# Literary Maneuvers June 2019 - "We Found Him In The Park"



## bdcharles (Jun 2, 2019)

*"We Found Him In The Park"*
_650 words, deadline 23:59 GMT, Monday 17th June, 2019_​ 
*
Introduction*

This month's prompt, as voted for by WF members, is   "We Found Him In The Park", for   which  you are to write a maximum of  650   words of  fiction.  Pick  your  own   title, write about whatever  you   want,  in  whatever prose      style  and  interpreted as you see  fit,  as  long as   it's  related in  some way  to   the prompt. You decide   the best  way  in   which to dazzle  your  readers  - and the judges. :smile:

The judges this month are *epimetheus*, *Megan Pearson*, *meegads*, and *Rookish*.    If    you're    listed here and don't wish  to judge, please  let me  know at          once.

If you win, you'll get a badge  pinned to your profile plus a              month’s access   to Friends of Writing Forums (FoWF) where you’ll   have        access to hidden forums. Pretty neat,  eh?

All entries that wish to retain their first rights should post in the *LM Workshop Thread**.*

All Judges' scores will be PMed to* bdcharles* _as soon as possible after the competition closes. _*Note:* I will give judges *3 days* into the next month to deliver their scores and then I will post with what I have.

All anonymous entries will be PMed to* bdcharles*. 

Lastly, why not check out this ancient text on how to best approach this task.


*Rules*




*All forum rules apply.* The LM competition is considered a creative area of the forum. If your story contains inappropriate language or content, do _not_ forget add a disclaimer or it could result in disciplinary actions taken. Click *here* for the full list of rules and guidelines of the forum. 
*No Poetry!*                 Nothing against you poets out there, but this isn’t a    place     for      your     poems. Head on over to the poetry challenges    for   good        competition  over    there. Some of us fiction   people    wouldn’t be   able      to understand  your    work! Click *here* for the poetry challenges. Play the prose-poem game at your own risk. 
*No posts that are not entries into the competition are allowed.* If you have any questions, concerns, or wish to take part in discussion please head over to the *LM Coffee Shop. *We’ll be glad to take care of your needs over there. 
*Editing your entry after posting isn’t allowed.* You’ll be given a ten minute grace period, but after that your story may not be scored. 
*Only one entry per member.* 
*The word limit is 650 words not including the title.*                 If you go over - Your story will not be counted.   Microsoft      Word    is     the   standard for checking this. If you   are unsure  of     the  word    count    and   don't have Word, please   send your  story  to    me and  I'll    check it    for you. 



*There are a few ways to post your entry:*




If you aren't too concerned about your first rights, then you can simply post your entry here in this thread. 
You can opt to have your entry posted in *the Workshop *which                 is a special thread just for LM entries. You would put    your       story       there  if you wish to protect your first rights,    in  case   you    wish  to      have the  story published one day.   Note:  If  you  do  post    it in  the      workshop thread,  you must   post a  link  to it   here in    this  thread      otherwise your story   may  not  be  counted. 
You       may post      your   story   anonymously.  To do so, send your story  to     the  host of    the       competition. If you wish to  have us post  it  in    the    workshop    thread   then   say so. Your name will be   revealed   upon     the    release of  the   score. 


Everyone is welcome to participate, _including judges_. A judge's       entry will receive a           review by their fellow judges, but it       will not receive a score.   Please         refrain from 'like'-ing   or     'lol'-ing an entry until the   scores  are        posted.

Judges: In the tradition of LM competitions of yore, if you could send                 the scores one week after the closing date it will ensure a        timely  release    of results.    Please     see the *Judging Guidelines* if you have questions. Following the suggested formatting will be much appreciated, too. 

*This competition will close on:*Monday night 17th of June at 11:59:59 PM, GMT, on the  dot. Please note       any time differences where you are and be mindful of daylight savings       time.​
Scores would be appreciated by the last day of the current month, at the     latest, pretty please, cherry on top, mmm? Too much later than that    and  I will have to post with any scores that I have.

Click here for the current time. Good luck!


