55 Words

There is a national contest which challenges people to write short stories which contain only 55 words, no more, no less. It's a great challenge, and the winners are published in a book. I have no more serious information since Joe took my copy and has yet to return it...
I promised my students that if they would make a serious effort along those lines, I would "publish" the one they liked best (voted on anonymously by the class). Josh Jaeger was the winner, and here is is offering:

The child was sprinting down the dark corridor; he was pursued by a ghost.
The ghost closed in...
"There's a doorway! Oh, heavenly light!"
The boy escaped...his exit was a balcony;
the ghost caught him and hung him over; he saw all of Neverland.
Thus, Michael Jackson filled the news and tabloids once again.

Intellectual calisthenics ( a word I misspelled to lose the 8th grade county spelling contest!) like this make us all stronger and repel the dread of senility just as bit longer. Try it!
It is interesting to note that the students' votes for MY entry placed it fifth in the competition. This might indicate that I need to work at writing skills more diligently...or it might indicate they have no clue as to what good writing is, but they "know what they like." It's also possible that I am as dull a writer as my wife thinks I am.
I am gratified to report that from a class of 22 potential writers, I got 18 attempts at the story project. The fact that it was an exercise not to be "graded" should not be overlooked. They actually took the challenge to heart. One small step for education, and one large step for learning.