Lanzarote residents have the last few days to send in their micro-stories for the XIV edition of the Radio Lanzarote Summer 2024 Micro-story Contest. Participation in the contest will be available until August 31st.
On this occasion, the contest pays tribute to the writer Miguel de Unamuno, as it marks the centenary of his exile to Fuerteventura. Unamuno arrived on the island of Fuerteventura on March 10, 1924, and said of it: "These bare hills look like camel humps, and the outline of these is cut out on them. It is a camel-like land."
In this edition, participants must submit a micro-story that must not exceed 100 words, not including the introductory text that we will provide below. The stories will have the same beginning, which is one of the first sentences from the beginning of his work Mist: “Just then, not a dog but a pretty girl passed by on the street, and after her eyes went Augusto, drawn like a magnet and without realizing it...” From this beginning, participants must imagine what happens next.
Each author may submit a maximum of five stories, which may be signed with a pseudonym, although they must always indicate a name and contact telephone number. Likewise, the stories should be sent to the following address: concursorelatos@lanzarotemedia.net. Once again, the Tourist Centers are collaborating with the contest, whose deadline for submitting texts is August 31st.
A jury made up of journalists from Radio Lanzarote and La Voz de Lanzarote will choose three winning stories and seven finalists. The contest results will be announced in the second half of September. The winner of the first prize will receive a dinner for two at the Jameos del Agua restaurant, while the second prize is one of the unique experiences for two people in Montañas del Fuego. Finally, the third prize is a brunch at the Jardín de Cactus. All prizes are for adults.
As the stories are received, they will be published in La Voz de Lanzarote. The author's name will not appear in the publication. Only after the results are announced will the names of the winning and finalist authors be known. The latest micro-stories for this literary contest continue to arrive at the editorial office:
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"Just then, not a dog but a pretty girl passed by on the street, and after her eyes went Augusto, drawn like a magnet and without realizing it, his thoughts flew towards her, like the crimson red of her thirsty mouth. Like a pitcher, for in that land of sand, any green patch tempts a being. Under his beard, with his paper flourishes resting on his shirt, he was at ease. He approached the young woman and wished to embrace her, feeling her dunes even without the touch of her skin. And... with a start, he jumped as he felt his bow tie disappear, for more than a young woman, she is a goat."
Title: Augusto's Confusion
Just then, not a dog but a pretty girl passed by on the street, and after her eyes went Augusto, drawn like a magnet and without realizing it. After following her for a while, the woman stopped in front of a shop, which he took advantage of to hide behind a vehicle. While he waited, captivated by the grace and rhythm with which she moved her hips, Augusto decided that he had to take the initiative. When she came out of the shop, there he was, waiting for her, to blurt out a "Gorgeous!" in the warmest, most daring and seductive tone he could muster. Without giving it any importance, the woman looked at him understandingly and replied affectionately: "Augusto, it's your mother."
Title: My Moon
Just then, not a dog but a pretty girl passed by on the street, and after her eyes went Augusto, drawn like a magnet and without realizing it, he followed her to a quiet corner, for there was the girl's lair. Being a cinder maid and Augusto recently paid, he followed her into a room in the tavern. Magic arose while the minstrels sang on stage. Nine months later, she surprised Augusto, for the girl was pregnant. She gave birth to a girl as beautiful as the moon, loved by both from here to the grave.
Title: Canine
Just then, not a dog but a pretty girl passed by on the street, and after her eyes went Augusto, drawn like a magnet and without realizing it, he chased her with his head held high, close to her skirt. The moonless night and the fog enveloped the great city. They walked about a kilometer when the girl noticed his presence. She turned around, startled, and took something wrapped in a cloth out of her bag. Seeing Augusto, she relaxed and dropped a bone.
"Here, sweet canine," she exclaimed.
He took it with his snout, barked, and continued on his way in the opposite direction.