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## SueC (Jun 2, 2019)

https://www.writingforums.com/threads/183013-Literary-Maneuvers-June-2019-quot-We-Found-Him-In-The-Park-quot-(secure-thread)?p=2224210&viewfull=1#post2224210


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## Megan Pearson (Jun 3, 2019)

*Clark* (650 words)


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## Tim (Jun 6, 2019)

*The Rat (649 words.)*

"You're under arrest Bernie," said the policeman to the grubby vagabond.

"Vagrancy again?" Bernie had played this game before and sat up on the park bench, frowning at the officer.

"It could be robbery this time." The officer held up a pair of handcuffs. "Similar routine though."

Bernie eyed the shiny, steel handcuffs. "Robbery? I think you're mistaken officer." He stood and extended both arms, wrists close together.

The officer snapped the cuffs in place and shot his hand into Bernie's coat pocket, withdrawing a handful of precious stones. "You have the right to remain silent..."




Bernie's daily routine never varied much. He slept in the park at night and spent most of his days out of sight, amongst the dumpsters, behind the small town's shopping complex. These dumpsters were Bernie's source of food, clothing and even shelter, when it rained. The staff at the shops knew about him and paid him no heed.

The only friend Bernie had was a clever rat. He would play with his rat and teach it tricks to pass the time away. He would throw a set of car keys, he had found in the car-park and the rat would fetch them for him, rewarded suitably with a morsel from the dumpsters.

"Get the keys." He threw them again and watched his friend scurry after them. "Good rat...Clever rat." He would feed the rat, reinforcing the desired behavior. He had also taught the rat to eat glass craft-beads, also scavenged from the dumpsters.

Today, Bernie sat with his back against a brick wall, with an old, dirty blanket draped over his torso. He reached behind him, removing a loosened brick from the wall and he placed the rat in the hole. "Go boy. Eat the glass. Good rat...Clever rat."

Rodents have the remarkable ability of being in close proximity to humans, without people being aware of their very existence and Bernie's rat excelled in this stealth behavior. It roamed the interior of the open jewelery store, scurrying from place to place unnoticed and sometimes remaining motionless for minutes at a time. All the while looking for 'glass' to eat, however there was no glass, only precious stones in trays ready for setting into gold and silver rings.

The rat came back to Bernie and he put it in the front of his shirt, before returning the brick to the hole in the wall. He folded his grimy blanket and made his way to the park. All that remained now was to wait for the rat's bowel movements.




"We found him in the park." The arresting officer led Bernie into the watch-house cell and locked the door.

"Your hunch was right Sarge." The second officer held up the evidence bag full of precious jewels. "He had these in his pocket. How he got them is a mystery."

The burly Sargent stood up from behind his desk and examined the evidence. "Good work fellers. I'm sure a nice, friendly chat with Bernie will reveal the whole story."

"We're going to finish our rounds," said the first officer, dropping the cell keys on the desk and walking toward the door.

The Sargent glanced at the wall clock. "I'm due in court soon, this puzzle will have to wait for now." He followed the officers outside, closing the door behind him.

Bernie took the rat out of his shirt and gently placed it on the floor. "Get the keys boy. Good rat...Clever rat."




A black Mercedes Maybach S600 stopped at the entrance of the dark alley. The uniformed driver got out and opened the back passenger door.

"Good evening sir," said the driver, looking toward the alley.

"Good evening Hutchinson," said Bernie, stepping from the shadows and handing the driver the bag of jewels. "Best we find ourselves another small town with a brick jewelery store, preferably far away from here."


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## Alpine (Jun 8, 2019)

The Creator (647 words)


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## Fatclub (Jun 11, 2019)

Warning: Adult content/red-hot sex.

*A Good Shag in the Park*

In his excitement, Charlie had left his phone at home before the mad, forty-mile drive to the coast. The last time he'd seen his phone he'd read the message : 'A _Shag_ in Prince's Park, Eastbourne beach, visible from the road.'

Desiring updates from the app, he kept forgetting that he'd forgotten his phone. Consequently, he kept reaching for it blindly on the passenger seat, impotent fingers fumbling at nothing as he stared at the road ahead.

