uselessness's SELFISH ALLEGORIES Challenge!

by uselessness

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I’ve reached another personal milestone: 150 ficlets! Thanks to everyone for your ratings and words of encouragement; it’s you who keeps me writing. And so in honor of the occasion, it’s time for another challenge!

My previous two challenges involved shocking dialogues and desperate monologues. Today I’m looking for selfish allegories.

Your task is to write a story that seems to be about anything, anything at all. The catch is that it’s actually about one thing in particular: greed.

That’s right, I’m looking for parables. Morality tales. Fables. Elaborate metaphors. Whatever you want to call them, they need to make a point WITHOUT actually saying it outright. The allegory is one of the most powerful literary devices at a writer’s disposal, and this challenge will help us all exercise our storytelling-with-a-purpose skills.

Your message may be anything related to greed. Good, bad, whatever. Be creative. :-)

Spelling and grammar will be judged! The deadline for entries is February 29. Ready…go!

Prequels

Write a prequel

Sequels

Write a sequel

Comments

Average Reader Rating: 5.0 stars out of 5

  1. uselessness's SELFISH ALLEGORIES Challenge!

    THX 0477's Buddy Icon THX 0477

    Posted 7 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    Ooh, not just is it a challenge, it’s a challenging challenge. You know what I mean. ‘Tell me a story about dogs’ or ‘Use the words cantaloupe, Marxism, and tuba in a story’ are just fun and games. This is a definite mind-bender. Hmm, time for the thinking cap. Where did I put those lemons?
    LoA

  2. uselessness's SELFISH ALLEGORIES Challenge!

    Eckhouse's Buddy Icon Eckhouse

    Posted 7 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    Sweet! Time to make like Rodin and think.

  3. uselessness's SELFISH ALLEGORIES Challenge!

    Ana Cristina's Buddy Icon Ana Cristina

    Posted 7 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    I’m all over this one, just give me some time to let it stew a little. As our Grand Marshall put it, it’s a challenging challenge, all right.
    LoA

  4. uselessness's SELFISH ALLEGORIES Challenge!

    Russell Ruffino's Buddy Icon Russell Ruffino

    Posted 7 months ago

    Oh no, a challenge I can’t just steamroller my way into. I’m going to actually have to put some thought into this one.
    .
    Or, I’ll just wait for someone else to enter and take all my cues from them. Good idea anywho, I’d expect no less from you.

  5. uselessness's SELFISH ALLEGORIES Challenge!

    SKermitgorf's Buddy Icon SKermitgorf

    Posted 7 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    Congrats on 150. allegory about greed.. hmm.
    LoA

  6. uselessness's SELFISH ALLEGORIES Challenge!

    Alexa ♥'s Buddy Icon Alexa ♥

    Posted 7 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    I’ve added it to my list of intentions, but at the moment, I’m coming up empty.
    .
    But hey, I’m cashiering this weekend, so there’s a chance that I’ll witness some first-hand greed!

  7. uselessness's SELFISH ALLEGORIES Challenge!

    Ana Cristina's Buddy Icon Ana Cristina

    Posted 6 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    OK, entry submitted. This was tough!
    LoA

  8. uselessness's SELFISH ALLEGORIES Challenge!

    Music-Hearted's Buddy Icon Music-Hearted

    Posted 6 months ago

    Right; so I attempted this. Greaat idea, by the way.

  9. uselessness's SELFISH ALLEGORIES Challenge!

    uselessness' Buddy Icon uselessness

    Posted 6 months ago

    Thanks to everyone for participating in the SELFISH ALLEGORIES challenge! I guess it was a more intimidating call for many than I thought it would be; kudos to those who stepped it up and penned some greatness. Congratulations to Ana Cristina for first place, Eckhouse for second place, and musicxhearted for a noble third. You guys were all great.
    LoA

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