Mini-Contest Winners!

The submissions are in and the votes are tallied. The writer of the winning plot of that groundbreaking galactic thriller Pink in Space is…

Kit, for Why Did You Have to Save the Sheep? (Just scroll down below to read and chortle. If you are drinking liquid, it will go up your nose.) Congrats Kit!

Second place: Michelle, for Henrietta and Miles’ adventures on George III’s new colony of Uranus.

Third place: Anne K, for When is a Broom Closet not a Good Place to Hide?

Kevin, Jessica, and Lois also gathered strong fan followings for their respective contributions, which you can check out here, at #4, #1, and #21.

Our randomly selected winning judge is Mona Washabaugh.

Kit, Michelle, Anne, and Mona, if you’ll email me with your snail mail addresses, I’ll pop your prizes in the mail to you.

Thanks so much to everyone for contributing your ingenuity and intergalactic expertise to the project!

Scroll down to read the three winning entries, or click here to check out all of the entries. Sheila, I’m still laughing over The Titillation of the Trembling Turnip….

    Kit’s Story

:

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far far away, hostile space creatures looked down on Earth and snickered. They saw the insipid Almacks, the drawn-up rivalry between France and England; they watched in shocked incredulity as men took flower aliases, but, the most unbearable facet of earth life was the SHEEP!

Those stupid sheep were so offensive to these unseen watchers that they began planning an attack to wipe out the sheep. These preparations go unnoticed, or, they would have is Whittlesby hadn’t been in his bottle.

Stumbling from a bar one night, Whittlesby fell over in the middle of the Luxemberg Gardens. Being a poor poet, he wasn’t concerned with footpads, and to be honest, he was in no state to even think of trivalities like material gains. He had been thwarted. Jane, that paragon, the princess of azure toes, had refused his advances. . . again. Oh, merry twinkling stars! how can you shine when my heart has lost it’s life-light. Oh, your twinkling light!

He stopped, and peered at the stars (Lying on the ground made this particularly easy). One star wasn’t twinkling. It was *glowing* with a strong steady light, an omnious light.

Whittlesby watched this star for several (sober) nights in the following week. The strange star was a puzzlement and he eventually went to Jane. She was skeptical, but they watched the stars for weeks and noticed as the incongrous light steadly grew.

Because they watched the light, they saw it grow closer, and they knew when it disappeared–fell to earth actually. Across the chanel in Shropshire, Derek Meadows also knew. The ship fell on top of him. As he was trapped by this extraterrestrial mass, the alien invaders disembarked, collected all the sheep and herded them on to the ship to be ejacted into outer space (so much easier than killing them all).

Derek, being a rather stupid fop, didn’t know what to do, so he wrote to his Aunt Gwen, who told her charge Miss Jane Wooliston. This dynamic duo, along with the obervant Mr. Whittlesby embarked on an epic adventure. Well, actually, they tried to, but it took them some time to build a spaceship. In this, Mr. Whittlesby proved invaluable, which is why Miss Gwen eventually allowed him to come along.

Once the ship was airborn, the mission went smoothly, the sheep, who had been sent into orbit by the aliens, were recaptured by the Pink Carnation and sent back to earth with Mr. Whittlsby. Jane and Miss Gwen hoped into thier private pod and chased after the invaders, in order to prevent a recurrence of this sheep-napping. (Neither woman wanted to have to build another spaceship).

(Describe the battle)

When Jane and Miss Gwen landed in Shropshire, they found the earth as it was supposed to be. Except for a very indignant Amy. “Did you really have to save the sheep?!”

