Welcome to the Steemit Story Chain

Good evening fellow Steemers, I hope you're doing well. It's time for another Steemit Story Chain where I normally ask you to continue writing a story that I start. However, for the past couple of weeks I have been asking you to also start the story so you have complete ownership of the story chain from start to finish. The first time I adopted this new format I had a fantastic response, but last week's story chain didn't go so well.

It's really important that everyone sticks to the rules and only writes a short paragraph or two. No one wants to be met with a wall of text for just one story part, and the first part of the story this week while superbly written was incredibly long and probably dissuaded others from taking part. We have had long parts before, later on in the chain it becomes less of a problem and so it has not really been an issue. But as I say please bear in mind you only need to write a couple of paragraphs at most.

I would still like to say thank you to those that took part in last week's story chain, particularly @komaat and @dreamingirwin who demonstrated some great writing talent. The quality of writing from both of you was very impressive to say the least. However, after some deliberation I have determined a winner.

@dreamingirwin

You completely immersed yourself in the story that @komaat had created and developed it beautifully. You captured the essence of the narrative and through your writing style painted the imagery of the scenes in my mind very effectively, giving us a mild but suspenseful conclusion of the piece with the police officer's expression of curiosity.

You have won 100 Whaleshares. Please reply with your Bitshares account information and I will send the Whaleshares to your account immediately. Enjoy! If you don't have an account don't worry it's very simple and completely free to set one up here - https://bitshares.openledger.info/?r=akrid-1.

A reminder of the winning part is detailed below:

Part 2

Sarah just stared at the piece of paper in utter bewilderment. Droplets of rain began to fall onto it at a faster pace. She quickly glanced around, hoping to see someone she could ask for help. "Damn it", she thought, remembering that she had left her phone at home on the charger. Issuing the command to stay towards Joey, and after verifying that he was listening. Sarah slowly walk towards the mound of dirt. As she got closer to it, it was clear to her that there was more then just a skull underneath the mound. Having watched more than her share of investigated shows, she was not regretting having picked up a piece of paper. The falling rain and slowly increasing it's pace. Carefully folding the paper, she sighed realizing that she had no pockets.

As she pondered the situation, Joey let out a sigh. Looking over at Joey, who was staring at her pleadingly while beginning to whimper. Sarah walked over to Joey, and said, "come on boy" as should begin to run back towards business district. The police station was not too far from where she was now standing. Though she had not originally intended to run the distance back, at this point it was all she could do. Her legs tremble as she ran down the hill, though she was impressed by their resilience. She paid little attention to the sites around her, as she ran to the police station. Even the smell of the bakery was but a fleeting impression.

Her mind was filled with thoughts of what had just occurred. Different scenarios were now streaming through her thoughts, occasionally interrupted by the discomfort of having water drip into her eyes. Both her and Joey we're completely soaked, though Joey did not seem to mind as much. She did her best to shake off the streams of water flowing down her wrist and through her fingertips. There was little she could do to keep the note grasped tightly in her hands from getting wet. She could even feel the moisture squishing between her toes, as water drip down her yoga pants and into her sneakers.

As she made her way through the business district, she conscious glanced the streets. Hoping to find someone that could help. Yet there was no one, it was just her and Joey. A sense of relief came over her as the police station came within view. Though she had seen the classic stone building, with the large stone steps, an tall stone pillars before. This was probably the first time she felt so much joy in seeing it. Running up the stairs, and holding the door open for Joey. She made her way towards the reception desk. Sitting at the desk was an older man, with a neatly trimmed beard, thick brown glasses, and wearing the standard police uniform.

His eyes widened as he saw Sarah approaching. " Are you okay!", he exclaimed. Sarah was now leaning forward with both hands on the desk, trying to catch your breath. The moisture from her hands dripping onto the desktop surface. Slightly panting Sarah begin to recount her story. Starting with her run, describing the skull in the mound of dirt, handing over the now soaked note, an ending with her run to the police station. The officer then looked questioningly at the note, and back at Sarah.

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Now moving on to this week's story chain. As I previously mentioned I am going to let you guys start the story again, but please remember the rules of the contest. So instead of me starting the story again this week you will. If you wish to enter the contest please ensure you upvote and resteem this post. Then all you need to do is use the comment box to start and continue the story. Remember to keep it reasonably short and only one entry per Steemer. Make sure you number the part of the story you are writing. You can adopt any genre and style you wish. Be as ambitious and original as you can, and have fun with it!

This contest is sponsored by Whaleshares and I owe a big thank you to @akrid and @officialfuzzy. There are 100 Whaleshares for the winning entry. If you would like to learn more about Whaleshares and how they can increase your post rewards please visit @eirik/guide-on-how-to-use-whaleshares-updated-version where @eirik will gladly explain more to you.

What I am looking for in order to determine the winning entry is as follows:

• A strong sense of imagination
• Creative intelligence
• Originality
• Narrative fluidity (ensuring the story chain links smoothly)
• Use of language, grammar and syntax (we need to understand what you're saying!)

The winner will be announced in a week's time. A new post will be published then announcing the winner along with a new story chain.

Part One of Your Story

Please begin writing the story.