383
Fox River Grove, IL 60021

Prizes: $89.93, $67.32, $31.18, and publication

Entry fee: $6.37 to WECSP

Submit: The title of an imaginary novel and the final 25-125 words.
By mail - send each entry printed double spaced with a check to address above.
By e-mail - send each entry within the body of an e-mail (not attached)
to scentofanending@aol.com and $6.37 by PayPal to fedmunds@aol.com. Use subject line: The Scent of an Ending

In either case, include contact information, name, address, phone, e-mail.
Deadline: September 30, 2010

Full disclosure: I sent an entry that was rejected for trying to be
"good". What they want is "bad". Make 'em laugh.

[Roger Slater]

THE VINDICATION OF DAWKINS


Epilogue

When the smoke cleared, everyone was dead. What bothered him the most, or what would have bothered him the most had he himself not been dead, was that he could not go back and tell people how right he had been about everything. He now knew to a certainly, or would have known had it not been true, that there was no heaven or hell, no God, no angels, no consciousness of any description beyond the grave. For the dead, he now understood, or would have understood had it not been true, there wasn't even nothingness. His vindication was complete.

[John Whitworth]

Superb, Roger.

[Donna English]

Call of Duty


The brutal battle ended just before dawn. What his comrades had thought was virtually impossible had happened; Devin, singlehandedly, had conquered the enemy. He uses his other hand to turn off his Xbox 360 and they all go to bed.

[Roger Slater]

Thanks, John. Good one, Donna.

I've played with two other possibilities. Since each entry costs money, I don't want to enter all three that I've done, though I might consider entering two. Are either of these worth the six bucks?

1) When all was said and done, I asked myself, what had I learned? Two hundred people were dead, including the woman who bore my children. As I sat there in the train station watching smoldering flames send smoke up into the night sky strobed by ambulance lights illuminating the worst rail disaster in human history, I suddenly understood that it not always wise to pursue the dreams of our fathers. No matter what I had been taught since I was a small child, I was simply not cut out to be a switchman.

2) Many years have passed, and I can't help wondering what life would have been like if I had ascended to the mother ship when the alien projected the photon beam and sent me the telepathic invitation promising immortal bliss. Still, I don't regret my decision. What good is immortal bliss without Sally?

[Jayne Osborn]

Bob,
Just a quickie to say that if you decide to submit no.1 change 'it' to 'it's' in the penultimate sentence.

[Roger Slater]

Thanks for catching that, Jayne.

[Donna English]

Roger, tough choice. They all have merits. The alien one fits the best as good/bad. The last line What good is immortal bliss without Sally? made me laugh out loud. But I love the first one. I just wonder if (and maybe this is crazy) there might be some judge turned off at the mere mention of Dawkins, no God, no heaven.

Good luck!
Donna