Hi FoLCs!
This is Kerth Quiz #2 - Best Short Story (11-50k).
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 Short Story, 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 16 (because over 25 stories qualified and I wanted to give you more of a chance to earn points).
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 Wednesday, January 22th 2014, by 11:59 p.m.
More elaborate quiz instructions can be found
here .
Please post your answers
here .
Good luck!
Virginia
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QUOTE #1:
“Hi, this is the home of Lois and Clark. We’re sorry we can’t take your call but if you leave a message someone will get back to you when he can.”
QUOTE #2:
“I’m not working with her, Chief.” It was all he could do to keep his voice even. “She’s a rookie. I’ll spend half my time having to keep her alive.”
QUOTE #3:
“I’m a guy,” Clark said in mock consternation. “It’s against the guy code to ask for directions.”
QUOTE #4:
Thinking about all that had happened he had a broad smile as he replied, “It’s a small town. What could happen?”
QUOTE #5:
“The truth hurts, but it also sets you free. I’ve been forced to face a few truths in the last couple of hours, and I have a feeling there are a few more waiting to show themselves to me, now that I’m willing to look. So, please, just wait for me. Don’t give up on me, ok?”
QUOTE #6:
“But, she’s right,” his counterpart went on. “These things you can do don’t change who you are. You were raised to be Clark Kent, and you’re
still Clark Kent, and no matter how strange your life gets at times, you will always
be Clark Kent.”
QUOTE #7:
“Hi, honey,” she said as she entered the room. “You won’t believe what happened. Now, don’t hurt him, but would you believe that Clark Kent snuck in here and kissed me? I think you need to keep an eye on him.”
QUOTE #8:
“I have it in my apartment. I’ve been taking care of it for him. So if
anyone is having Superman’s love child, I guess
I am.”
QUOTE #9:
“Clark, I’m fine. I don’t need a first aid kit.”
QUOTE #10:
“So,” she began in her usual direct, no-nonsense manner. “Do you want to go out for dinner tonight?”
QUOTE #11:
“Oh, by the by, we set up a nice little house-warming present for you. In around fifteen minutes the cave’s roof will collapse. I trust these last minutes shall be pleasant!”
QUOTE #12:
“See, I told you! You haven’t even met her, and you’re afraid of her,” Lois went on. “She’s a horrible, evil woman, Clark! She makes you doubt yourself and those around you. She says she only wants the best for me, but I don’t think that’s true. She only wants what she wants for me, not what I want.”
QUOTE #13:
“May I be of some assistance, Mrs. Kent?”
QUOTE #14:
“What, you don’t think that my natural charm and good looks are enough to interest a woman like Lois Lane?”
QUOTE #15:
“No.” Mike replied. “I’m here to tell you that I am no longer assigned to your family as your whitelighter.”
QUOTE #16:
“You think Superman is casing my apartment?” he teased, hoping to lighten her tension.
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EXCERPT #1:
I hadn’t intended it that way. I really hadn’t. I just never found anywhere, then gradually stopped looking. Clark never once asked me how my apartment hunting was going. I thought that strange; that such a great friend would not to be interested in something so important. Looking back now I can see exactly why he never asked.
EXCERPT #2:
The hard shove from his left was almost as unexpected as the bullet that slammed into the wall where his head hand been. He felt the warmth of her body sprawled out on his for the briefest of moments, and then it was gone.
EXCERPT #3:
The image in Clark’s mind immediately shifted to himself as Superman, flying, followed by a flying dog wearing a red cape. How did Lois have this power over him?
EXCERPT #4:
She pulled out her pad computer and surfed to a dictionary site. She typed in her word and searched. She found an entry and showed it to Jon. CHUMPY
EXCERPT #5:
She tried to break it off gently. She quit her job at LNN, citing personal reasons. She didn’t refuse to see Lex; she didn’t return his gifts. These moves would have made enticed him in his hunt. She tried instead to be boring — yesterday’s news. She had cut most of the ties but knew, as long as his attention, like that of a king cobra, was still on her, she wasn’t safe.
EXCERPT #6:
Just as the heat began to well up, the man moved. Clark slammed his eyes shut, silently cursing himself. He felt something being slipped onto his face.
EXCERPT #7:
As soon as he arrived, Zara had insisted that he get trained in controlling and using his latent telepathic abilities. Before the second week of training was complete, his abilities had grown to the point where he could communicate mentally with anyone on the planet. Shortly thereafter he realized he was hearing Lois’s thoughts.
EXCERPT #8:
What was it that woke her up? It was still dark outside. She looked to the balcony, a source of light from the streetlight below. A large figure was shadowed on the balcony’s rail. It looked like a man, a big man, head cocked to the side like some giant bird. Maybe she was hallucinating? Just as she decided to go investigate, the man raised his head sharply, then with a flutter of cape he was gone. A soft thud sounded just as he took off.
EXCERPT #9:
It was sometimes easy to overlook the admittedly magnificent physique he hid behind the business suits and wild ties. It wasn’t until you saw him in more casual clothes that you realised how muscular he actually was. Or in a towel, her memory reminded her. And he had the face to match the body. All in all, her partner — her best friend — was one very attractive man.
EXCERPT #10:
She had tried to talk to him about it. He usually just told her brusquely that there were things he had to do. He never said ‘alone,’ but the word resounded between them with every lame excuse. Sometimes she got the feeling that he wanted to tell her more, but if he did, it had never passed his lips. She had probably just imagined desperation she had sometimes glimpsed in his eyes.
EXCERPT #11:
Marta paused; two members of her young audience were silent, their milk and cake forgotten. Michael, on the other hand, had heard his grandmother tell this story on numerous occasions. Since this was his favorite part of the tale, he allowed his usually disciplined mind to drift off and imagined himself in the role of Surman …
EXCERPT #12:
Clark’s jaw dropped. He must have misunderstood her. Hugh. Yes, she must have said that name. She couldn’t possibly mean him. Either way, his voice seemed caught in his throat, not that he knew what to say to that announcement anyway. He continued to stare at her, and she continued to stare at him as the seconds ticked past. It was as if Clark could hear every clock in the neighborhood, in the city, ticking in slow motion in his ears.
EXCERPT #13:
The sound of another crash brought Superman back to reality. His spine straightened and he frantically turned his head to follow the noise. The clear glass vase that had once held a collection of sand, shells and pebbles was now scattered across the hardwood floor in pieces. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
EXCERPT #14:
Whoever was doing the camera work shifted perspective to the inside of the hole. The captive was sprawled across something that resided at the bottom of the hole. When he stood up next to it they could clearly see that it was a coffin. The camera shifted to the man with the gun. There was no sound but it was evident that words were being exchanged. He gestured aggressively with the gun and the point of view shifted back to the victim in the hole. When he looked up at his captors the camera got a good, full view of his face.
EXCERPT #15:
Clark took Lois in his arms and rose up into the air. When they were only about forty feet above the ground they suddenly shimmered into a cloud of fireflies then disappeared. The next instant they both appeared in their old bedroom and Clark glanced around in surprise.
EXCERPT #16:
Their eyes met for a long moment. In the space of a few heartbeats Lois comprehended that Clark truly meant it. She realized that he had been watching out for her since their first story together. Clark had saved her life almost as many times as Superman. He had even done one better than Superman. It had been Clark, not Superman, who breathed life back into her after Sebastian Finn tried to strangle her. It was Clark who had murmured reassurances and rocked her in his arms on her kitchen floor. She had slept on his couch that night and now he was offering her that same security.
