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Description
Prompt title: Castles in the sand
Prompt entry:     Arriving at the beach with the slightest frown on her face, Imogen shielded her eyes from the sun, looking down at the Munna and Mareep close by. "Come on, girls. We need to find some shade. Sandcastles are fun only went you aren't melting from the heat of this place." She stated, glancing around for some sort of empty umbrella poking out of the sand. "Maarr!!" Her Mareep called out, causing Imogen to look in the direction the pokemon was motioning towards. In the distance she could make out a patch of palm trees, perfect for setting up a shady sandcastle in. "Oh, nice eye Buttons!" Reaching down to pet the Mareep lovingly on the head, Imogen quickly made her way over to the shady spot, unwrapping her beach blanket and setting it down so she'd have a safe place to put her phone and other items. "I want this to be the best looking sandcastle out of all the others. I was thinking of doing something very floral, with lots of plants and flowers instead of the typical shells. Ooh!" She stopped, looking up at her levitating Munna. "Lets make it a little fairy sandcastles, for sea nymphs or something."
  Pulling some decorated buckets from her bag, Imogen handed one over to each of her pokemon, motioning for them to follow her over to the edge of the shore so they could gather up some softer sand. "Alright, just hold the buckets while I put the sand into them." She instructed, using a shovel to carefully fill up the bucket Buttons was holding, and then filling the one for her Munna. "Is it too heavy, Opal?" She asked, pausing momentarily until the Munna shook its head. Once all the buckets were completely filled, the trio made their way back to the shady spot and sat down, allowing a few moments to go by for thought processing. "Okay, most sandcastles are very traditional and often rectangular or square shaped. Lets make ours in the shape of a giant tree, if that sounds good with you two?" Imogen herself was pretty decisive, but vowed that she would always include her Pokemon in everything she did, including decision making. Once both gave noise of approval, they dumped out the buckets of sand and got to work creating the base for the tree. "I want this to be pretty big, Opal, would you mind if you settle on the sand real quick so I can build up a base around you for a size reference?" The Munna complied, settling down into the sand so Imogen and Button could create a wall around the pokemon. Once they had circled Opal with all the sand, Imogen reached over to pick the pokemon up and place t down on the blanket. "Nice job, now we have a good base to use for this sandcastle-tree-thing." Filling in the base of the tree with sand, Imogen began to pat it into place and smooth it out. "Opal, while Buttons and I begin to create this, why don't you go find some stuff to decorate the castle? Take one of the empty buckets." She said, giving the bucket over to the Munna and watching as the pink round pokemon drifted off in search of things to find.
     Imogen and Buttons had fully created the "trunk" of the tree once Opal had returned, the bucket full of different plants and flowers inside. For a few moments Imogen sat back, looking at the structure with mixed emotions of satisfaction and exhaustion. "There's still a lot of work to do. We should begin carving out the details on this before working on the the rest. I have some spoons if you two want to join in." She handed each pokemon a small plastic spoon, and then got to work carving out sections of the tree to make it more hollow in areas. The hollowed-out pieces were meant to look like rooms where sea nymphs or beach fairies could hide away in, and Imogen took special care in making sure it all looked right. As she worked, Buttons and Opal were decorating the outside of the sandcastle, giving it detailed lines similar to the creases in the bark on large trees. The two pokemon did their job with special care, carving elaborate designs into the sides of the trees such as swirls and stars of various shapes. "What a nice touch," Imogen commented as she worked. "I would have never thought to make such symbols into the tree. It gives the castle a very mythical type of look.To make this more castle-like though, we should make two smaller trees on either. It'll look like a tree castle."
  Buttons and Opal got to work, each making their own mini trees for either side of the castle. Imogen took the time to gather the branches and leaves that her Munna had collected earlier, delicately sticking them into the top of the tree base to create the top of the tree. Munna had thankfully gathered rather long strands of seaweed and kelp to decorate the tere with, giving it a life-like bushy top. "You're such a good collector!" Imogen praised with a smile, looking over at Opal. "And both of your tree bases are looking quite lovely." She noted how Buttons had created a very skinny tree for her portion of the castle, whereas Opal's tree was extremely short, round, and fat.
With the two trees on either side of the one Imogen was making finished, the two pokemon began using the extra plants and flora to create the tops of their trees. Opal was much more keen to adding the flowers on her trees, whereas Button had gathered a couple small pink and cream colored shells to add around the base of her tree as a makeshift barrier. The flowers Opal had found were mostly various hibiscus, tie-dyed in colors of purple, yellow, and orange. "This is the most tropical tree I've ever seen." Imogen let out with a chuckle, stopping her work for a moment to lay a praising hand on either of her Pokemon's heads. "I think we are nearly done. However," she stopped, tilting her head with a hum of thought. "all the sandcastles I've ever seen have had flags on the top. Even though this is more of a sandy-tree, I still think there needs to be some sort of flag. What do you guys think?"
