Last Friday, the Features section officially announced its 100 Word Short Story Contest. Considering that hardly anyone takes Friday classes anymore and that, apparently, even less people read The Oracle on those fine days, I wanted to take today to announce it within the section.

When I first brought up the idea of the 100 Word Short Story Contest, the biggest question everyone around here wanted to know was whether 100 words was really enough to tell a story. We all knew that the stories had to be very short, otherwise we wouldn’t have room to print them, but some were worried that 100 words was just too short.

But I was set on 100 words from the start, partly because I had the advantage of actually having seen a 100-word story that worked well. I knew that we could get enough solid entries to make the contest a success.

For those around here who had never read one though, some concrete evidence was needed to make the idea seem more plausible. So I took a sip of my own poison and wrote a 100-word story of my own.

The story I wrote, from the first idea to the final edit, took me less than an hour to complete. So this isn’t a monumental writing task or anything. Hopefully, by now, you’re all out of excuses, so there’s nothing left except for you to sit down and write a story of your own. And if you’re still not sold, just think about that fat, $25 (Hey, there is a budget crisis going on, you know.) award you’ll get if you win.

Just make sure you follow all the rules (They’re listed in the ad on Page 10).

You can e-mail me if you have any questions about the contest, but, as the rules state, you can’t e-mail your submissions. They have to be brought to The Oracle’s office in person.

And now, the moment I know you’ve all been waiting for, the story I wrote:

“Done In”

The problem wasn’t in planning. Chase had gone over the sequence in his head until he knew he was comfortable. Be patient. Approach the counter just like a normal customer. Be cool. He paused for a moment, letting his eyes adjust to the placid florescent light. This was not a cowboy job. The Beretta sagging in his pocket wasn’t even loaded. Chase stepped up to the counter and pulled out his wallet. Just like a normal customer, he thought. The teller did exactly as the note instructed.

But when he got into his car, Chase realized his wallet was missing.