Trifecta: Week Twenty-five

Thirty-three words per voice, three voices per response, forty-four responses.  That's 4,356 words representing a lot of fast work for the weekend Trifectans.  Nicely done, guys.  We hope you enjoyed the prompt as much as we enjoyed the responses.

First place this week goes to Goddess In The Machine for her poem: In The Produce Aisle.  If you have kids or have ever been to a grocery store, it's quite likely that Goddess's response resonates with you.  We'll repost the poem here for you, but for the entertaining comments that follow, you'll have to click through.

Oh, please. My lovely boy.
Whom I birthed sixteen years ago.
So brilliant and beautiful,
your words shine and shiver like a ruby in a tide pool.
BUT DO YOU EVER SHUT UP?

I know that face, when she’s had enough
and just wishes I’d give her peace.
But I hope she knows
this venting of thought, word, and soul
makes me love her the more.

How she does it, I’ll never understand,
that mother there with her boy
in the produce aisle.
I’ve not heard him pause for breath once,
yet she stands ready,
answer and ear undaunted.

Second place this week goes to Trudging Through The Fog for Turncoat, Target, Trigger.  Trudging was one of the few Trifectans this week to give us one cohesive story that flowed from voice to voice.  We loved it.

Third place goes to Marian from Runaway Sentence.  In her poem, Three Sides Now, she gives us three different approaches to a rain storm and a nod to American folk music.  Readers couldn't help but share which perspective most applied to them.  Which number are you?

Congratulations to all of our winners, and thanks to everyone who linked up this weekend.

For this week's challenge, we again dug through your suggestions for inspiration.  (If you haven't linked up yet with Meet Your Fellow Trifectans, please do.)  We're going with Tamyka's suggestion:

thun·der noun \ˈthən-dər\

1: the sound that follows a flash of lightning and is caused by sudden expansion of the air in the path of the electrical discharge
2: a loud utterance or threat
3: bang, rumble <the thunder of big guns>

Please remember:

• Your response must be between 33 and 333 words.
• You must use the 3rd definition of the given word in your post.
• The word itself needs to be included in your response.
• You may not use a variation of the word; it needs to be exactly as stated above.  (Tricky with this word.)
• Your post must include a link back to Trifecta.
• Please submit your post's permalink, not the main page of your blog. For example: http://www.trifectawritingchallenge.com/2012/03/trifextra-week-eight.html not www.trifectawritingchallenge.com.

Good luck and we'll see you back on Friday.

Trifextra: Week Fourteen

Another prompt, another impressive response. Fifty-two of you took us into your confidence and once again we were impressed with how varied and creative your entries were -- the Trifectans are truly an eclectic group.

This week's winner is Libby, from Libby's Book Blog. Her powerful story about the shocking events at Kent State University in May 1970 is beautifully told. It was a dark day for the Nixon administration, but hearing it from the point of view of a child somehow makes it even more shocking:

I remember sitting there at my desk. Second row halfway between the door and window. We had just come back from lunch. Mrs. Shepard gave us each two worksheets and we settled in to do them.

Then, the first mother came to the door. She gave Mrs. Shepard a little wave, and the two of them talked in the hallway. We could see them through the tall, narrow window in the door to our classroom. Of course, it was not a big deal. Mothers came and picked kids up early for doctor's appointments and things all the time. 

Mrs. Shepard stuck her head in and called one of the kids from our class. He left with his mother. 

A few minutes passed and another mother came. And, then another, and another. Each time Mrs. Shepard would go out and talk before that mother's child was called. You could tell that the mothers were telling Mrs. Shepard something in confidence and she would come back in tight-lipped, but cool and calm. 

Then, Debbie Ballucci's mother came to the door. I can still see her! She had on a lavender sweatsuit and those really big, wide curlers on the top of her head that women used to wear. Mrs. Ballucci did not do that signaling thing that the other mothers did. She gave a cursory knock and then opened the classroom door as Mrs. Shepard rushed toward her. 

"They're shooting the kids out there!" she cried, out of breath and red-faced.

Mrs. Shepard moved toward her quickly as she was talking and kind of forced her out the door. As they stood talking in the hallway, the other kids sitting among the empty desks and I looked at one another in confusion. But, we were not supposed to talk.

