Nitty Gritty

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The deal is: Everything starts and ends with 23.

       

Pick a topic or subject. Any topic. If you pick one associated with “23,” so much the better.
        Decide if you want to write a short story, a list, an essay, instructions, a micro story, a joke... YOU GET TO CHOOSE.
        Whatever you write must involve the number 23 in some way. 23 words or 23 lines or 23 sentences or 23 paragraphs.  Even 23 repititons of the word exogenous works.
        *WORD LIMIT 2,300 (Sorry. Time constraints and all...)
        When you’re ready to submit, you must include an Entry Donation in any denomination of 23 - your choice.

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Well, not really catches, but some rules.

1/ Your submission must be accompanied by an Entry Donation of GPs in denominations of TWENTY THREE.(23, 230, 2,300, 23,000, 230,000).
2. Half of all entry fees will be donated to our favorite charity, "RAOK Upgrade Brigade Group" .
3. See "Contest Prizes"  for the distribution of the remaining entry fees. Note that the contest sponsors Carol St.Ann and Max Griffin 🏳️‍🌈 recieve no portion of the entry fees.
4. The amount of your Entry Donation is up to you.
5. Charity GPS and prizes depend upon your decision here, so be as generous as you are able..
6. You must *randomly insert the phrase "Happy Birthday WDC" into your submission anywhere you like. We will find it and mention it in your review.

Failure to adhere to numbers 1 and 6 or to follow any of "The Rules"  will get you SKADOO'D.  There can be no exceptions.

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    All submissions WILL be judged on   

  Writing Skills & Craft,  such as opening sentence and paragraph, plot, character development,
dialogue, spelling & punctuation, grammar, continuity, form, clarity, and hook.
  Creativity & Presentation, to include such things as structure, figurative language & vocabulary, and rhythm & meter.

(If U.S. English is not your first language, please give us a heads-up, so we don't penalize you unjustly for spelling and punctuation.)

Judging of submissions will begin immediately ONCE THE SUBMISSION IS POSTED. EDITS WILL NOT BE PERMITTED. ANY EDITS, no matter how trite, will SKADOO your submission. Don't do it. No exceptions can be made to this rule.

* * * FYI: Results may not be available until two weeks after the conclusion of the entry cycle.

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'Bout a hundred years ago, way down in NYC, a group of fellas came up with a coded way to say, “go away”, “beat it”, “scram” or suggest that the person addressed should get out while the going's good. The code, "23 skadoo" became common slang, later shortened to, "Skadoo!" for leave, get outta here as a threat or demand. Both skidoo and the full phrase, as the story goes, had their origins, quite certainly fictional, at the the corner of Twenty-third (Street) and Broadway in New York City.