     Thankfully, Imogen's two pokemon seemed to share the same concerns. Buttons sat down with a huff, obviously stumped on what could work as a flag when that wasn't something normally found along beaches. Suddenly, Opal levitated into the air and let out a reassuring "Muun!" before drifting away from the spot they had been building the sandcastle. "Why do I feel so uncertain about letting her go off and find something for us to use?" Imogen turned to ask Buttons with a grin, leaning back on her hands as she waited for the pink and purple pokemon to return.
Sure enough, Imogen's uncertainty was tested and proved once her Munna came flying around the corner at her, obviously stressed out. "Opal! What's wrong?" Holding out her hands, she intercepted Opal like a football being thrown into across the air. The small pokemon shook fearfully, holding up one of those small toothpick umbrellas often served with food. "Opal, this is perfect for the castle. Why are you so upset?" Gently, Imogen took the toothpick umbrella and stuck it on the very top of Opal's round sand tree. "Look? It's so-"
     "Hey! Thief!"
     Words cut off by an angry form, Imogen looked up to see an unhappy teenage girl standing in front of them, arms crossed. "That pokemon in your arms stole my plate of food! It like, ate everything!" The girl was definitely talking about Imogen's Munna, who looked up guiltily. "Opal..did you really eat this girls food in order to get the umbrella?" She asked, frowning as the round pokemon nodded her head in distress. Meanwhile, Buttons had walked right up to the stranger, small electric sparks jumping along her body in anger. "Calm down, Buttons." Imogen started, looking up at the girl. "I apologize, and so does Opal. I sent her off to find a flag for our sandcastle..but I guess she thought the only way of obtaining one was by stealing. I'll give you money to get more food. Again, I'm super sorry." She said, reaching into her back to pull out some spare cash.
The girl took it willingly, though she didn't say more as she turned around and stormed away. "Opal..if you can't find anything to be the flag next time, don't steal. Just come back and we can all work together. Okay?" The Munna nodded in understanding, allowing Imogen to set her down as the three of them marveled at the finished masterpiece. The sandcastle had been lots of work, but in the end it definitely looked like three detailed trees intertwined with each other and adorned with plenty of flowers, seaweed, and shells. And, of course, sat the stolen toothpick umbrella.
Reward earnt: 4,000PD + 3,000PD randomised competition winner [rolled at the end of fortnight]

(1,522 words)

Description
Prompt title: Castles in the sand
Prompt entry:     Arriving at the beach with the slightest frown on her face, Imogen shielded her eyes from the sun, looking down at the Munna and Mareep close by. "Come on, girls. We need to find some shade. Sandcastles are fun only went you aren't melting from the heat of this place." She stated, glancing around for some sort of empty umbrella poking out of the sand. "Maarr!!" Her Mareep called out, causing Imogen to look in the direction the pokemon was motioning towards. In the distance she could make out a patch of palm trees, perfect for setting up a shady sandcastle in. "Oh, nice eye Buttons!" Reaching down to pet the Mareep lovingly on the head, Imogen quickly made her way over to the shady spot, unwrapping her beach blanket and setting it down so she'd have a safe place to put her phone and other items. "I want this to be the best looking sandcastle out of all the others. I was thinking of doing something very floral, with lots of plants and flowers instead of the typical shells. Ooh!" She stopped, looking up at her levitating Munna. "Lets make it a little fairy sandcastles, for sea nymphs or something."
  Pulling some decorated buckets from her bag, Imogen handed one over to each of her pokemon, motioning for them to follow her over to the edge of the shore so they could gather up some softer sand. "Alright, just hold the buckets while I put the sand into them." She instructed, using a shovel to carefully fill up the bucket Buttons was holding, and then filling the one for her Munna. "Is it too heavy, Opal?" She asked, pausing momentarily until the Munna shook its head. Once all the buckets were completely filled, the trio made their way back to the shady spot and sat down, allowing a few moments to go by for thought processing. "Okay, most sandcastles are very traditional and often rectangular or square shaped. Lets make ours in the shape of a giant tree, if that sounds good with you two?" Imogen herself was pretty decisive, but vowed that she would always include her Pokemon in everything she did, including decision making. Once both gave noise of approval, they dumped out the buckets of sand and got to work creating the base for the tree. "I want this to be pretty big, Opal, would you mind if you settle on the sand real quick so I can build up a base around you for a size reference?" The Munna complied, settling down into the sand so Imogen and Button could create a wall around the pokemon. Once they had circled Opal with all the sand, Imogen reached over to pick the pokemon up and place t down on the blanket. "Nice job, now we have a good base to use for this sandcastle-tree-thing." Filling in the base of the tree with sand, Imogen began to pat it into place and smooth it out. "Opal, while Buttons and I begin to create this, why don't you go find some stuff to decorate the castle? Take one of the empty buckets." She said, giving the bucket over to the Munna and watching as the pink round pokemon drifted off in search of things to find.