I started on my second worksheet. I wrote my name: Libby Myers. I wrote the date: May 4, 1970.

In second place is Frelle with her piece, Two Weeks Later. She takes a risk using local dialect in her dialogue-heavy story, but absolutely pulls it off; she makes both the conversation and setting seem very real. In third place is Latitudes of a Day with Cafe, a story that hints at a turning point in the life of a young boy whose dedication and devotion to his father may soon be tested.

This weekend, we return to the 33-word prompt, but this time, a 33-word prompt with a twist. Your task, should you choose to accept, is to take a scene that involves (or affects) at least three people. You should then write this scene from the point of view of three of the characters, using 33 words for each character. So for example, if your story involves a mother, a father and a young boy, you will tell the story first from the point of view of the mother (in 33 words), then the same story from the point of view of the father (in 33 words) and finally, from the point of view of the boy (also in 33 words).

As always, we wish you well.

Trifecta: Week Twenty-Four

So much creativity was packed into thirty-six very different re-tellings of the famous blond and those bears that we were hard-pressed to choose between them all.  Kudos to everyone who participated for your imaginative work.

Tara from Thin Spiral Notebook is no stranger to the Trifecta top three and her story, Third Time’s the Charm, lands her there once again.  The wonderful cadence to her words, the descriptions of the three dates and the twist at the end all made for an enjoyable read.  The Trifecta nod didn’t hurt either. 

“Do you need help with your hair,” my best friend, Fanny was almost as nervous about this first date as I was. 

“Oh, thank you!,” I gave up fighting my mane of unruly curls. “I can’t seem to do anything with it." 

I sat at her vanity mirror, watching as she deftly piled my hair into a controlled up-do, leaving a few stray tendrils forming a soft frame around my face. I was surprised to see that it made me look younger than my 36 years. 

It had been a long, lonely year since my divorce, and friends and family had finally talked me into diving into the dating pool again. Not like it was when I was younger, today that meant dipping a toe into the Internet waters of eligible men. I had agreed to three different dates, one of which could be Mr. Right. 

“Who are you going out with tonight,” Fanny mumbled around the mouthful of hairpins she held between her teeth. 

“I thought I’d work my way from oldest to youngest,” I said, handing her the hairspray. 
”We’re meeting at The Copper Pot for dinner. He said he had a surprise for where we were going after that.” 

“A surprise?” Fanny tipped her head to the side, her hairbrush fist on her hip, waiting for me to look up to make eye contact in the mirror. “Is that a good idea?” 

“Don’t fret, I’m driving to the restaurant, I’ll make him tell me there,” I reassured her. “If I don’t want to go, then I won’t.” 

Pursing her lips, she made one final pass with the Aqua Net, harrumphing her disapproval.
“Keep your cell phone handy!” She called out the front door once I finally left her apartment. 

My first date was with Barrett, a bear of a man, who didn’t match his online bio very well. He was at least 6-foot-2, barrel-chested, with a grey tuft of hair escaping from his shirt collar. His face, ruddy and rough above a full beard, was far from friendly. His thunderous voice, and matching disposition, made the night uncomfortable. 

He growled at our waitress for any number of perceived shortcomings, and continuously interrupted any attempts I made to engage him in a conversation. 

After dinner, I excused myself, feigning a need to visit the powder room. I toyed with the idea of simply walking out the front door with no explanation, but thought that was too cowardly. Gathering my nerve, I went back to our table, blurting out I didn’t think we were a good match and that it would be best if we ended the date right here. 

His reaction shouldn’t have surprised me, considering how difficult he had been the entire evening. I ended up paying for both our meals and leaving as soon as the waitress returned with my receipt. 

My second date ended just as disastrously, only this time Arthur, my companion for the evening, was depressingly soft. Our initial handshake was like holding a wet fish. His clothes hung on him like a little boy wearing his father’s suit. I continuously had to lean forward or ask him to repeat what he said, his voice was so faint. 

He talked exclusively of his mother during dinner, asking our server for a doggie bag so he could bring her his leftovers. I was shocked to learn he didn’t still live with her. 

