One Thousand Words or Less

One Thousand Words or Less

Wayne Cupp stared intensely at the computer screen, devouring every word. Writing.com was having a short story writing contest. He had just discovered the site and was excited about all the information it provided a would-be writer. He read carefully the criteria for submitting a story and then read it again.

“I can do that!” Wayne declared with excitement. Although Wayne’s fantasy was to write the great American novel, he had just completed his first short story and was thrilled with the project. He discovered that he enjoyed the challenge of connecting one word after another to complete a pattern of thought.

Wayne saved the site and reviewed the information one final time. There were only two days left before the deadline to submit a story of one thousand words or less. I have to hurry, he thought.

Wayne struggled with himself the remainder of the afternoon and into the evening with what the subject of his new story would be. Then suddenly just before falling to sleep, it came to him. “That’s it!” He exclaimed. “That’s it!” He made a mental note and tried to go to sleep.

As Wayne lay there, thoughts of his subject flowed through his head. After tossing and turning for some time, he sat up in the bed in frustration. “I give up,” he said. He got up and turned on the computer.

When the computer sprang to life, Wayne located the word processor’s icon and clicked it. With burning enthusiasm, he began to type - The Secret of Life, by Wayne Cupp.

By daybreak, Wayne was jubilant. The trashcan was full of discarded beginnings, but he finally printed out the latest version. He double checked the spelling and reviewed it closely for punctuation, then made one minor change. “That’s it,” he said. “It’s done.”

Wayne clicked on his favorites and found the site he had saved just a few hours earlier. Following the path to the contest information, he clicked on the link to submit a story. After answering some personal information, he copied and pasted his new masterpiece into the appropriate spot. “There, it’s gone,” he said.

Immediately, Wayne realized that he was exhausted. He shut down the computer and went back to bed. Delighted that he had beaten the deadline with time to spare, and immensely proud of his accomplishment, he fell asleep instantly.

Three days later, as Wayne sipped his first cup of morning coffee, the phone rang. “Hello?” He said.
“Mister Cupp?” the voice asked.
“Yes, I’m Wayne Cupp. Can I help you?”
“Mister Cupp, this is Chuck Hayes with the Marketing Department at Writing.com. You submitted a short story to us recently and Mister Winston would like to speak with you about it. Can you hold for a moment please?”
“Yes, I can hold,” Wayne replied. He waited patiently and considered what he must have left out of his submission to provoke this call.
“Mister Cupp?” A new voice asked.
“Yes, that’s me.”
"This is Theodore Winston, president of Writing.com. I can’t tell you how excited we are about your story. I’ve been in this business for over twenty years, and I must say, this is the best story we’ve ever received.”
“That’s great news, Mister Winston,” Wayne replied proudly.
“Please call me Teddy,” Mister Winston said. “I’ve shown your work to our review committee and everyone agrees. We’ve never received anything quite like it. In fact, I’m delighted to say that the work is so impressive that the publishing committee has unanimously voted to distribute your story immediately. We’d like to offer you a one million-dollar advance for the rights to proceed. Would that be acceptable with you, Mister Cupp?”
Wayne tried desperately to hold back his emotions of excitement. After an expanded pause, he finally managed to reply, “that’s fine, Teddy. I think I can live with that.”
“I’m so happy you agree,” Mister Winston said. ”I hoped that you would. I’m sending you an airline ticket, first class of course, to join us in New York tomorrow. We’ll complete the paper work and put this show on the road.”

The plane landed on time at Kennedy and the limo driver met Wayne at the gate. When they arrived at the Writing.com offices, Theodore Winston and the publishing staff had arranged a welcome party for their new author’s arrival. They smothered him with champagne and celebration. The papers were signed and Teddy presented Wayne with a cashier’s check.

Arrangements were made to print the first million copies of the story and media packages were passed out to members of the press. The media blitz announcing The Secret of Life was incredible. It started with a small excerpt in the New York Times and exploded from there. Within three weeks, the presses were rolling again. Ten million copies were printed in the second edition.

The Writing.com marketing wizards convinced Wayne to remain in New York for a while to assist in promoting the new short story phenomenon. They purchased a spacious and ritzy apartment just off Fifth Avenue for him and arranged for a limousine and driver to be at his disposal.

Wayne and Teddy attended parties nearly every night in which Wayne was the guest of honor. The paparazzi followed him everywhere he went, and he quickly became the most sought after author in New York history.

The night of Wayne’s first visit on the David Letterman show, the audience gave him a standing ovation.
“How do you explain the tremendous success of your book?” Letterman asked him with sincere interest.
“You know Dave, I really don’t know.” Wayne replied honestly. “But ain’t it great!”

During the next six months, The Secret of Life was reprinted eight times and over two hundred million copies were in circulation. Enthusiasm for the story was not limited to the United States. It spread like a wildfire through Europe and the Far East. Today, the Secret of Life has been translated into over thirty-five languages and has exceeded the bible in popularity.