Rules:
• Start any place in the story you like.
• Any details not specified in the plan can be made up as long as they do not SERIOUSLY alter the story.
• Include all italic and bold formatting code in the text so the moderator can just cut and paste the text when he/she posts them.
• Ensure it is only 13 lines.
• Ensure is has a hook—goes without saying.
• When you have finished email it the moderator by WEDNESDAY. The moderator will then assign it number and record the authors name next to it. The moderator will then post it with the number only, not the name, in a separate thread from the story outline thread as he/she receives them. PLEASE don’t look at what other people have done until after you have sent yours to the moderator.
• Edit your work before sending it—no corrections will be made after it has been emailed and email it only once. Put your HATRACK name at the top of the 13 lines, the moderator will remove it before he posts it, replacing it with a number.
• From Thursday onward voting/analysis can begin. **No voting for yourself**.The moderator will post the list of who did which intro on Saturday.
Then a new moderator volunteers (it’s not much work)and we start again.

Future moderators:
=
1) Snapper
2) Annepin
3) InarticulateBabbler
I believe you dropped, didn't you, Shimiqua?
4) Just in Prose

Week 4 Challenge

Story outline: CREATE YOUR OWN TITLE (Can be a hook in itself!)

Setting: A prison work farm, American south, 1930s -- the depth of the Great Depression. A hot day in August. Execution day.
Characters:
Russell, a young guard. A farm boy, about 22 years old, he knocked around the country a bit doing factory work, until the stock market crash of 1929. Then he rode the rails, drifted about doing odd jobs, then got arrested for a little petty larceny, until his father, a prominent downstate backer of the governor, pulled a few political strings and got him a job with the state penitentary system. He didn't meet the physical requirements for prison guard; although strong and wiry, he was too short. He gained the cons respect by taking on the biggest, surliest prisoner on day one, and has been fair, but without bending the rules, since then. Amazing both himself and his family, he's become a success as a guard.
Wendell, a gentle, developmentally challenged prisoner; doing time for manslaughter. Wendell is devoted to Russell. Russell is his best friend, as far as Wendell is concerned. He makes gifts for Russell in craft class and will do anything Russell asks.
Snake, a trustee. Snake knows everything going on in the prison. He has no loyalty to anyone. Self -preservation is his only goal.
Beaumont, a death row inmate, necromancer, and Voodu priest. Pierre Beaumont is accustomed to power. He has commanded and guided his flock of followers for years. He is skilled at communication with the loa (spirits of the voodu religion) and channeling their personalities and intentions. His interest in the dead began with the death of his closest friend and advisor. Unwilling to lose his friend, he worked his charms to bring him back. Beaumont found power over death intoxicating, and he has continued to develop this skill. Although the dead don't make great companions, they are strong and willing servants.

Backstory: The state has transferred convicted killer, Pierre Beaumont, to the prison's death row for execution. Beaumont was convicted of killing his wife and her lover, but the rumors among the cons is that he "witched" them to death. In fact, cons from Louisiana swear he is a powerful Voodu priest. His presence has the entire prison on edge; fights break out frequently among the cons and the guards are particularly surly. The warden spends as little time on the premises as possible. But perhaps it's the heat, not Beaumont at all.

Plot: On the morning of Beaumont's execution, an elderly death row inmate dies suddenly. Russell and his work gang collect the coffin and take it out for burial in the prison graveyard. According to prison procedure, the guard on duty must check inside the coffin before burial, in case someone has tried a stupid escape attempt. While his superstitious gang looks on, Russell opens the coffin and finds it full of rocks -- no body.
The alert is sounded, the grounds searched, and the dogs released. Roll call finds several prisoners missing, and the body of the old con that should have been in the coffin is gone. Snake whispers to Russell, some of the guards are also missing.

By evening, as Russell readies the electric chair for Beaumont's execution, the shambling undead have risen from the graveyard, taken over the guard towers, and threaten the main building. The missing guards and prisoners, obviously murdered, walk the compound, attacking anyone within reach.
Beaumont claims the zombies answer to his command. He demands to be released. However, the warden doesn't believe Russell's report of the situation on the ground and orders him to continue preparing for Beaumont's execution. The warden says he is on his way to the prison. However, Wendell has disappeared and Russell is worried. And Russell isn't so sure about the wisdom of executing Beaumont just now: will that leave the zombies without direction, freeing them to attack the surrounding farms and towns? But how can they negotiate with Beaumont?

[This message has been edited by kathyton (edited April 12, 2008).]
 

The more I think about it, the more I like it.

Very rich characters! Good job K!
 

1) Snapper
2) Annepin
3) InarticulateBabbler
4) Just in Prose
5) Grex42
 

thanks to all who entered. I'd stay up late reading all these stories. This week's winner will be a tough decision.
Please vote for:
Best title:
First fav:
Second fav:
Third fav:

K---

[This message has been edited by kathyton (edited April 16, 2008).]