After dinner we attended a performance of Carmen, where he cried like a baby. Mortified, I could only hand him copious amounts of tissue and listen to his honking nose blowing. At least one couple moved away from our seats and his crescendo of wailing during José and Carmen’s duet “C’est toi! – C’est moi!” in the final act. 

I almost cancelled my final date in the trifecta, but Fanny bolstered my spirits with “third time’s the charm,” and “saving the best for last.” I couldn’t imagine how it could get any worse. 

When Torben called to set a time and day for our date, I was first intrigued by his voice – a rich tenor, with a slight accent I couldn’t place. I later learned he was Dutch. His viking heritage evident in his pale blond hair and rugged good looks. He wasn’t too tall, nor too short. Just the right height should I care to wear heels, but he didn’t tower over me in flats.
We met at an artist opening at a local gallery, then had a pleasant dinner at a bistro a few doors down. We enjoyed easy conversation, learning we had many interests in common. A midnight stroll along the river, a tender kiss, and plans for a second date ended a wonderful evening. 

Over the next several months, we continued to see each other, our friendship growing into an exclusive relationship. I was falling fast and knew he felt the same way about me. I wasn’t surprised then when he invited me to stay one evening after he had cooked me dinner at his home. 

I never made the connection, but he prefaced his invitation by telling me he shared his sprawling house with two roommates. He explained they had apartments in separate wings and they rarely saw each other. It didn’t matter, I would have stayed regardless. 

The next morning, over fresh koffie verkeerd and a steaming bowl of krentjebrij, a traditional Dutch porridge made of steel-cut oats, dried apples and raisins, honey and cinnamon, I did meet Torben’s roommates… Barrett and Arthur.

Jester Queen took second with her tale, Flori and the Tourist.  Her adaptation felt like being inside of a really hip, foreign science fiction movie.  Third place goes to LibbysBookBlog.  If you haven’t yet checked out this wildly creative piece, we think you’ll be impressed with her inventiveness and her humor.

It’s Monday again and that means we’re on for another single word prompt, usual rules apply: 33 to 333 words using the THIRD definition of the word. 

This week’s word is:

confidence (noun)

1 a : a feeling or consciousness of one's powers or of reliance on one's circumstances <had perfect confidence in her ability to succeed> <met the risk with brash confidence>

   b : faith or belief that one will act in a right, proper, or effective way <have confidence in a leader>

2 : the quality or state of being certain : certitude <they had every confidence of success>

3 a: a relation of trust or intimacy <took his friend into hisconfidence>

   b : reliance on another's discretion <their story was told in strictest confidence>

   c : support especially in a legislative body <vote ofconfidence>

Please remember:

• Your response must be between 33 and 333 words.
• You must use the 3rd definition of the given word in your post.
• The word itself needs to be included in your response.
• You may not use a variation of the word; it needs to be exactly as stated above. 
• Your post must include a link back to Trifecta.
• Please submit your post's permalink, not the main page of your blog. For example:       http://www.trifectawritingchallenge.com/2012/03/trifextra-week-eight.html not www.trifectawritingchallenge.com.

Good luck and we'll see you back on Friday.

Trifextra: Week Thirteen

If you haven't yet made your way around to read all of your fellow Trifectans' responses to last week's prompt of observe, you really should do yourself a favor and click through.  There was a lot of enjoyable reading this week: sentimental eulogies, frank discussions about religion, and even a beautiful tutorial on the difference between faith and devotion.  Some truly great stuff.

First place this week goes to Tik Tok for her continuation of the Frank and Macy story.  (It isn't necessary to read the first four parts of the story, but it's well worth your time to do so.)  Macy is still contorting; Frank is still holding it; and we are still completely engaged.  Tik Tok does an amazing job with the absurd--managing to still construct a proper story around ridiculous situations and characters.  Her creativity seems to know no bounds.  Check it out:

Frank snuck a sideways look out of the corner of his eye and saw that Macy was still wrapped up in herself. For the time being, her car gymnastics seem to be keeping her narcolepsy at bay, but she was still in outer space somewhere. 

He tapped his earpiece to make sure it was on and that he wasn’t missing something. Silence. “But damn, that Marisol has a hot voice. Too bad she’s not as sexy as she sounds. At least she’s quiet, so it looks like I can slip away.” 

