Hi FoLCs!

This is Kerth Quiz #3 - Best Mid-Length Story (51 - 200k)

Instructions are blatantly copied/linked from last year’s Kerth Quizzes (or even further back than that).

SPIFFY DISCLAIMER THINGY! All the stories featured in this quiz qualify for the Best Mid-Length Story Category but this quiz is not a stamp of recommendation for nomination. There are other stories which qualify for this category, but this quiz only covers 10 randomly chosen ones.

Recommendations for other eligible stories are *very* welcome and encouraged!

QUIZ RULES: Two points for getting the story and author from the quote; one point for getting it from the excerpt. Specify which is which, or you'll automatically get one point instead of two. (Also, don't forget to mention which number you're answering.) Open hard drive and archive, *don't* forget to snip the excerpts in your replies, and don't forget the spoiler space when you post in the replies thread. Plus, shiny gold stars for those who recognize their own stories (which, sadly, is harder than it looks, but mostly in the Epic and Long Story Categories though).

The DEADLINE for entries for this quiz is Thursday, January 21, 2016, by 11:59 p.m (Pacific Time Zone).

Please post your answers HERE .

Good luck!
Susan

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QUOTE #1:
“Lois, you’re flying us into a storm cloud in order to strike me with lightning. If this doesn’t work, you’ll be Ultra Woman forever, and I’ll be dead,” Clark reminded her.

QUOTE #2:
She glanced over at Max. He was handsome, and he had certainly given her a life raft in this sea of confusion… but her thoughts kept drifting to Clark.

QUOTE #3:
I paid for a server transfer.

QUOTE #4:
Another scream caused Lois to look up and that’s when she saw Oliver desperately clinging to a tree branch nearly eighty foot off the ground.

QUOTE #5:
As Clark recovered the ball and turned around, Bo said, "Bo knows lay-ups."

QUOTE #6:
Eugene was visibly shaken and so was his voice as he answered, "I'm innocent, Your Honor."

QUOTE #7:
She’d have to work out how she should behave around Clark. How she would feel about him, if he really were a stranger to her.

QUOTE #8:
Barry cocked his head slightly as he considered the logic. “Wanda, eh?” Then he smiled. “Yeah, you look like a Wanda to me.”

QUOTE #9:
A few minutes later, Lex came back out and sat next to Lois. "Lois, I have something to ask." He knelt before her and brought out a ring box and opened it. "Lois Lane, will you marry me?"

"Lex, I appreciate it, I really do, but I am already married."

QUOTE #10:
I never even really meant to take you up here. Not now. Not while you're still so tiny and fragile and new. But it happened, and I'm glad it did.

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EXCERPT #1:
Jimmy grabbed a tabloid off his desk and held it up for her view. The grainy photo gracing its cover was from a security camera video and was of Ultra Woman standing at the microphone at the dive bar in Oklahoma. The headline blared: Ultra Woman Sings the Blues for Superman.


EXCERPT #2:
Lois tried to press Deter to answer her questions about the man who had visited them that afternoon. She couldn’t understand why he had been so angry, and she had no idea she supposedly worked for a newspaper. But Deter insisted that the man she had met was just a little confused, and he kept maintaining that her life had been there in Marseille, for years—though he remained vague on exactly how many years…

EXCERPT #3:
He looked at the lanky blood elf warlock before him. Shorter than he was, but not by too much. Perfectly shaped features. Skin a painted rosy color — like once pale skin that had been kissed by the sun. Straight blond hair pulled back into a single warrior braid that was long enough to bump into the top of her posterior with every movement. Her gear, of course, being nothing less than the most epic items for her class of fighter. A fire in her eyes that could set the entire world ablaze in an instant.

EXCERPT #4:
Having a super-powered child made Lois and Clark’s lives a bit hectic, but definitely interesting as well, especially when they considered the fact that their little boy who could do such amazing things couldn’t do a very basic thing, walk. They often found themselves wondering, as all parents do, who their son would grow up to be. Their wonderings included a very different possibility however. One day Oliver may decide to follow in his father’s footsteps and use his gifts to help people. His disability would take some adjustments in how he achieved that goal, though being the offspring of Lois Lane there was no doubt that he would find a way to do it. And he would never have to worry about his identity being discovered, because who would think that a guy who had never walked a day in his life was secretly a superhero?

EXCERPT #5:
Suddenly, from behind them, Linda swept in. She was wearing what had to be a designer original gown in Kryptonite green. As she approached she said, "Lois, what a surprise. You're Clark's date. What else do you do together?"

Clark said, "We are reporting partners and …"

"and we are married." Lois finished for him as she brought her left hand up and placed it on his arm so that her ring would be visible.

EXCERPT #6:
After Clark left, Eugene and his students all gathered around the large monitor to track the progress of the infection. They had no idea as to how Mr. Kent was going to accomplish the task, but they needed to see if their work had been effective. The virus had been spreading out from the point of infection, which was Metropolis, and spreading like a dark cloud across the map. The cloud had already enveloped most of the east coast. Suddenly, the marker for the east coast DNS servers changed color and the cloud started to disappear around it. Eugene crowed, "He did it. I don't know how, but Kent did it. I just hope he can get to the other centers before it's too late!"

EXCERPT #7:
Clark Kent had finally arrived in her life. She’d been waiting for him for nearly a decade. Well, about seven years, actually. Looking back to the Editor’s office she saw the door open and watched as Clark exited. Her happiness dissipated as she saw the dejected look on his face. She could read his expressions like a book and at the moment he looked crushed. She frowned and stood. Her first impulse was to go to him. To put her arms around him and comfort him, just like always. But he didn’t know her. And, technically, she didn’t know him either.

EXCERPT #8:
“Lois, a pair of glasses or a Spandex suit doesn’t change who I am. My DNA doesn’t define me. I’m a farm kid, a high school jock, a college grad, a world-traveler, and an award-winning journalist. I’m the sum total of the experiences in my life, and that’s why I could never be threatened by the idea of a guy who shares my DNA. Because he’s a different person — Barry’s life experiences are worlds apart from mine. He might be my clone, but that doesn’t mean he’s me. Just like Wanda isn’t you.”

EXCERPT #9:
This charade was becoming harder and harder to maintain. She was afraid that something would happen and she would blow the whole gig. The one thing she dreaded was Luthor making assumptions and trying to get up close and too personal. She knew that she had been able to fight him off before, but that time his mind had been muddled by the pheromone spray. Without that edge she wasn't sure how she would make out. She thought to herself, <If he ever tries to kiss me on the mouth, I'll kill him myself. This mouth belongs to Clark and Clark alone.>

EXCERPT #10:

Now, here we are, floating together here in what once was my little get-away from the world - literally speaking - but has long since been our get-away. The stars and planets that were once witnesses to my despair and heartache have known mostly happiness and hopefulness since I met Lois. Oh, I've still fled to this place sometimes to clear my head or to be alone with my solitary burden of pain - sometimes over mistakes I've made, sometimes over the pressure of being Superman, sometimes over things outside of my control. But mainly, Lois and I have come to this place together for stolen moments away from everything and everyone, when we can take a few minutes just to appreciate each other and collect ourselves.


You can find my stories as Groobie on the nfic archives and Susan Young on the gfic archives. In other words, you know me as Groobie. wink