Title: The Price of Bread
Just then, not a dog but a pretty girl passed by on the street, and after her eyes went Augusto, the town constable, shouted, "Stop, thief!" The frightened girl started to run. Almost breathless, she kept running while Augusto got closer and closer. A thud was heard in the silence of the night, and the unconscious girl fell to the ground. Wrapped in a white cloth, she dropped a freshly baked loaf of bread that she had stolen from the baker just minutes before. Augusto, cynical and aggressive, continued to beat her. Only the sound of the girl's broken teeth against the cobblestones could be heard. Augusto didn't stop until she stopped breathing.
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"Just then, not a dog but a pretty girl passed by on the street, and after her eyes went Augusto, drawn like a magnet and without realizing it..."
...As soon as he saw her graceful figure, he knew it was her. It couldn't be anyone else. He would recognize her wherever he saw her as long as he had a thread of life and any of his senses left.
Attracted by the indescribable magnetism that always characterized her, a strange force impelled Augusto to follow her, but his feet stopped even before he started walking. His already meager reasoning reminded him that she was not the same. Possibly, neither was he. Being aware of this terrified him, so he preferred to stay longing for what would never return.
Title: Lovelorn
Just then, not a dog but a pretty girl passed by on the street, and after her eyes went Augusto, drawn like a magnet and without realizing it...
With a light step and an intellectual air, he tried to play it cool and provoke a chance encounter, but she, who had seen through him and knew the streets of Puerto Cabras well, managed to give him the slip and reach the Civil Guard barracks, reporting the incident.
Two burly guards, with capes and mustaches, went out looking for him, and in a moment, Augusto found himself stammering incoherent explanations in a damp and smelly cell, where he had to spend the night.
The next day, Don Miguel, his respected father, had the good grace to go and rescue him, proving that he was just a harmless blunderer.
Title: Bon Appétit
Just then, not a dog but a pretty girl passed by on the street, and after her eyes went Augusto, drawn like a magnet and without realizing it. He followed her to a gloomy alley, where the darkness thickened with each step. Suddenly, she turned to him, and her face transformed into a horrendous grimace, her fangs, long and sharp, defying the laws of nature. Augusto tried to back away, but misfortune had already sealed his fate; a deathly cold enveloped him, while the girl's spectral laughter echoed in the darkness like a mournful echo.
"Bon appétit," she murmured, placing her lips on her prey's neck.
Title: A Fruitful Hunt
Just then, not a dog but a pretty girl passed by on the street, and after her eyes went Augusto, drawn like a magnet and without realizing it. He followed her to an alley, fueling in his mind the basest instincts and perversions that he planned to impose on her without consent. However, in an instant, she turned with precision, drawing a knife that gleamed under the dim light. Before Augusto could react, he felt the icy steel brush against his neck.
"A young boy with healthy organs... a fruitful hunt today," she murmured in an icy voice.
Augusto's last vision was the girl's glacial smile as his choked cry of terror faded into the silence of the night.
Title: The Lady
Just then, not a dog but a pretty girl passed by on the street, and after her eyes went Augusto, drawn like a magnet and without realizing it. He followed her to the end of the avenue, the lady stopped and looked at him. An oppressive feeling of grief invaded every corner of his soul. He tried to run away from her, and when he turned around, he saw his own body lying inert on the asphalt, eyes open and bloodied, with a dog in his hands, which he had saved from being run over by a car just minutes before. The crowd gathered around the corpse.
"Shall we go?"
The lady extended a bony hand, and when he grabbed her stiff fingers, they both vanished, as if they had never been there.
Title: Camel-like Structure
"Just then, not a dog but a pretty girl passed by on the street, and after her eyes went Augusto, drawn like a magnet and without realizing it."
"Excuse me, your 'excellency,' but I didn't exactly go 'after her eyes'...
"Just then, not a dog but a pretty girl passed by on the street, and after her camel-like structure went Augusto, drawn like a magnet and without realizing it."
"That's what happened... Oh... That girl had two good humps..."
Title: Mist
"Just then, not a dog but a pretty girl passed by on the street, and after her eyes went Augusto, drawn like a magnet and without realizing it...
After a while, the girl realized that she was being followed, she turned around, and her tormenting eyes fixed on those of poor Augusto, who instantly became bewildered (that is, his vision became clouded)...
