It was still a lovely day at the lake.
A young man named John Whittaker sat on the dock overlooking the water, thinking. In his hand he held a metal key and a small scrap of drafting paper onto which was written in black ink: “555-3456”. His fingers traced the shape of the key for the hundredth time as he wondered what to do next.
It had only been three hours since he’d found them, and his mind still raced when that moment came back to his mind. Who would’ve thought to find his old boyhood haunt by the town side of the lake? And more importantly, who would have known to put the key and paper right there in the third knot of the big tree that his school friends used to call “Senator Oak”? Next to the speech he had made at his USC graduation ceremony the previous May, he couldn’t think of any other time in his life when he had been more excited, nervous or down-right scared.
“I’ll bet Jack put it here, but how did he know that I was coming down here today? Haha, I know…Jenny probably put it here when she came back from her trip. Or, it could be one of my old friends from school or, I don’t-“
But he did know.
The young John Whittaker knew what he had to do. With a determined look in his eyes, he stood up, saluted one more time to “Senator Oak”, walked back down the dock and...
…to be continued.
Instructions
1. Let me know if you are interested in participating by posting here.
2. Write the conclusion to Frank's lovely introduction. Then come up with a title!
3. Private message your story to me. Be sure to proofread it before submitting!
4. If you have any more questions, ask them before it's too late!
Entry Fee
Zilch! Nada! Nothing!
Rules
1. There will be a maximum of 15 participants.
2. All entries must be submitted by July 31st, 11:59 pm ET.
3. The conclusion must be original and must be between 500-3000 words.
4. After all entries are received, the people of the Town of Odyssey will vote on their favorite.
Prizes
Winner (the person with the most votes) receives $6000 and will get their story published and made available at Holstein's Books. Second place receives $3000, while third place receives $1000. Additional cash and item prizes may be granted if the number of story submissions exceeds five.
Extra!
The winning entry to the AIO Writing Contest II was finally published Sunday evening. You can purchase it here!
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