What Will You Write? #2 – Precipice

Only hours after the winner of the first What Will You Write? was announced, I present to you the second edition!

This is a series of writing challenges that I will post roughly every one to two weeks.  Each time, I’ll provide you with the beginning of a scene, and anyone who wants to attempt to finish the scene can give it a try.  I will also be providing you with the genre or type of story.  Please read my original post for more information.

Now, the rules are simple.

• First, read what I’ve written.
• Second, copy it and finish writing the scene.  Please keep your portion of the writing at less than 1,000 words.
• Then, post your story to your blog.
• Make sure you link back to this post so others can come and join in.
• Make a post in the comments below with a link back to your post (it’s likely that if you use WordPress, there’ll be a pingback, but please leave a comment with the link nevertheless).

The deadline is 5 days from today.  Let’s make that 3:00 pm GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) on June 7th.  I’ll be going to bed after that time, so I can give you some leeway if you post it within 5 or 6 hours after that deadline.  But after that, I need to judge.

After the deadline, I’ll read all of the entries and decide on who I think wrote the best scene.  Originality is very important.  I will judge it based on which one grabs my attention the most.  Once I’ve decided, I’ll post the winning story with a link back to the writer’s original post.  After that, I’ll include links back to everyone else’s entry so you can see what everyone wrote.

Now that you’ve read the almost identical rules from the previous one, I will announce this week’s genre.  It’s a genre I love and often write reviews about, fantasy.  Here’s the beginning of the scene:

Ferd opened his eyes, his head throbbing.  Scrambling up to his feet, he remembered the rock slide.  That was no accident, he thought.  Someone tried to kill us.  Us.  Where is Cassia?  He couldn’t see through the dust, but she had to be there.

“Cassia!” he shouted.

“Ferd?” The faint voice came from the direction of the cliff.  “Ferd! I can’t get up!”

Ferd edged his way to the precipice and looked down.  Through the dust, he saw Cassia.  She held onto a branch over the chasm.  He reached for her, but she was too far away.

And now it’s your turn to make this scene great.  Fantasy is a wonderful genre to write in, because anything is possible.  Your imagination has no limits here.  Good luck!