It was time for Frank to answer the call of nature. He missed the days when going on a stakeout meant bottles instead of cups with lids. This stopping and starting bit was about to get old. He’d had to change his bathroom habits once he got a female partner, and bottles weren’t as multi-purposed as they used to be. 

Not wanting to alert Macy, Frank silently opened his door, slid out, and then closed it with a soft click. It was time to ditch protocol and enter the target of the stakeout. 

“It’s the closest building,” Frank reasoned. “Plus, with all the meatheads here to observe the grand re-opening, no one is going to notice me anyhow.” 

While Frank despised the catch-name for his team, the MnMs, he did find the name of the businesses amusing. “Gunz-n-Roses. Ha. At least they didn’t use something really stupid like ‘Pansies-n-Pumpin,” ‘Flowers While You Weight’ or ‘Get Buff and Fluff.’” 

“Nah, Gunz-n-Roses is an ok name, as names go,” Frank decided. He still hadn’t figured out the real connection between the two businesses, outside of newly married owners and the ability to accept large freight items. 

With the big bash going on, the owners under surveillance wouldn’t notice him oozing in to use the facilities. Frank flexed his muscles, to help him fit in with the crowd. It was time to infiltrate and let loose his liquids.

Second place goes to Brain Tomahawk for the continuation of the ever-popular Zombie Bunnies story. Do yourself a favor and read this before it gets published, so that you can say you knew Brain Tomahawk back when.  The chocolate bunny is genius.

Third place this week goes to Tara at Thin Spiral Notebook.  Her writing drips with beautiful imagery, per usual, but this week her writing takes a bit of a different tone.  Let's just say, she had us at spittlebug.

Congratulations to our fantastic winners.  And a big thanks to those of you who made it around to read and comment on one another's work.

We need to move on to the weekend challenge, but first we want to tell you about some changes at Trifecta.  This week we welcomed our newest addition to the editorial team.  Joules is coming aboard primarily so that we have three editors, because, well, you know.  But also because we realized that the two of us were not able to spend as much time with your posts as we'd like.  It's our hope that Joules' careful eye and lively banter will keep things running smoothly at Trifecta.  Please help us in welcoming her aboard.

Now for the weekend challenge: we want you to give us a re-telling of the classic Goldilocks and the Three Bears story.  You can change the setting, the characters, and whatever details you wish, but the story should still be recognizable to us.  Keep the spirit of the original work, but make it your own.  And for once?  You have no word limit.

Good luck!

Trifecta: Week Twenty-three

This past weekend's Trifextra challenge was to write a 33-word letter of apology.  Your 74 entries were then judged by the Trifecta community.  We were delighted to see that each post got roughly the same amount of clicks, which is one indicator that you guys took the time to read each post before casting your votes.  Thank you for your diligence.  We know it's not an easy job.

In first place this weekend was According to Mags, with her piece called "The Apology."  It's not uncommon to read letters written to a younger version of the author's self, but Mags took it a step further by signing her letter from a more specific aspect of her older self's personality.  Take a look.

Dear Nineteen-Year-Old Me, 

I’m sorry I didn’t shine through brighter. My lack of being there was devastating. I didn’t see how desperately you needed me. I won’t make that mistake again. Forever onward, I’m with you. 

Sincerely, 

Your Self-Confidence

Second place goes to Dana at Blarrgh for "Chalking It Up," an apology between husband and wife, neither of whom seem to be getting what they're looking for.

And third place went to Scriptor Obscura for her heartbreaking vignette, "Good Man."  Definitely click through to read it, if you haven't already.  Bring tissues, for it is a truly moving piece.

Congratulations to all of our winners.  And thank you again for taking on the role of judges this weekend.