Well, yes, unfortunate Augusto's vision became clouded, and even his understanding... That's why I chose Mist as the title of this unfortunate story."
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Just then, not a dog but a pretty girl passed by on the street, and after her eyes went Augusto, drawn like a magnet and without realizing it. 'What a handsome and discreet young woman,' he said to himself. He followed her, and when she was entering a house, Augusto hid around the corner. He was captivated. He decided to wait, impatiently.
After a while, she came out again, her brown complexion glowing under the sun. She went to the Plaza Mayor, sitting on a cafe terrace. 'This is my chance,' thought Augusto. 'Good afternoon, madam, may I?' Pretty girl: 'Of course, sir, sit down, they serve some of the best coffee in the world here.'
Balearic Island
Title: Infinite Dance
Just then, not a dog but a pretty girl passed by on the street, and after her eyes went Augusto, drawn like a magnet and without realizing it.
Night had already fallen, and Adelaida was on her way to the magicians' ball held during the town's festivities. The square was dressed in magical lighting worthy of the best coincidences, those that life only gives you on rare occasions. Augusto, between nervous and blushing, didn't hesitate for a second to invite her to dance. Without either of them knowing it, it would be the first of many dances that life would give them.
A dance couple united to the infinity of the universe.
Title: Fleeting Memory
Just then, not a dog but a pretty girl passed by on the street, and after her eyes went Augusto, drawn like a magnet and without realizing it.
The truth is that Adelaida already knew about the handsome young man's existence. The fact that Augusto didn't know about her was very simple: Adelaida tried to go through life without attracting much attention, but if something is meant for you, it will find a way to appear no matter how much you want to stop it.
After their eyes met, their world stopped, and time played with the seconds, accelerating them like their heartbeats. A look from the past made them recognize each other. They already knew each other from another life. A life where they loved each other deeply without fear.
Title: Infinite Blue
Just then, not a dog but a pretty girl passed by on the street, and after her eyes went Augusto, drawn like a magnet and without realizing it, whose heart, until now inert, felt for the first time one of those heartbeats that are never forgotten, a heartbeat that squeezes your soul, devouring every part of your being, crying out for a gentle caress of tenderness from that blue-eyed girl.
The immensity of the ocean slept in those eyes full of life. Eyes that never met Augusto's melancholic heart again.
Title: Timanfaya's Eyes
Just then, not a dog but a pretty girl passed by on the street, and after her eyes went Augusto, drawn like a magnet and without realizing it. Hypnotized by those black eyes that reminded him of Timanfaya: serene, enigmatic, and magical. They had in common that mystery that traps you and doesn't let you return to reality, since living in the eyes of that girl was a space where Augusto sensed that his empty and meaningless life had given a truce to the hope of being loved.
Adelaida's gaze saved the broken soul of that dreamy boy without her knowing it.
Title: Accomplice Solitude
Just then, not a dog but a pretty girl passed by on the street, and after her eyes went Augusto, drawn like a magnet and without realizing it.
The icy solitude, bored with its condition, planned that encounter between the two young people. It wanted to witness what it was like to feel accompanied.
Every afternoon, under the watchful eye of solitude, Adelaida and Augusto coincided at the same point in the market until one March day, Augusto gathered his courage and invited the young girl out.
For the first time, solitude wished to stop being who it was to share its solitude with someone. From then on, solitude would escape from its hiding place to observe the power of love between two humans who met thanks to it.
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Just then, not a dog but a pretty girl passed by on the street, and after her eyes went Augusto, drawn like a magnet and without realizing it. 'What a handsome and discreet young woman,' he said to himself. He followed her, and when she was entering a house, Augusto hid around the corner. He was captivated. He decided to wait, impatiently.
After a while, she came out again, her brown complexion glowing under the sun. She went to the Plaza Mayor, sitting on a cafe terrace. 'This is my chance,' thought Augusto. 'Good afternoon, madam, may I?' Pretty girl: 'Of course, sir, sit down, they serve some of the best coffee in the world here.'