     Imogen and Buttons had fully created the "trunk" of the tree once Opal had returned, the bucket full of different plants and flowers inside. For a few moments Imogen sat back, looking at the structure with mixed emotions of satisfaction and exhaustion. "There's still a lot of work to do. We should begin carving out the details on this before working on the the rest. I have some spoons if you two want to join in." She handed each pokemon a small plastic spoon, and then got to work carving out sections of the tree to make it more hollow in areas. The hollowed-out pieces were meant to look like rooms where sea nymphs or beach fairies could hide away in, and Imogen took special care in making sure it all looked right. As she worked, Buttons and Opal were decorating the outside of the sandcastle, giving it detailed lines similar to the creases in the bark on large trees. The two pokemon did their job with special care, carving elaborate designs into the sides of the trees such as swirls and stars of various shapes. "What a nice touch," Imogen commented as she worked. "I would have never thought to make such symbols into the tree. It gives the castle a very mythical type of look.To make this more castle-like though, we should make two smaller trees on either. It'll look like a tree castle."
  Buttons and Opal got to work, each making their own mini trees for either side of the castle. Imogen took the time to gather the branches and leaves that her Munna had collected earlier, delicately sticking them into the top of the tree base to create the top of the tree. Munna had thankfully gathered rather long strands of seaweed and kelp to decorate the tere with, giving it a life-like bushy top. "You're such a good collector!" Imogen praised with a smile, looking over at Opal. "And both of your tree bases are looking quite lovely." She noted how Buttons had created a very skinny tree for her portion of the castle, whereas Opal's tree was extremely short, round, and fat.
With the two trees on either side of the one Imogen was making finished, the two pokemon began using the extra plants and flora to create the tops of their trees. Opal was much more keen to adding the flowers on her trees, whereas Button had gathered a couple small pink and cream colored shells to add around the base of her tree as a makeshift barrier. The flowers Opal had found were mostly various hibiscus, tie-dyed in colors of purple, yellow, and orange. "This is the most tropical tree I've ever seen." Imogen let out with a chuckle, stopping her work for a moment to lay a praising hand on either of her Pokemon's heads. "I think we are nearly done. However," she stopped, tilting her head with a hum of thought. "all the sandcastles I've ever seen have had flags on the top. Even though this is more of a sandy-tree, I still think there needs to be some sort of flag. What do you guys think?"
     Thankfully, Imogen's two pokemon seemed to share the same concerns. Buttons sat down with a huff, obviously stumped on what could work as a flag when that wasn't something normally found along beaches. Suddenly, Opal levitated into the air and let out a reassuring "Muun!" before drifting away from the spot they had been building the sandcastle. "Why do I feel so uncertain about letting her go off and find something for us to use?" Imogen turned to ask Buttons with a grin, leaning back on her hands as she waited for the pink and purple pokemon to return.
Sure enough, Imogen's uncertainty was tested and proved once her Munna came flying around the corner at her, obviously stressed out. "Opal! What's wrong?" Holding out her hands, she intercepted Opal like a football being thrown into across the air. The small pokemon shook fearfully, holding up one of those small toothpick umbrellas often served with food. "Opal, this is perfect for the castle. Why are you so upset?" Gently, Imogen took the toothpick umbrella and stuck it on the very top of Opal's round sand tree. "Look? It's so-"
     "Hey! Thief!"
     Words cut off by an angry form, Imogen looked up to see an unhappy teenage girl standing in front of them, arms crossed. "That pokemon in your arms stole my plate of food! It like, ate everything!" The girl was definitely talking about Imogen's Munna, who looked up guiltily. "Opal..did you really eat this girls food in order to get the umbrella?" She asked, frowning as the round pokemon nodded her head in distress. Meanwhile, Buttons had walked right up to the stranger, small electric sparks jumping along her body in anger. "Calm down, Buttons." Imogen started, looking up at the girl. "I apologize, and so does Opal. I sent her off to find a flag for our sandcastle..but I guess she thought the only way of obtaining one was by stealing. I'll give you money to get more food. Again, I'm super sorry." She said, reaching into her back to pull out some spare cash.
The girl took it willingly, though she didn't say more as she turned around and stormed away. "Opal..if you can't find anything to be the flag next time, don't steal. Just come back and we can all work together. Okay?" The Munna nodded in understanding, allowing Imogen to set her down as the three of them marveled at the finished masterpiece. The sandcastle had been lots of work, but in the end it definitely looked like three detailed trees intertwined with each other and adorned with plenty of flowers, seaweed, and shells. And, of course, sat the stolen toothpick umbrella.
Reward earnt: 4,000PD + 3,000PD randomised competition winner [rolled at the end of fortnight]

(1,522 words)