For this week's challenge, we are taking the advice of Old Dog New Tits who completed the ever-popular Meet Your Fellow Trifectans meme and suggested the following word (among others) for a challenge:

ob·serve verb \əb-ˈzərv\

1: to conform one's action or practice to (as a law, rite, or condition) : comply with

2: to inspect or take note of as an augury, omen, or presage

3: to celebrate or solemnize (as a ceremony or festival) in a customary or accepted way

Please remember:

• Your response must be between 33 and 333 words.
• You must use the 3rd definition of the given word in your post.
• The word itself needs to be included in your response.
• You may not use a variation of the word; it needs to be exactly as stated above. 
• Your post must include a link back to Trifecta.
• Please submit your post's permalink, not the main page of your blog. For example: http://www.trifectawritingchallenge.com/2012/03/trifextra-week-eight.html not www.trifectawritingchallenge.com.

Good luck and we'll see you back on Friday.

Trifextra: Week Twelve

I have to say I love a good scandal. I think we all do. And when you get to read 47 of them in one sitting, that's a whole lot of scandal.

We've long admired Amanda from Last Mom on Earth and her exceptional writing. She returns to the challenge this week with another breathtaking piece, Everything Was Beautiful. Reading Amanda's stories always takes more than one sitting, and even after you've read them a few times, you still find yourself thinking about them later on:

"You're trying to make it sound like some sort of scandal," I said. 

"A girl is dead!" my mother wailed. 

I didn't tell her that I would be dead, too, by morning. 

"You'll be charged with killing her," she said. Her hands were shaking. I watched them clattering against the steering wheel, her bones pronounced and too close to the surface of her skin. "You could go to jail for the rest of your life!" Her voice had been steadily rising in pitch since she picked me up at the county jail this morning. "Oh god, Billy!" she shrieked. 

Other than a painful throbbing behind my eyes, I felt okay; serene, even. We'd talked about this many times.

"If anything happens to you, I'll follow you," I told my girl, gripping the end of my belt in my teeth. It was wrapped around her upper arm, cutting deeply into her soft white flesh. She was soft all over, like a dream. She ran her fingers through my hair. A little rivulet of red danced in the chamber for her.

"I know," she said. 

She didn't tell me, no. She didn't force platitudes about how I should go on living without her. We were destined for this.

I remember the first time we planned to die together. We were kids, skipping high school and sharing a bottle of eight dollar vodka next to the creek that ran behind our trailer park. 

She told me everything, about her mother and the men; how she slept with a night light. 

"Sometimes I think I might just lie down in the reservoir, only I'm so afraid to be alone under all that water," she said. 

That's how I knew I loved her. 

My mother pulled over to the side of the road so that she could hold her head in her hands and sob. I watched a cat rooting around in the garbage that littered the curb on the last day of my life. Everything was beautiful. 

In second place is Linda Vernon and her Tulberry Todgrass Brooch Scandal. I think it could possibly have won second place for its title alone. We've really enjoyed the humor she's injected into the challenge since she's joined up and this week's entry was excellent. In third place is Lance from My Blog Can Beat Up Your Blog. He always has a blogger's note at the end of his posts; in this week's note, he predicted that we'd view his entry as weak. Au contraire, we thought his piece, The Way It Is was strong and refreshingly honest.

This weekend's Trifextra is community judged.

• For the 12 hours following the close of the challenge, voting will be enabled on links.  
• In order to vote, return to this post where stars will appear next to each link.
• Voting is open to everyone.  
• Encourage your friends to vote for you, if you wish, but please don't tell them to vote on a number.  The numbering of the posts changes regularly, as authors have the ability to delete their own links at any time.  
• You can vote for your top three favorite posts.
• Yes, you really only have 12 hours to vote.  We'll send out reminders on Twitter and Facebook.

For this week's challenge, you have to write a letter of apology in exactly 33 words. Addresses, salutations, closings, etc. (should you wish to include them) do not count in the 33 words. 

Good luck.

Trifecta: Week Twenty-Two

So far, most of our Trifextra weekend challenges have asked you to respond to the prompt in exactly 33 words. This weekend, we allowed you the full quota of 333. However, instead of giving you a one-word prompt as we do in the weekday challenge, we gave you three words, stipulating the order in which they were to be used. If it was meant to trip you up, we failed miserably, as we had yet another batch of outstanding stories and poems.

In first place this week was Trudging Through Fog's beautifully told story, Belfry. Some of the imagery in Christine's short piece is stunning:

There are times when everything is perfectly clear, and other times when everything is dark. 

