The Land of Cold (1st Place)

The intense sun bore down upon Sampson. The desert, unrelenting, spread to infinity. Sampson stared at the empty landscape. This has to be the route. I’m running low on supplies, and my water is about gone. Have to reach the Prince. Surely he will pay top dollar. He retrieved a small canteen from his satchel. Raising it to his cracked lips, he sucked down a gulp.

His camel, Clyde, stirred and without the slightest urging he began tromping off to the left. “Whoa, steady!” Clyde stopped for a moment and began again to wander to the left. “You sense something boy?” He dipped his hand inside his satchel again and pulled out an eyeglass. He saw a tiny speck on the horizon. “That’s it!”

A few hours later the speck became the city of Azzarah. Sampson guided Clyde through the monstrous gate. He dismounted and strode to the imperial palace. A guard announced his arrival to the Prince and his advisers.

“Come, Sampson!” the Prince smiled. “What have you brought for me?”

“Wonders, my lord, from afar.” He pulled a candy cane from his bag and offered it to the Prince who tasted it. A snow globe, pine cone, plastic icicles, and a statuette of a snowman followed. The advisers stood with their mouths agape.

“What treasures are these? For if it's like this" - His hand held the candy cane high - "I shall make you head adviser!”

“From the land of cold where rain becomes white and blankets the ground! Children build statues from it like this.” He held up the snowman.

The Prince whispered among his deviously smiling advisers and turned.

“Your attempt to fool us will not go unpunished! Seize him!”

“What? No, this place is real…” They dragged him away.

“Making idols from hard white rain? Blasphemy!”



300 Words
Flash Story Must contain: Snowman, Icicles, Candy Cane