Due to lifelong physical infirmity, Charlie had never been more than a hundred miles away from London. So, although the _Shag _was not a rare seabird nationally, it wasn't common locally, and it would make his day, week or birdwatching year to see one for the very first time. He sadly remembered a joke made to him recently "You've never seen one and never had one." Charlie had laughed in order to be sociable. 

Hopefully, the _Shag_ would be male, the more attractive of the bird genders. Hopefully, it would be a 'good' tick on the list - 'good' meaning bright, clear, male and no doubt in the identification of it. A 'bad' tick would be the glimpse of a tail-feather as it flew off and a knowing expert standing next to him saying "Yes, that was a _shag_."

The message kept replaying in his mind like a whispered promise: '…visible from the road...' No wheelchair needed, maybe. A quick jerk of Charlie's head assured him that his crutches were on the back seat. 

"Visible from the road…" said Charlie, aloud to himself - almost as if saying the words gave weight to the promise. In life, one requires these occasional feel-good moments to keep one going.  

Charlie arrived on the seafront and worried that he wouldn't find his way anywhere; there were just so many people, too many. It was mid-day, bright , sunny, a lot of bared flesh, candy-floss, seaside-rock, sunglasses, high-pitched voices, para-gliders, too much colour and too much traffic; a veritable roaming circus of day-at-the-beach tourism. 

So, he very slowly drove along the beachfront, wondering at what point to stop and ask for directions (his SatNav app was on his phone, forty miles north).

Without directions, Charlie found Prince's Park at the end of the promenade. He didn't even need to leave the car. With his binoculars he scanned the whole park and there was no _Shag.._. 

…at first!

Then, as mid-afternoon became late afternoon and then early evening, Charlie just sat in the car, his sad expression visible to nobody. He urinated twice and excreted once but, fortunately, had no need to move from the driver's seat due to his attached and handy bags, tubes and devices, taped and velcroed onto his body, paid for by the taxpayer.
Erm, anyway…

…A large dark bird flew onto the edge of the park pond. Charlie tensed and raised the binoculars to his rheumy old eyes. It was a heron. Charlie's withered shoulders only slumped for a moment before another bird flew in. Squinting into the bins, he saw it was a carrion crow. It immediately took off and landed to Charlie's left and he spotted two dogs mating, or at least trying to mate; a male alsation with a female sausage-dog (unless they were playing at role-reversal).

He sat there for several minutes, totally engrossed in the hopeless, unsuccessful mating attempt by the two mismatched dogs. 

A shadow passed over the dogs, moving left to right. Charlie looked up and saw a large bird, with wings spread to land, slowly glide down and alight on the bank.  

Bright, and so green it was almost as if it was lit from within. Iridescent, magnificent and   male (of course). It stood and raised its bill and head imperiously then spread its wings as if to declare its royalty.

Box ticked!

It was Charlie's first good _Shag_.


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## velo (Jun 12, 2019)

The Riftstone Extinction (650w, language)


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## bdcharles (Jun 13, 2019)

King Hippie (language warning; 647 words)


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## undead_av (Jun 13, 2019)

The Orphans (635 words)

https://www.writingforums.com/threads/183013-Literary-Maneuvers-June-2019-quot-We-Found-Him-In-The-Park-quot-(secure-thread)?p=2225881#post2225881


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## BornForBurning (Jun 14, 2019)

Ravendark (635 words, violence)


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## ArrowInTheBowOfTheLord (Jun 14, 2019)

Star Fish (649 words)


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## -xXx- (Jun 15, 2019)

here


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## dahand (Jun 17, 2019)

Racing Wheelchairs


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## Ma'am (Jun 17, 2019)

Scapegoat (647 words)

ETA: Sorry, I can't figure out how to do the link.


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## -xXx- (Jun 17, 2019)

Ma'am said:


> Scapegoat (647 words)
> 
> ETA: Sorry, I can't figure out how to do the link.


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## Bard_Daniel (Jun 17, 2019)

We Found Him in the Park (636 words)


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