It's the final week of the Times Colonist contest and this week’s writing is full of fairy godmothers, goddesses, and happy endings. Everyone resisted the Highway of Tears. If we could rewrite the sadness and loss of missing women, we would, I suppose. These stories expressed a longing to protect, to rewrite the story, to surprise the reader with the unexpected.
For this writing prompt, I gave my own story. I was twenty-two and routinely worked the closing shift as a bartender at a golf and country club. One night, when I missed the last bus home, I hitched a ride with a tow-truck driver who lectured me about the dangers of hitching a ride with strangers. He then delivered me safely to my door. He was my fairy god mother.
I want to thank all the writers who took part in the contest. I can’t imagine what they went through to produce a new piece of writing every week, all the things in their busy lives they set aside. It was such an honour to be a judge and to have an opportunity to encourage and critique these assignments. Sometimes my first choice didn’t coincide with “the judge’s first choice.” Overall, however, I could see agreement on what we considered to be “good writing.” I believe the disagreement was over what we considered “a good story.”
That’s just my take on things. It’s been a wonderful ride and I enjoyed every minute of it. Next year, I look forward to kicking back and reading what the new judges have to say, and popping my vote in along with all the other readers.
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