In the between times I hide up in the belfry, among the dust and carcasses of minutes gone by. Every hour a cacophony of bells shakes another layer of time down from the rafters. 

I like to watch the people in the churchyard below, wafting through the garden like soap bubbles, glittering and ephemeral. 

In the bell tower, the seconds twitch on the floor, disorderly as insects scrabbling for shelter. I crush them, one by one, under my shoe, until they too are dust.

In second place, is The Future of Hope's harrowing piece, Meth or Death. Chrystalyn's description of one man's struggle against a debilitating drug addiction, while not an easy read, was powerful and moving. Third place goes to The Hobbler. Her 33-word story, What Noise? left a few of her readers with itchy ears. It was our first entry this week and therefore the first one I read, but it stuck with me all weekend. As usual, there were many other great entries and thanks to everyone who linked up.

This week we're back to just one word but it's the third definition we're looking for and we're asking that you  use it exactly as it appears below.

As always, we wish you well.

scan·dal noun \ˈskan-dəl\

1   a: discredit brought upon religion by unseemly conduct in a religious person

     b: conduct that causes or encourages a lapse of faith or of religious obedience in another

2:   loss of or damage to reputation caused by actual or apparent violation of morality or propriety : disgrace

3   a: a circumstance or action that offends propriety or established moral conceptions or disgraces those associated with it

     b : a person whose conduct offends propriety or morality <a scandal to the profession>

Please remember:

• Your response must be between 33 and 333 words.
• You must use the 3rd definition of the given word in your post.
• The word itself needs to be included in your response.
• You may not use a variation of the word; it needs to be exactly as stated above. 
• Your post must include a link back to Trifecta.
• Please submit your post's permalink, not the main page of your blog. For example: http://www.trifectawritingchallenge.com/2012/03/trifextra-week-eight.html not www.trifectawritingchallenge.com.

Good luck and we'll see you back on Friday.

Trifextra: Week Eleven

Having a very specific third definition, this week's prompt, brain, stretched a lot of you outside of your comfort zones.  Or so you say.  If you hadn't announced it, we'd have never known.  This week brought us lots of fascinating sci-fi thrillers and interesting conversation about the things that control us, and the quality of writing was, as always, top-notch.

In first place this week is Mrs. One Day with Stella and Charlie: A Love Story.  What starts out as a good-enough story about a nervous marriage proposal ends with a bang.  And some smoke.  It's a clever twist that leaves the reader wondering about Charlie--the man who has finally found true happiness. . .with a robot.  Check it out:

"I love you, Stella," Charlie said as he held the beautiful red-head's hand under the table. She smiled that endearing little smile of hers and replied, "I love you, back." Charlie had never felt a connection like this before, and could hardly believe his luck. She was so incredibly gorgeous and he was just plain ol' Charlie. I'm so happy to have her, he thought as he looked into her emerald eyes. 

"Let's order champagne," said Charlie. At this, a sparkle lit not only her eyes, but her entire porcelain face. It was as if she was radiating from within. She never seemed lovelier than she did sitting there with her arms folded across her lap. Stella was wearing his favorite dress, a stunning amethyst frock that was extremely low-cut in the front to reveal her perfect cleavage.  

"Champagne?" she asked. "What's the occasion?" The 2 carat ring was burning a hole in his pocket. "Who needs a reason?" he replied nervously. "It's a beautiful night and I'm with the prettiest girl in the universe." Stella's cheeks reddened. "Aren't we in a romantic mood tonight?" Charlie ordered a bottle of Perrier-Jouet and smiled across the table. 

"I'd like to propose a toast," said Charlie with a hitch in his voice. "I've never been happier with anyone in my life, Stella. We are meant for each other." He noticed Stella's expression hadn't changed, but assumed it was nerves. "Stella, I love you more than anything. Will you..."  

Why has she not blinked? he wondered. "Stella? Honey, are you okay?" One of her sparkling eyes roll back in her head. "Stella?" he asked loudly. Smoke started to pour of her left ear. "Oh my God!" All eyes fell on Stella and Charlie. Approaching them quickly, the server told Charlie, "Sir, it's obviously her brain." "Her brain?" Charlie asked. "Yes sir. Isn't that the Stella 3000 model?" the server asked evenly. "They've been known to have brain malfunctions when overexcited. Did you not read her manual?" 