The End

    Michelle’s Story

:

The specific setting of the book is Uranus. A fitting place because the planet was originally going to be named after King George III. As a result of this slight, King George is sending his finest citizens to colonize the planet and claim it for England! He hopes this will stall the rising power of his son and successor. He sends his cleverest spy, Jane, along with Miles and Henrietta to scout out the lay of the land. These three, accompanied by Miss Gwen who FORGOT her parasol on earth and is a wee bit testy, bump into a spaceship carrying Empress Josephine. In hopes of winning back Napoleon’s favor, she has taken it upon herself to secure this new planet for France. Henrietta succumbs to this romantic notion and flirts with the idea of helping Josephine. However, when Napoleon catches whiff of the plot and visits the planet himself madcap comedy ensues. Jane needs a plausible explanation for her presences; Henrietta must stop catching the eye of the emperor, and if Josephine puts her hand one more time on Miles’ fetching knee, someone will be cast off into space!

    Anne’s Story:

Pink in Space Episode 457: When is a Broom Closet not a Good Place to Hide?

In our last episode, Jane, and her league of laudable ladies, escaped the clutches of Deleroche and his newest sidekick, the evil Countess Andromeda, by hiding the broom closet of Andromeda’s Moon Palace until she had given up searching and went to the moon rock garden to pout. We join our heroines, inside the broom closet.

The girls tiptoed down the hall in single file. Charlotte, of course, brought up the rear, still daydreaming about how perfectly suited unicorns are for space travel. It really was a wonder that their single horn didn’t get in the way of the buttons. If only Pen were here with them, instead of haring off to the Horseshead Nebula in a daredevil race. It would, however, be lovely for her to win, for a change.

Suddenly Miss Gwen, the leader of the line, stopped and the girls flattened against the wall. Hen, knowing that Charlotte hadn’t been minding, threw out her arm out to catch and pin Charlotte to the wall. Oomph. Unbelievable screeching was coming from the portal across the hall. The girls huddled under it, except Miss Gwen, who stood guard, parasol at the ready. The screeching sounded like a particularly inept violin student tuning her instrument, or, possibly, practicing Senor Don Gato’s newest composition: Serenade to the Full Moon. Clearly the Countess Andromeda was shrieking in her native language.

Letty, having experience interpreting all varieties of temper tantrums, translated for the others. “She’s decided to capture the Purple Gentian at the Manly Men in Tights Convention! And hold him ransom! For One Million Dollars!?!” Jane thought that Countess Andromeda’s audacity was outrageous and said so. “Countess Andromeda’s audacity is outrageous!” Just then, the thumping feet characteristic of approaching storm troopers were heard coming from the adjoining hall, so the girls scampered back to the broom closet. Except Miss Gwen, who tried to charge at the approaching henchmen with her new titanium tipped parasol. “We must rescue Richard!” Hen hissed at her, dragging her along with the others.

Back inside the broom closet, Jane was instructing Letty and Charlotte on how to close the door with the airtight latch and to open the covers on the control panels that none of the others had noticed during their earlier visit. “Plan A is to barge into the Manly Men in Tights Convention and make an announcement that Countess Andromeda is on her way,” Amy was explained.

“Amy, they won’t let us in if they know that we are women,” Jane explained patiently as she sat in the pilot’s chair of the broom closet that was covertly, and quite fortuitously, a spaceship. Hen slipped into the copilot’s chair as the spaceship sailed past Delaroche’s defense detonators.

“We have to skip to Plan E if we are to use disguises. Where are we to find britches for all of us on this short notice?” Amy started looking behind the mops and buckets, still wedged into the corner. It was Charlotte, who pulled the much needed costumes from the secret panel labeled “disguises”.

“Ladies running about in breeches. Disgraceful,” Miss Gwen sniffed her disapproval of the proffered attire.

“But we shan’t be running precisely. I imagine that we will need to saunter, like so.” She paced the starship that was once a broom closet, and struck a pose so indicatory of Turnip Fitzhugh that all ladies burst into a contagious fit of the giggles, except Miss Gwen, who merely sniffed her approval, and Charlotte, who was once again lost in contemplation of how far away a galaxy could be!

In our next episode: Rescuing Richard! for Real!

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