1. Re-Write the story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The following is a link to downloadable copy of the original story.

http://www.gutenberg.net/etext/41

(If you haven't discovered gutenberg.net already, it is a font for public domain texts.)

The challenge, if you don't already know, is to twist the story in one of four ways:
*Twist the story to suit your own creative bent. (And don't restrict yourselves to 17th Century country schoolmaster and pumpkins)
*Write the story in the style of another well-known author.
*Combine the tale with another tale of your choosing.
*Write a 'What if...?" version. A prequel or sequel to the original tale.

2. Submit the first 13 lines of your final draft (at least 'final' as of the deadline)to this thread. If you want others to look at and critique for you as an aid to the writing process, submit those rough-draft versions in your own F&F thread.

3. Anyone wanting to read a submitted story in its entirety may contact the writer by email.
Do NOT post the request to read on this thread.
Do NOT post comments of any kind on this thread.
Post questions and comments on the thread in Open Discussions entitled "3rd Rewrite Discussion Zone"

4. 3000 word limit.

5. Midnight EST, October 30, 2004 deadline. (Note that the deadline is NOT the last day of the month. We want them all finished and submitted for Halloween reading.)

6. Please, for SPAM's sake , include the word "Hatrack" in the subject line of all correspondences

[This message has been edited by djvdakota (edited October 02, 2004).]

*********

Young Bertie Green was like many teenaged lads his age, always out looking for some sort of trouble to get into. Setting his hound loose in the neighbor’s chicken coup, locking one of the smaller boys in the school outhouse, or whatever other mischief happened to take his fancy on a particular day.

Oh, Bertie didn’t mean any real harm; he was just a boy being a boy.

Now, before New York became a State in the Union and before the revolutionary war, America was a destination for many young Englishmen looking for adventure.

And this is where the story really begins. For you see, Bertie was the second boy born to Lord and Lady Green of Green Chapel, Cheshire. He could expect no inheritance or lands unless his older brother happened to die, and as that was unlikely, he did what most other boys in his position do – he enlisted in the army and soon found himself whisked off to the American colonies.

But just because he was now a soldier, didn’t mean that Bertie Green had given up his playful ways. Like the schoolmates and neighbors he had left behind in Cheshire, the men he served with soon became the source of his mirth.

Or you can read all of it. Your choice.

The working title is "Nook's Piece"

***
“I swear, this time I’m going to double up Scarecrow and shelve him next to his stinking magic books.” Baar’s eyes flashed and Sirin knew this time the prank would be serious. She could see it in the way he stomped back and forth in the clearing, his large, brawny form almost bear-like in his not-quite controlled rage. She heard it each time his beefy fist slammed into his open palm, the smack echoing through the forest.

Sirin watched Baar’s other friends nod in emphatic agreement and tried to hide her disgust. Sycophants, all of them. Sure, she hated Rake White, known to former students as Scarecrow.
***

[edited for spelling]