This is my first giveaway contest, hope I get enough support to run this going forward as well. I want to sponsor many more such contests in the future. ![story](https://steemitimages.com/DQmekjW5484PnLdQRAgoTvkL1yFR8AybhbSmnHzTk4yBDQh/learn.jpg) [**Image Credit**](https://pixabay.com/en/narrative-history-dream-tell-794978/) ![divider-red](https://i.imgur.com/5hluL8h.png) ## Two Sentence Story Contest Rules ### Prize I will give away all of the SBD earned from this post to the top three stories. 1. First Prize: 50% of the SBD earned 2. Second Prize: 30% of the SBD earned 3. Third Prize: 20% of the SBD earned On top of this, I will reward the top referrer with free sponsorship to lifetime upvotes from @steembasicincome. The reward fund for the top three will be at least 1 SBD. That is, if the reward fund does not reach 1 SBD, I will pay the balance. So effectively, the winner will win a minimum of 0.5 SBD, the first runners-up a minimum of 0.3 SBD and second runners-up a minimum of 0.2 SBD. It's a small guarantee, but a guarantee nevertheless. I am a plankton after all. ![divider-red](https://i.imgur.com/5hluL8h.png) ### Mandatory Rules 1. Upvote this post. 2. Write an original two sentence story. 3. Add a copyright free image which goes with the story and cite image source. Avoid NSFW. 4. Mention the name of the person from whom you came to know about the contest. If it is directly from me, mention my name. This is very important for me to identify the person who referred the most number of participants and reward the top referrer. This is just one small step for you but can reward someone for helping you find this contest. 5. Post your response as a comment on this post. See sample response below for clarity. ![divider-red](https://i.imgur.com/5hluL8h.png) ### Recommended but Optional Rules 1. Follow me if you want to be the first to know the results and about future contests 2. Refer others for the chance to win the @steembasicincome lifetime vote. You can refer in any and all of several ways possible: a. Resteem this post b. Refer others to this contest by tagging them in your comment (separate comment or story comment) c. Spread through word of mouth ![divider-red](https://i.imgur.com/5hluL8h.png) ### Sample Response Here is a sample response, the last line for nomination is optional. The story is pathetic, I am sure you guys will do much better :). Only the last line with the nomination is optional. ----------------------- **She could hear someone breathing in the room. The coffin started to move.** ![coffin](https://steemitimages.com/DQmSoKnkWxBnSfbZUs1uxobmmALDhHyb6eViGP49ispoBmN/coffin.jpg) **Image Credit: @svkrulze** **Referred by:** @myfriend1 **Nominate:** @myfriend2, @myfriend3, @myfriend3 ----------------------- ![divider-red](https://i.imgur.com/5hluL8h.png) ### Contest Timeline and Results The contest will remain open until this post goes for payout which means, you can post your response up until exactly seven days from when this post is published. I will probably take a couple of days after that to declare the winners and send out the rewards. ### Criteria for judging There are no such criteria really. Writing is an art and whether you like it or not is subjective. So winning or losing does not make a story great or worse. But yes, there are some universal markers of good stories. Good stories evoke some kind of a strong emotion in you - love, anger, hatred, sadness, melancholiness, nostalgia... there are myriad emotions which can be tickled through words and sentences. I will select the ones which evoke such responses from me. No maths there. ![divider-red](https://i.imgur.com/5hluL8h.png) ### Backstory I just crossed 200 followers a couple of days ago. My friend @amymya from @cryptoempire became my 200th follower which made it even more special. I know 200 followers is not a big deal but for someone like me who is just getting started, it's certainly an important milestone. I have been thinking about starting a series of contests of my own for quite some time now but was postponing it because I was not sure if I would get enough responses. When I crossed 200, I finally decided to give it a shot. ![divider-red](https://i.imgur.com/5hluL8h.png) ### Inspiration behind the Contest Format The format of my contest is inspired by @anjkara's [Six-word story contest](https://steemit.com/writing/@anjkara/six-word-story-contest-4). I regularly take part and encourage you guys to take part there as well. It's a short and sweet contest which I like a lot. I wanted to keep my contest short and sweet as well but also a little different to make it interesting. I kept thinking about it, didn't like most of the ideas when this 200 follower thing happened. That gave me the idea for my contest - I would run a "two sentence" story contest to celebrate my first 200 followers. Depending on the response I get this time, I plan to run this contest in the future as well. So what are you waiting for? Fire away… It's pretty easy really. Looking towards reading some great stories. Follow @moneyinfant to know about many such contests from his daily issues of Steemit Writing Contests. ![divider-red](https://i.imgur.com/5hluL8h.png) ## Goodies: Benefits for You (Referral Links) #### [Sell Votes on SmartSteem](https://smartsteem.com?r=svkrulze) #### [Get Followers and Upvotes on SteemFollower](https://steemfollower.com/?r=9610) #### [Get Free Crypto Coins](https://steemit.com/giveaway/@svkrulze/get-free-coins-from-upcoming-icos-2018-02-14-update) ![free-crypto2.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmeFofW5ETSQDHaZwd2CkeykCVoRKiMZvxt5ty94UVnaYQ/free-crypto2.jpg) [**Image Credit**](https://pixabay.com/en/money-coins-finance-currency-2696219/) ![divider-red](https://i.imgur.com/5hluL8h.png) ![upvote-share-resteem](https://i.imgur.com/kaZ7Nc1.png) [![steem-engine.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmbtw9Nhzi2LmAoNbt9jiCcwpHbkZTAm6qxaKaoDPJs6tu/steem-engine.png)](https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@thesteemengine/introducing-the-steem-engine-initiative) [![crypto-empire](https://steemitimages.com/DQmNeN2kKqHscZ1d9fh9M7bdzScJzj5U1FjZni213TKF5mk/crypto-empire-legionnaire-small.png)](https://steemit.com/steemit/@spiritualmax/crypto-empire-meet-my-community) **Click on the banners to learn more about each community** ![leave-comment.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmRWh7yPFAdjrbx2hi4Qgk8nNrp7zuNC7NQSMFwW3kmASu/leave-comment.png)