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 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 Tuesday, January 18, 2015, by 11:59 p.m (Pacific Time Zone).
More elaborate quiz instructions can be found
here .
Please post your answers
HERE .
Good luck!
Susan
B
E
S
T
*
S
H
O
R
T
*
S
T
O
R
I
E
S
*********
QUOTE #1:
Never in his neatly ordered life of pursuing scientific perfection had he ever envisioned experiencing the mysterious equation for falling in love.
QUOTE #2:
“He’s tied up in the sled and can’t do any more harm. No need to call the police.”
QUOTE #3:
His friend had been wrong. She was imperfect.
QUOTE #4:
“But he must have been here. Who else could have melted the metal?”
QUOTE #5:
“Did I mention that the loser buys the snacks?” Lois teased back.
QUOTE #6:
“Have a cookie? I made these just for you.”
QUOTE #7:
“Man, dude, you’re just gonna have to suck it up and call your insurance, you know?”
QUOTE #8:
"Lois, I'm scared."
QUOTE #9:
“Well, it’s about time. I was wondering when the two of you were going to finally figure it out and need to be taken home.”
QUOTE #10:
“Why would someone put coal in my stocking?”
*
*
*
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
*
*
*
S
P
A
C
E
*
*
*
EXCERPT #1:
Her voice — soft and gentle with a suggestion of sadness — whispered into his chest, “Bernard, I wish to remain here in Metropolis longer, but sadly I must return to my duties and classes at the Sorbonne …”
EXCERPT #2:
“I know your name because …” She took a dramatic pause and Lois nearly rolled her eyes. Theatre had never been her thing. Dramatics were … well, dramatic. Pointless. “because it’s my name.”
EXCERPT #3:
By Lucy’s description, Lois assumed the man to be head of a criminal organization and probably a womanizer. Perhaps she might get an article out of it, if she was lucky. If she were unlucky, her boss would be bailing her out of jail for assault, again.
EXCERPT #4:
Someone must have removed the kryptonite, leaving the man to be no more than a human-shaped piece of metal. This isn’t right. It was a necessary evil to save Lucy and Lois and everyone else, but that still doesn’t make it right.
EXCERPT #5:
Superman had been roped into the event, despite Clark’s initial hesitation. He was still getting used to his alter-ego’s celebrity status. But all of the proceeds were going to charity, so how could he possibly say no?
EXCERPT #6:
Asabi permitted himself the barest hint of a smile as he drove off of the campus. That had gone even more easily than he had anticipated. Mr. Luthor had, as always, been correct; all the students needed was a little encouragement to do what they had wished to do anyway.
EXCERPT #7:
“Seriously, Clark. Go…” She made the vaguest of gestures away from where they were standing. “Go change back into the suit, then come back and… do something Superman-ish —” She grinned at him as he chuckled, but continued, “Inspect the area as if you planned all along to come back. Then… you know…” Another vague hand gesture. “Go over there and use your vision thingy — burn your signature into it.”
EXCERPT #8:
What would she do, if their places were reversed? She liked to think that she could be as brave as he was. If it truly was a case of being dead either way, it certainly seemed worth the risk. Worth the risk, though, didn't translate to being any easier to do. Did it comfort him at all to know that his death would be a noble sacrifice? It was terribly unfair that Superman would be lauded for generations to come, while Clark Kent would fade into obscurity, mourned only by the handful of people who knew the truth.
EXCERPT #9:
Diana looked hurt and confused. Clark wished he could make it clearer for her. “Kal--” she began, but he had to interrupt.
“That’s another thing. I don’t like being called Kal. My name is Clark Kent. Superman, or Kal’El, is what I can do. Clark is who I am. He’s the guy who goes to visit his parents in Kansas on the weekends and works at the Daily Planet with Lois Lane. And I’m sorry, I don’t mean any offence, but she is the most amazing woman I’ve ever met in my life. And I could never cheat on her willingly.”
EXCERPT #10:
As he entered the foyer and began wrestling out of his coat, he breathed deeply, the myriad scents of fir trees and ginger snaps, of hot apple cider and cinnamon stimulating the G-protein coupled receptors on the olfactory receptor neurons in his superior nasal cavity, generating a unique pattern of neuronal depolarization that positively breathed the word ‘Christmas.’