Balearic Island
Title: The Cigarette
Just then, not a dog but a pretty girl passed by on the street, and after her eyes went Augusto, drawn like a magnet and without realizing it. He soon came to his senses; the long-awaited cigarette of the evening walk had almost vanished, and it was time to go home. He looked, in his other hand, at the leash of the animal to which he pretends to give freedom every afternoon in the form of a loose rein. This time, the mutt was taking longer than usual to go around the block. He walked to the corner and saw him there: putting on a flirtatious show for two hotties who were laughing at his antics. "Oh, my friend, you'll learn from this! Tonight, you sleep in the doghouse." Turning around, he threw the cigarette butt, entered the doorway, and closed it.
Title: Spell
Just then, not a dog but a pretty girl passed by on the street, and after her eyes went Augusto, drawn like a magnet and without realizing it.
He wasn't able to perceive that the temperature was rising steadily until it coincided with the stimuli. He indicated he was open to making a pact with the sublime, imagining that walking after a pretty girl could only correspond to some manifest evil of his mentor Migueldeu or the Basque invention Goti, pregnant and from that moment on, elusive, estranged enemy friend.
"I've been bewitched!" he blurted out, noticing that all his bones were rushing to accompany the destinies of a unique girl.
He reversed the spell, forcing himself to resort to the rogue Sebastian Sallow and his explosive curse. At that moment, he exclaimed: "May history forgive me!"
Title: Hope
Just then, not a dog but a pretty girl passed by on the street, and after her eyes went Augusto, drawn like a magnet and without realizing it, impressed by her beauty, he decided to follow her. He watched her stroll through the Varadero square in Puerto del Carmen in Lanzarote, where she delighted in the views of the pier and its charm at sunset. After a while, Augusto discovered a sad look in the girl's eyes, he approached her, offering her affection, but his effort was useless, behind those beautiful eyes, Eugenia, held much pain from the experience of heartbreak she had lived, so much so that she closed the doors of love in her life. Augusto walked away, although attentive to the moment when the pretty girl's eyes would shine brightly again.
Mist
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Just then, not a dog but a pretty girl passed by on the street, and after her eyes went Augusto, drawn like a magnet and without realizing it, taking advantage of the beam of light caused by the sovereign moon, which made his shadow become a large companion with two beautiful wings, an effect produced by a pair of rocks embedded in a window sill, he tried to utter his most longed-for words at that moment, but all he managed to say was a simple "excuse me, are you from around here?" when what he really wanted to tell her was not to continue in his dreams, but to be part of his reality forever!!
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Just then, not a dog but a pretty girl passed by on the street, and after her eyes went Augusto, drawn like a magnet and without realizing it.
The girl walked briskly towards the coast. Without him understanding how, they both embarked for San Borondon. The island, shrouded in fog, revealed itself to be fantastic. Upon disembarking, Augusto found himself in a giant library, where the books whispered secrets of the soul. The girl, turned muse, led him to explore forgotten thoughts. Upon waking up, in his bed, with an open book by Unamuno on his lap, he wondered if it had been a dream or if he had really lived on the mythical island.
Signed: Charco del Norte
Title: A Greeting, One More Day
Just then, not a dog but a pretty girl passed by on the street, and after her eyes went Augusto, drawn like a magnet and without realizing it, he only looked at the skirt, helping him to weave his own thoughts, his own absence in that place.
Across the street from León y Castillo, an old man looked at Augusto, without seeing him, a car passed by, and the old man looked away.
At night, with no one to see him, Augusto returned home. In the doorway, the girl greeted him.
Augusto slept with the firm promise that a small door of society was still open to him.
Thanks to the greeting, he would live one more day.
Title: Red Light
"Just then, not a dog but a pretty girl passed by on the street, and after her eyes went Augusto, drawn like a magnet and without realizing it, he moved forward without moving his feet. Those two eyes on the back of the girl's head were leading him, or rather dragging him, now out of the city, along a dark path... They were two headlights in the night, guiding him to a safe harbor. They were the eyes of God, trying to show him some universal truth... And then they began to ascend. And the stars no longer seemed so distant. And they continued to ascend. And Augusto caressed complete happiness. And when they were reaching their destination, he woke up, lying in the middle of the street, with the shrill sound of an ambulance siren."
