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Rosemary's entry:
The end of the rainbow
The leprechaun stepped away from the crock. “Well you finally found the end of the rainbow. It’s about time somebody did. You get just the one wish. The gold’s yours to keep anyway. What’s it to be?”
I looked carefully at the tiny green figure before answering. “Is this one of those ‘be careful what you wish for’ situations?”
“To be sure, you should always be careful, but this is no joke. The end of the rainbow prize is one of the best.”
“It’s not fools gold?”
“Now what do you take me for? Do you want a wish or have I wasted my time here all these years?”
“It’s just . . . well things like this don’t turn out well.”
“By the sounds of it, you should be wishing for a less cynical world to live in, but it’s not for me to tell you.”
“But a wish is a huge responsibility.”
“That’s the joy of it. You’re not going to be one of those asking for world peace or an end to hunger, are you?”
“I’d thought of that, but I’m guessing even that comes at a price. No conflict may mean no progress, everything always the same and I don’t think that works either.”
“To be sure, you’re not wrong. I’m on an hourly fee, so what’s it to be. The more time you take, the more gold stays with me.”
I smiled at the leprechaun, “You’ve done this before haven’t you? What’s the best anyone has asked for?”
“I’m not new to this, you’re right, but I can’t pass on trade secrets.”
“All right then, I wish for contentment with whatever life gives me. How’s that?”
“It’s yours,” he said jumping down from the crock. “Spend it wisely. That’s the best anyone has asked for.”
Chris's entry:
The parable of the Chicken and the Egg
On the Eighth Day, God created Dawkins.
And God saw Dawkins, that it was Good.
And Dawkins, gazing upon the face of God, yet saw Him not.
And God set Dawkins in the Garden, and Dawkins wandered and did marvel at all the life that had arose by sheer accidental chance (as though it seemed to him): the growing things, the walking, flying, swimming, breathing things.
Yet did Dawkins feel inside his soul (which called he his “brain”) that verily Something was Missing.
And it came to pass, as Dawkins wandered and wondered, that he happened upon the bearded prophet Darwin, walking also in the Garden. And Dawkins knew upon an instant that this was the ‘Something’, and he bowed down at the feet of Darwin, and kissed his hem in worship. “Lord”, he said, “I am your servant Dawkins, tell me what I must do?”
Darwin smiled and he said, “Faithful Dawkins, watch, and when the time is come, tell the world about the works of my Father, who has many names.” And he whispered unto Dawkins, “and it shall come to pass that you shall name Him also.”
So Dawkins, faithful unto his very bones, watched ceaselessly and, as the millennia passed and the mountains crumbled into the sea, and all that lived changed and modified and adapted and survived and died and through Natural Selection were changed yet again, did Dawkins perceive a wondrous pattern, an eternal Law.
Until at last, Dawkins gazed once more upon the face of God and did see Him. Dawkins remembered the promise of Darwin, and fell to the ground.
“Lord Darwin, you foretold this moment. For I proclaim and I name that all This has been done by ...” he pointed directly at God, “EVOLUTION”.
Olaf's entry:
THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM
In the ‘Terror’ challenge, no-one deemed my entry worthy of a single mark: the first time I have ever achieved ‘nul points’.
Statisticians don’t do ‘impossibles’; they only do ‘probabilities’. So he will notice that 7 out of every 10 challenges yields one, perhaps two entries that fail to score. A zero score just doesn’t stand out.
Nevertheless, I wondered why an accurate description of an absolutely true event which threatened my life failed to spark any real interest. I’d like to think it was my description, rather than lack of concern for my life, which counted against me!
However, I always like a problem to think about as I drift off into sleep, and this provided a suitable topic. In the morning the answer might be obvious, but it might not.
This time, it influenced my dreams. My dream told me that no entry had ever received at least one mark from every judge, but it went further: I dreamt that I was to be the very first person to win a challenge with support from every judge. Could I possibly eradicate the disappointment of that failure with a result like that?
Next morning, I checked the judging of the previous challenges. I was right – no-one had ever achieved a mark from every judge. Indeed, the best entry of all gained support from just 12 out of 16 judges. So I felt safe in saying that it is highly improbable (impossible in layman’s words) for this entry to gain marks from every judge.
But wait! Should every judge give me at least one mark, it proves that my dream is possible, and therefore my entry would be disqualified, as this challenge is about an impossible aim.
I’m not going to win, am I?
Zena's entry:
THE STORY OF THE UNEXPECTED VISITORS
Ellen Mary walked along beneath the two tall trees
And came across two lions who were friendly, if you please!
“Good morning, Mister Lions, and how are you today?”
And then she brought them right inside the house so they could play.
They wiped their feet upon the mat before they came indoors.
“They don’t wear shoes for going out, they only wear their paws.
Oh, here’s the funny talking Bear who makes me stop and laugh.
He wants to come inside and play, with his friend the Giraffe.”
The kitchen was quite crowded with two lions, Giraffe and Bear,
And Ellen Mary telling them just what to do, and where.
Giraffe bumped into ceiling lights and Bear took off his hat
“He’d got it just the day before from Dr Seuss’s cat).
When they tried to play a game Giraffe went very red
Because he was quite tired with bowing down his lofty head.
A lion squashed the Bear’s new hat and said, “I beg your pardon!”
So Ellen Mary led them all back out into the garden.
The lions were polite. “Thank you for having us,” they said.
The Bear stuck out his bottom lip and sulked a bit instead.
Giraffe went browny-white again and went to eat some leaves
And Ellen Mary’s gone to see the wasps’ nest in the eaves.
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