Creativity Challenge: the final product(s)

Here we are, end of June, and the end of this month's Creativity Challenge. I have posted both my entry and that of a good friend below.  Please post a link to your creative work based on this month's word prompts in the comments.

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[note: I have spent a LOT of time lately researching how to write an outstanding query letter... you know, the kind that will rise to the top of the slush pile. In particular, I have relied heavily on the extremely informative and always reliable Querypolitan for advice. So here is my carefully crafted query letter with first page of MS...]

Dear Editor Mr. A ent,

Did you ever wish you could wake up to find yourself on another celestial body? To meet creatures you never dreamed existed? To ma ically understand every word of their bizarre lan ua e? And to join forces with them to figh the dark forces of the universe? Cissi the elephant does all of this in Moons of Shambala, my 80,000 word debut middle  rade novel.

I am thrilled to submit "Moons of Shambala" for your perusal. It has the amazing potential to be the next Harry Potter, and I'm sure that Matt Damon Ben Affleck will jump at the chance to play the role of Cissi the Shambala leader.

I have taken the liberty of translating the story into Shambalian (a lan ua e I have created over the past ei ht years), and I have included the first few pa es for your deli ht and entertainment. (Please excuse the missin  --letter between f and h--my keyboard is missin  that key.)

I look forward to hearin  your enthusiastic response.
Sincerely,
A. Stevens

Moons of Shambala

Cissi rolled over. She couldn't  et comfortable. The cushion felt lumpy and she squirmed. Then she si hed and opened her eyes. No way to sleep, she thought  rumpily, as she rolled to her side and lumbered to her feet.

Cissi rubbed her eyes with her trunk and looked around. She  asped. Nothing looked right. Her cushion was a rock!  Cissi swung her  reat head from side to side and spotted a blue and white orb in the sky. She  asped again. It was Earth!

Wait, she thought. Am I on the moon? Is this a dream? She rubbed her eyes a ain and blinked furiously. She pinched her ear with the end of her trunk.

"Ow!" Nope, I  uess I'm not dreamin . Now what?


As Cissi stood helplessly in the  reat crater, she heard a sound. She turned to see some purple creatures with antennae and five le s walking toward her. Their  iant compound eyes reflected the li ht of the earth,  litterin  as they came nearer.

"¤Þξ æ Ч¤ω," the leader said as they drew near.

Cissi was amazed that she understood. "ζÝ," she replied. The leader  lanced at a slightly taller individual to his left and they nodded.

"ζÝ ξÐæ," he said, and the Shambalans turned to leave. Cissi followed behind, curious to know how they thou ht she could help.

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And for another take on the word prompts, here is a sketch from Fong and one from each of her children. Thanks for participating--these were fun to see!

As for the rest of you, post those links below! (Please)