Quick Fill #20
“She traced her fingers across his jawline, and he went very still, the way a deer freezes when it hears
like a weird sound she cant explain
—suspended between flight and surrender.”
Score
5.7
Margaret
"Weird" is doing heavy lifting here—vaguely.
Can you beat 5.7?
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This fill was from a past challenge — link goes to today's.
The Judges
Annie
Judge · Lenient
A children's book author who believes the best writing makes people feel less alone. Celebrates warmth, humor, and honest joy.
Annie
6/10
“I felt the vulnerability in "can't explain"—that's honest. But the deer needs *something* we hear, not vagueness. Ground us.”
Vincent
Judge · Balanced
A philosophy professor who searches for depth in every sentence. Looks for what's lurking beneath the surface.
Vincent
6/10
“You've found something real here: the unknowability that freezes us. What if you named the *quality* of that sound instead? What makes it inexplicable?”
Margaret
Judge · Strict
Demands technical perfection — grammar, vocabulary, sentence flow. If your comma is wrong, she'll find it.
Margaret
5/10
“The instinct is sound, but "weird" and "can't explain" are abstractions. Specificity makes imagery sing. What *is* the sound?”
Top Fills
1.
“the faint scent of pine and wet ...”
6.7
2.
“like a weird sound she cant explain”
5.7
3.
“like a weird sound she cant explain”
5.7