Here's another entry from me for the word limit 217 :D

“What do you think you’re doing?” cried a girl from halfway down the street, the door she’d burst from still swinging on the hinges and letting water gush in through the hall, “Please...”. I stopped momentarily. I felt so much pressure weighing down on me I though all my innards would spill out, and my feet would meld into the tarmac.

William, ignore her, I said silently to my nagging head, ignore her. I told myself over and over and willed my body forward. As I walked I could still hear her whimpering where she fell, pathetic and down-trodden in the street, the pavement glistening with rain and salt. She had to think this was real; that’s the only way it could work.

I walked unwavering round the corner. People were now starting to open their windows and stare down at the poor, dishevelled woman crying on her doorstep, and a vague murmur seemed to fill the space around my ears as I marched forwards. I gently pressed the hub of my earpiece. I knew the plans inside out, but listening to the instructions pouring out of that device made them far more real than they had ever been on paper napkins and ancient floppy disks.

It was really happening. We were all going to be free. 

"gimme"

lne

Cosine(1) = 540 words

  I wasn’t going to graduate. Ever.

I stood on the cliff edge, feeling the wind send careless fingers hearing the waves smash against the rocks some fifty meters below. A single tear traced down my cheek; I hardly noticed.

   I had just come from my oncologist¹ Dr. Mills’ office. He had told me I wasn’t going to graduate – my leukaemia had reached the final stages. My three years were up – I was at the blastic stage².

                “I’m so, so sorry, Taya. There’s nothing more we can do.” His blue eyes look at me with so much sympathy I nearly threw up.

    My bottom lip trembled as I remembered Dr. Mills’ kind voice giving me the news that hit me harder than I’d ever been hit. I wanted to cry, but there were no more tears left; only a desolate, hopeless ache that nothing could cure. I screwed my hands into tight, tight fists. All my hard work...for nothing.

Suddenly I was angry. All the ‘sorry’s in the world wouldn’t cure my cancer. I screamed, long and loud, so mad. I smashed my fist into the rocky ground, kicked a rock as hard as I could. The pain felt good, kept me from thinking. I ripped grass up furiously, raked my nails down my arms, punched the ground again and again.

                “No!” I shouted, screamed. My voice was hoarse. “No! NONONONO! I want to live!”

It couldn’t end like this! It couldn’t! I was sobbing, tears I didn’t know I had streaming down my face. I felt like flinging myself over  the cliff and letting the stormy waters claim me. Time seemed to stretch on endlessly, unrelenting. Bitterness, fury, loss, pain and loneliness swamped me. I was dying.

I screamed, my voice raw, no words only sound. I was on my knees, my fists bleeding, my arms bleeding, my knees red. Crimson spatters surrounded me and all I was aware of was the bitter, bitter taste of defeat.

And then warm, strong arms were around me, pulling me up, crushing me against a strong, warm chest. A voice, achingly familiar, was whispering in my ear. I cried harder than I ever had before, shaking, my body wracked with tears.

                “Tay, oh my gosh.” It was him, it was Chris. “Oh Taya.” I didn’t have to look up – I knew the handsome features by heart. His arms were still holding me tight and I wanted to curl up in them and sleep and never wake up.

Gradually my sobs slowed, reduced to a few hiccups. I knew I looked a mess, with my mascara running in streaks down my face, mingled with the tears, my eyes red and puffy. My head was wet from Chris’s own tears, and I screwed my eyes shut. Even with him I felt so alienated, so different and misunderstood.

                “I-I’m n-n-not going to gr-graduate,” I mumbled.

                “I was told.” Chris’s voice was soft and trembling as he rested his head on mine. “But we all have to die sometime.”

                “I guess.”

                “Stay strong, Tay. I love you,” he murmured, and I started silently crying all over again.

I wasn’t going to graduate. Ever.

¹ a doctor who specializes in cancer treatment

² The final stages of leukaemia

That was exactly 540 words =) Sorry if that was a little too raw...

Here is one of mine.

 Speed of light in a vacuum = 3 (yes, 3 words)

         I will survive

Maybe I'll try a three word...=P

The truth hurts.

I will use three words.

LOVE FADES QUICKLY!

Speed of light in a vacuum. :U Let's see what I got. *cracks fingers*

« HELP »

End transmission.

By the way, I love you. ;n; I'mma miss you and Marlu.

I think I'll also enter for i. I always did like that little dude in math class. Okay so here's my

 ...Negative one words right there. ;D

...I'll probably get my act together and submit an actual work of prose at some point.

NOTICE TO EVERYONE

 I've just come back and read all of the entries and stuff. Though I do like them, I feel that none of them is up to par with such a large prize. So if I don't see anything that is suitable for the standard of the prize by the deadline (next friday), I will not have a 1st, 2nd or 3rd prize and give out participation prizes to everyone instead. I will then start a new contest, and probably make it broader (probably allow poetry and drawings or whatever in it), the only problem is that the prize pool will be smaller due to participation prizes.

If I end up having to give out participation prizes, I'm sorry but people who wrote 3 words or less only will not get a prize (because there's a lot of you anyways and it's just 3 words (or less)). Others who put more effort into their entries deserve more. 

If I were you, I would not choose to use a short word count like 3 or 1 or sqrt-1 from now on.

whoa... I find that extremely inappropriate... some of these people worked so hard... I can;t believe some of you on here....

Well, I'm glad I got a participation prize, anyway.  ^_^;