|-NOTICE-|
The resident with the most votes from the last task was Barbara Smith Gutierrez Doe! Congrats! They will get an extra five points added to their score for this task.
On a more somber note, Belladonna Beckford has been eliminated.
And finally, if anyone failed to complete any of the POP requirements I will generally let them know in their notes for the next task. For the record, I got everyone's votes. The comments are a bit more of a chore for me to check at this stage but don't worry too much about it. I know Wattpad is glitchy and there are things all over the place so I'm not going to be too harsh if one thing is missing or whatever. You guys all did great Task One and I want to thank you for all the hard work!
|------------|
Dell doesn't realize it until a chill weaves together her fingers. She's spilling diet soda. Curses, too, spill out of her. Reflex pulls at her, and only serves to exacerbate everything. The crystal glass cup wobbles in her suddenly shaky grasp, and she has to stagger across the fountain to save eight of the sixteen ounces from the clutches of the catch tray. She loses sight of the window. When it returns, what was there isn't there anymore. It was never really there, was it? That's what she tells herself. Dell spares a glance behind her - around the corner and over the counter - to make sure none of the customers had seen her slip up. They certainly didn't seem to. She gets back to it. As she prepares her own free refill, she dares to also spare a glance back out that window. A whole lotta nothing and ever more sand. That's all Dell. That's what she tells herself.
That's what she tells herself as she stacks soda-pops up on a precarious platter and turns to walk out. Not a step onto the floor, it all comes crashing down. A few customers jump out of their seats, some shrink in them, but they are all looking only at her and the mess she made. That's good, real good, because behind them, and under the swinging slat-panel doors, sits whatever isn't in the window anymore. A rabbit among other things. Its teeth appear that they haven't been whetted from the day it was born. The ends of its expansive antlers look just as sharp.
|-TASK TWO-|
A stranger has arrived in Idle. People and things drift through the town often enough that normal strangers get lost in the flux. Not this one. Not to you, at least. Much is up in the air. This stranger could be a human, a creature, a machine, or anything in between. The entire town could be on alert because of them, or maybe just you. Only a few things have to be true: your character does not know this stranger in any way, this stranger is an enemy to your character, even if they don't know it yet, and your character can not directly speak to this stranger in this task. Didn't your parents ever tell you that's dangerous? Oh, and do keep your stranger alive, dears. I have big plans for them.
This task is more about setting up a story than telling one. Often times that requires exposition, and for this story in particular, it will likely require suspense. With both of these, I'm looking for subtlety. Not in your story - you can have alien zebras come to take over the world if you like - but in how you tell it. Give me everything I need to know for your story to work without me realizing you're doing it.
|-WORD LIMIT-|
2500 words.
|-STAKES-|
The 7 lowest scores for this task will be up for votes. Of those, 4 will be eliminated.
|-DEADLINE-|
Wednesday, June 16th, 10:00 PM EST
