Oooh, thanks!! I was just thinking about making a thread for us! I've been working on a few story ideas, but I haven't been super excited about any of them. I'm hoping to work some more tonight and tomorrow, though. I don't have time right now, but I'll post some of my ideas here in a bit. I'd love some feedback on the ones you'd most like to draw! :)

Ugh, sorry I never posted my story ideas! I've been having writers block and nothing I write seems to be going anywhere, so I think I might enter a short story I wrote a bit ago. It's pretty short, but I think it's a cute story! I'd love some feedback on it, though, so here it is! 

Jude closed her honey brown eyes just for a moment and let her mind fill with the sound of rushing water. She breathed in the fresh air that was never found in the loud, bustling city where Jude lived. A scent that Jude could only describe as clean and clear filled her freckled nose. She wished she could catch this moment in a jar like she did the fireflies that visited her home in the summer. Jude opened her eyes again before her grandma had seen her close them, and focused her gaze on the pellucid water that housed brightly colored fish. The kayak swayed ever so slightly, sending little ripples through the water. Jude reached her hand out towards the crystal clear river, her fingers just barely skimming the surface. The water was cool, and Jude wasn’t opposed to the idea of jumping into it. The air was hot and humid, so a swim would be quite refreshing.

“Jude, are you paying attention?” her grandmother asked in her slightly accented English.

“Sorry, grandmother, I lost my focus.”

“Ah, it is alright. I know you are quite the daydreamer, my Jude,” she replied with a smile. Jude’s grandmother plunged the oar into the water and out again over and over, without fail, rarely pausing. Jude hoped to be as good a rower as her someday. Their kayak glided past a patch of lily pads, and Jude watched as a little frog leaped into the river, startled by their sudden appearance.

“Grandma?”

“Yes, dear?”

“Has our family always been rowers?”

“Not always, my dear, but for a very long time. Remember that, Jude. We cannot lose such an important tradition. You must teach this art to your grandchildren, as your mother will teach it to your kids.”

“I will remember, Grandma. I promise.”

“Good girl! Now, would you like to row for a bit?”

“Yes!” Jude’s grandmother pulled the wooden oar out of the water and handed it to her eager granddaughter. The pale wood was perfectly smooth, and Jude’s hands fit around it nicely, her fingers falling into the slight imprints that had been formed over the years from the tight grips of her ancestors. Jude stuck it in the water and pushed it backward, following her many memories of watching her mother and grandmother. The water parted for it, but impatiently filled in the space when it left. It wasn’t easy, but Jude wasn’t a quitter and never had been. She rowed down the river, following any suggestions that her grandmother offered her. Slowly, but surely Jude began to get the hang of it, and she smoothly guided the kayak through the water. It would take years for Jude to become a master at the art, like her grandmother, but this was a good start. Jude smiled, and she could have sworn that she saw the reflections of her ancestors smiling back at her in the crystal clear water. 

(thanks for reading through all that, admins!) 

oooh, I really like that! I have a few ideas for art I could do to go along with it. I can post some rough drafts here later

captcha says hah np 

Here is a super bad rough draft. Hopefully the finished thing is ten times better XD Anyway, what do you think of the layout?

hey, pepper! I'm going to use watercolor for the picture. do you think I should make the sky a sunset? I know in your story it wasn't sunset, but if I made the sky blue I feel like it might be too much blue (with the water). I could just try making different shades of blue or slightly different colors... what do you think?

Anything to change before I submit it to the contest?

Any ideas for the 2nd round?