Second place this week goes to newcomer Max Andrew Dubinsky with his tale No More Sad Days.  Be sure to click over and take in his excellent imagery and detailed memories.  You will not be disappointed.  Third place this week goes to the always amusing Linda Vernon.  Linda's writing (especially her ability to craft her characters' names) always gives Trifecta something to talk about.  This week, she hit it out of the park with Norwilla Setton's Fourth Husband.

Congratulations to this week's top Trifectans, and thank all of you who linked up and got around to reading and commenting on the other responses.

For this week's Trifextra, we're switching things up a little bit.  The 33-word stories are fun to read, but we wanted to give you a bit more leeway this weekend.  The challenge is to write a response that is between 33 and 333 words long and uses the words listed below.  Use the words however you wish, but make sure that all three appear in your response.  Oh, and they must appear in order.

Good luck!

1. cacophony
2. soap
3. insects

Trifecta: Week Twenty-One

Well, that was creepy.

Eighty-nine entries later, and we're still undecided which is scarier: IRS audits and tuition bills or serial killers and vindictive spouses.  What we do know is that these short horror stories provided fantastic entertainment.

First place this week goes to Sightsnbytes for his piece entitled Child Abuse--A Real Horror Story.  The subject of his post is true horror, of course, but it was his decision to present the topic in a sing-song nursery rhyme that most shocked us.  Anybody else find themselves with that Freddy Krueger rhyme stuck in their heads?

Just little children
all frightened and scared
He ate one more sandwich
than the others had dared
when the mother found out she beat the son
then beat the others one by one

Second place this week goes to The Future of Hope with her piece Mass.  Her post is filled with imagery you can almost smell.  Definitely click over if you haven't read it already.  Third place goes to Lance at My Blog Can Beat Up Your Blog for his piece You Get What You Give.  Lance equates the recent US lottery craze with the zombie apocalypse, a comparison many of you found fitting.  Congratulations to all of our winners, and a big thanks to all of our writers.

You may have noticed that we did not leave individualized comments on your posts this week.  As you know, Trifecta is an unpaid site, and while we are enamored with the amount of support we've received from you guys, keeping up with your amazing work has been spreading us a little thin.  In order to keep the site functioning (and growing!) we have been working hard to devise a way to recognize your hard work in a more practical way.

Handing out three top spots per challenge is fun, and we'll continue to do that.  We also hope you will continue to support and encourage each other in the comments sections of each of your posts.  In addition, we will soon begin publishing a monthly Trifecta Magazine.  It will be distributed on the 3rd of each month and will showcase some of the quirkiest, funniest, most creative, most thought-provoking responses of the month.  We love the community that has been built here and are excited to have found a way to give more attention to more of your work.  Stay tuned for further details.

On we go to the weekday challenge where we give you a one-word prompt and ask you to use it, in its third definition, in a 33-333 word response.

This week's word is:
brain (noun)

1

a : the portion of the vertebrate central nervous system enclosed in the skull and continuous with the spinal cord through the foramen magnum that is composed of neurons and supporting and nutritive structures (as glia) and that integrates sensory information from inside and outside the body in controlling autonomic function (as heartbeat and respiration), in coordinating and directing correlated motor responses, and in the process of learning — compare

2

a (1) : intellect, mind <has a clever brain> (2) : intellectual endowment : intelligence —often used in plural <plenty ofbrains in that family>b (1) : a very intelligent or intellectual person (2) : the chief planner within a group —usually used in plural <she's thebrains behind their success>

3

: something that performs the functions of a brain; especially : an automatic device (as a computer) for control or computation

Please remember:

• Your response must be between 33 and 333 words.
• You must use the 3rd definition of the given word in your post.
• The word itself needs to be included in your response.
• You may not use a variation of the word; it needs to be exactly as stated above. 
• Your post must include a link back to Trifecta.
• Please submit your post's permalink, not the main page of your blog. For example: http://www.trifectawritingchallenge.com/2012/03/trifextra-week-eight.html not www.trifectawritingchallenge.com.

Good luck and we'll see you back on Friday.