CARRIE KARNES-FANNIN
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"THE TRASH BANDIT"

10/29/2020

29 Comments

 
2020 Halloweensie Contest
It's time once again for Susanna Hill's Halloweensie contest. (10 years and going strong!) The challenge: write a kid-friendly story of 100 words or fewer, incorporating the prompt words. This year's words are: skeleton, creep, mask. So, naturally my thoughts turned to these cute little bandits: 
Picture

​THE TRASH BANDIT
by Carrie Karnes-Fannin
 
 

Under
a thin, dark
 moon,
the masked bandit
creeps
 
(hand over hand)
 
along
a thieves’ highway
strung
 
above
 
dented and dusty
trashcans
filled
with
skeletons
of meals past.
 
Gripping the
humming, thrumming
wires,
she stops,
 
(swaying so slightly)
 
and
peeks through
frosted panes
into the
 
(strange, still)
 
wood and stone
dens
of furless
two-legged beasts.
 
 
A silent shadow,
 she takes
what’s needed,
 
and
 
washes her
bandit’s hands
of
the rest.
 
Then,
 
(unseen by
the tame, yawning
tomcat),
 
 
the
masked thief
shakes her striped tail
and
steals
back into
the
 
(singing, thriving)
 
oh-so-wild
night.
 

 
(96 words)
 
​
See & comment on more fun entries at Susanna's blog or look for the #Halloweensie hashtag on Twitter.
​https://susannahill.com/2020/10/29/the-10th-annual-halloweensie-writing-contest-aahhhrrrooooooooo/ 
​
29 Comments
Kalee
10/29/2020 06:09:44 am

Watch out for those furless 2 legged monsters!! :)

Reply
Carrie Karnes Fannin
10/29/2020 06:33:55 am

Ha-ha!! Exactly!

Reply
Elizabeth Volkmann
10/29/2020 07:12:13 am

Love those 'bandits'! Love this poem!

Reply
Carrie Karnes Fannin
10/29/2020 11:16:46 am

Thank you, Elizabeth!

Reply
Shannon Nelsen
10/29/2020 07:50:06 am

Ooo. Creepy and cute! Beautiful poem, Carrie!

Reply
Carrie Karnes Fannin
10/29/2020 11:17:47 am

Thank you, Shannon! "Creepy & cute" --that sums raccoons up, doesn't it? lol. Glad you enjoyed it.

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Melissa Miles
10/29/2020 03:56:55 pm

Now I feel dumb for not immediately thinking of racoons! Lol. Great story.

Reply
Jill Lambert link
10/29/2020 10:25:26 pm

Carrie, you've captured the masked bandit so visually and brilliantly. I especially liked the phrases you inserted in parentheses. Beautiful writing!

Reply
Carrie Karnes Fannin
10/31/2020 11:04:30 am

Thank you, Jill! I appreciate you stopping by & commenting. It was a fun little project.

Reply
Sarah Meade link
10/29/2020 10:58:54 pm

Beautiful! I love the way this is formatted. It makes for a fun read aloud.

Reply
Margaret Aitken
10/30/2020 06:12:29 pm

I absolutely love your structure—It really mirrors the creeping of the masked bandit! Beautiful language too :-)

Reply
Carrie Karnes Fannin
10/31/2020 10:57:32 am

Thank you! That creeping-along-the-wire was what I was going for with the arrangement, so it's good to know that came across.

Reply
Connie Bergstein Dow link
10/31/2020 09:30:57 am

Lovely language and formatting.

Reply
Carrie Karnes Fannin
10/31/2020 10:57:50 am

Thank you!

Reply
Kathy Carroll link
10/31/2020 04:12:15 pm

Love your evocative imagery and the asides! Beautifully atmospheric.

Reply
Jilanne Hoffmann
10/31/2020 06:10:53 pm

I really like the unusual structure of this story. The punctuation and syntax really add to the narrative. Well done!

Reply
Carrie Karnes Fannin
11/1/2020 05:34:04 am

Thank you, Jilanne--I'm glad you enjoyed it. I love the way words look on a page as much as how they sound, so it was fun to play with the arrangement.

Reply
Monica E Acker
11/1/2020 08:14:38 am

I can feel the creeping of the trash bandit in the rhythm you have created. Well done!

Reply
Carrie Karnes Fannin
11/1/2020 08:21:46 am

Thank you, Monica! It's so nice to know it came thru in the piece. It was a fun challenge.

Reply
Chel Owens link
11/1/2020 01:33:16 pm

Great rhyme. You are an excellent poet.

Reply
Nancy Derey Riley
11/1/2020 02:58:18 pm

Nice job. Love trash bandits. Goos luck!

Reply
Christina Dendy link
11/1/2020 04:23:42 pm

What a lovely poem! I love the idea of following the bandits on Halloween!

Reply
Brenda Whitehead link
11/1/2020 08:19:40 pm

Love your way with language, Carrie, you've captured the bandit perfectly! Good luck. :)

Reply
Carrie Karnes Fannin
11/2/2020 04:29:54 am

Thank you so much!

Reply
Diantha Litwer
11/1/2020 10:12:06 pm

Wow! Love the imagery. Fantastic story!

Reply
Kari Gonzalez link
11/2/2020 02:18:02 pm

Love the use of your key words, and furless two-legged beasts! This story is so rich with so few words, excellent story! Thanks for sharing, Carrie!

Reply
Carrie Karnes Fannin link
11/3/2020 08:25:52 am

Thank you so much, Kari! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Reply
Charlotte Dixon
11/11/2020 01:46:19 pm

Carrie, your story is fun, lyrical, and clever just like that rascally raccoon :) Well done lady!

Reply
Carrie Karnes Fannin link
11/11/2020 06:58:19 pm

Thank you, Charlotte! You're always so supportive. I appreciate it a lot.

Reply



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