Page 139 - Where the Dream Ends ebook

Word Game

symbol for abscissa, the very essence of minimalist writing,
and a symbol for God in the Christian religion. (458 words)

He decided against submitting a single word because it
seemed more of a semantic exercise, and opted for the 1500-
word story. He wondered if the editors would count all the
words in every story submitted, or if they would rely on the
honesty of individual authors? What if someone cheated, and
went over by several words but didn’t say so? Was a story of
1501 words eligible? How would hyphenated words be count-
ed? What about titles and numbers? (538 words)

As George considered his methodology for verifying the
precise length of his submission, there was a power failure. The
battery backup connected to his computer started to blink, a
reminder that he had several minutes left to shut down the
computer. George was in a conundrum. It was the final day
for submitting his manuscript (he always did put things off).
He could shut down the computer and hope power would be
restored in time for him to finish writing, or he could print
out what he had written so far and complete the manuscript in
longhand. But experience told him that would disqualify him
at once. And none of his friends or acquaintances had a type-
writer (sic), so that wasn’t an option. He could return to the
one-word idea, or, as a last resort, he could complete the piece
with fewer than 1500 words and hope that the editors would
see the irony in the situation. (697 words)
George decided on the last option. With the backup system
on his computer blinking wildly, he finished his piece by con-
cluding that, in the end fate plays a most important role in a
writer’s life; that the limitations imposed by the outside world
are only an illusion, and in fact, we are subject to constraints

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