Welcome to the Steemit Story Chain

Hello good people of Steemit how are you doing this Monday afternoon? It's that time of the week again where I invite you all to demonstrate your creative talents and submit an entry to the Steemit Story Chain, now in its tenth week. What I need you to do is complete my story in your own unique way. For the winning entry there is a generous 100 Whaleshares prize.

I want to just say a big thank you to everyone who took part in the last story chain, your efforts were amazing, particularly the contributions from Hive account@littlejibblet, Hive account@jorlauski, Hive account@silenteyes, Hive account@redsfallin, Hive account@tinajordan and Hive account@geekpowered.

It's been another week where we have a number of new writers joining the chain and the quality of writing keeps on impressing. My co-judge Hive account@nikflossus was very pleasantly surprised by the entries this week. After another intense discussion we have now reached a decision on the winner.

Hive account@littlejibblet

You wrote an incredibly original part with a tightly written introduction and a really unexpected twist. It's important to say that very close behind was Hive account@tinajordan and Hive account@joraluski, both with well written continuations of the story. A shade behind them were Hive account@geekpowered and Hive account@redisfallin, again with solid entries. Every week the standard is rising so thank you all for your incredible contributions.

The winner, Hive account@littlejibblet, has 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 entry is featured below.

I rushed over to her and began to untie the ropes.
'Please hurry,' she begged
'Who did this?'
'I don't know. Please hurry.'
I quickly freed her, hoisted her out of the trunk and made to lead her away from the car. She pulled back.
'No, take the car.'
'Forget the car,' I said urgently.
'No, they'll follow us. Take these.' She pulled some keys from her back pocket and handed them to me. 'You drive'. I hesitated for a moment then ran to the drivers seat. We both got in, slammed the doors and, after gunning the engine a few times, I sped off. For about five minutes I drove like a maniac, screeching round corners, checking the rear mirror and doubling back on myself with a number of hair raising U turns. Eventually we left the town. I slowed as we began to drive through a forest. There was no one on the road behind. Slowly I felt my pulse and breathing return to normal. I turned to her.
'What happened back there?'
'A kidnapping.' She seemed suddenly very calm as she spoke.
'Who was trying to kidnap you?'
'No one.' She smiled broadly as she said it. Too broadly. The hairs on my neck prickled very slightly.
'What are you talking about? You said 'kidnapping'. What kidnapping?' With almost leisurely ease she leaned forward, reached under her seat, and sat up, holding a small grey pistol which she pointed lazily at my head.
'This kidnapping....'

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Right then let's turn our attentions to this week's story chain - Five Tapes. In order to take part you must first upvote and resteem this post. I have written the first part of the story below and then it is down to you guys to develop the story in whatever way you want using the comment box. Remember to try and be as creative and original as possible. You can take the story in whatever direction you wish to and even change the genre from one part to the next, it is entirely up to you. A short paragraph or two is all we are after. And remember to number which part of the story you are writing.

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

The incredibly talented writer Hive account@nikflossus will be helping me to decide which one of your entries deserves the winning prize. We are looking for:

• 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.

Now without any further delay here is part one of Five Tapes.

Here I was in my new home. How long would I stay here for? Another rented flat and another new town to get to know. Another new job that would probably soon turn out like all the rest and leave me in the inevitable state of frustration, anger and poverty. After shifting and shoving boxes all afternoon I was ready for a cuppa. As I walked to the kitchen I felt a loose floorboard under the rug. I lifted the rug and the broken board to discover an old cardboard box. In it were four video tapes from an old camcorder, and one empty case where a fifth video was missing. The cassette adapter was included. Luckily I had never thrown out my old video recorder, so immediately set it up along with the television. I spent the rest of that afternoon and evening watching the content on those tapes. I do not deny that what I saw changed my life forever. If I were to escape these awful jobs and this wretched enslaved society then I had to find that fifth tape.