writing contest #19
The Luckster
chim-chim-cher-ee!
I am writing this on Thursday evening, November 12, 2026. By the time I get it finished and posted it is likely to be Friday the 13th.
Why does that matter? Because in many parts of the world, Friday the 13th is considered to be a day of bad luck. As someone who is fascinated by traditions regarding luck, both good and bad, or even neutral — though we don’t hear much about that — I welcome the day. While I don’t remember any particularly wonderful events falling on that date, I can’t honestly say that I’ve ever had the opposite, either. For me, Friday the 13th (and I’ve had exactly 150 of them to base it on, including tomorrow) has no particular meaning, luck-wise, one way or the other. (Unless you consider that the very fact I’m 86 as having a particular meaning concerning luck.)
Now I will have to admit that in many parts of the world, particulary certain portions of east Asia, Friday the 13th is a lucky day rather than an unlucky one. Perhaps luck sometimes goes airborne and drifts eastward? Sounds reasonable to me.
There is a lot of debate about how Friday the 13th came to be seen as unlucky in Western culture.
The Norse god Loki [sounds related to Luck, doesn’t it!] attended (without being invited) a banquet for 12 gods, and, as the 13th guest, caused the death of the god Balder. (And Friday is named for Frigga, who was Balder’s mother.)
Then of course there’s the Last Supper, when there were 13 at table, which somehow caused all the tragedy that followed therefrom over the next several hours. And the supper of course occurred the day before Good Friday, which, in that tradition, was not quite so good.
And according to some accounts, King Phillip IV of France arrested all of the Knights Templar on Friday, October 13, 1307, thereby bringing calamity on the rest of Europe.
But by this point, I usually get tired of bad luck in general and in particular bad luck connected to the number 13 and to the sixth day of the week.
So I’ve decided that the topic for Q-Contest #19 will be about good luck. (Probably should have done this for Contest #13, but didn’t think of it at the time. Too late now!)
I remember well the first time I ever went looking for four-leaf clovers. Didn’t find any. Did find a five-leaf. Was that extra lucky or the opposite? I’ll never know.
Just as finding a lucky penny, or having the (presumably good) Luck of the Irish, or shaking hands with a charcoal-coated Chimney Sweep (which, if you haven’t seen Mary Poppins lately, is what the subtitle of this post is all about), is supposed to be ‘Good Luck,’ I have determined that the opposite of Friday the 13th shall be the subject of our next round of contest entries:
Which is the Luckiest Day? (That’s the topic.)
Now there are many possible ways of interpreting this, and they are all welcome. (Especially if you can think of some way to take it two or more ways at once!)
Which is the luckiest date of the year?
Which is the luckiest day of the week?
Is it the day you got married? Is it the day you got divorced?
Is it the day your first child was born? The date they were conceived? The day you met the other person involved in that conception?
The date the worst boss you ever had resigned? Died?
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This is all up to you, as the author of the entry you are going to submit. If the subject of your entry relates in any way, no matter how peripheral, to this topic, you’re in the contest. That is, if you choosee to be. That is, if you get it in before the deadline date, which in this case happens to be midnight, December 12, 2026. Which, by the way is neither a Friday, nor a 13th. (It’s a Saturday, if that matters.)
If you’re new to our contests, you are at this point wondering what in the world I’m talking about, or how you can yourself enter it this time.
So — a bit of history.
Back on May 12, 2025, having been a member of Medium since the last week of January of that year, and having launched the Medium sub-publication Questionality (also known as Q) a couple of months later, which is where you are reading this, and having seen that publication attract more followers, more quickly, than I could ever have imagined, I wrote an article entitled “A Contest of Sorts.” [LINK] I proposed a writing contest in which I would come up with a different topic each month, always on the 12th of the month, and always in the form of a question, with an entry deadline exactly a month later. Once the deadline had been reached, voting would begin. Each reader who wanted to vote would select three entries to vote for, and the top three entries would each receive a prize. (Unfortunately, non-monetary.)
[If you want to read more about all this, now and in the future, please subscribe to our Q-Contest Newsletter, which you do by going to this LINK and clicking on the Follow button on the first page.]
Meanwhile, if you’d like to enter the current contest, which starts right now, here’s how:
You write an entry related to the topic. There are no length minimums or maximums, nor any restriction on what form the entry takes, so long as there are words involved, and not just pictures.
(Note — you can only enter each monthly contest one or two times, not three or more. If you enter two, each one has to be submitted separately.)
You submit your entry in one of three ways:
1. You self-publish your entry and let me know that it is any entry.
2. You get your entry published in some other publication on Medium and let me know.
3. You submit your entry to Questionality, where I or our co-editor John Hansen PAL will publish it, along with a notification that it’s an entry.
Now there are a couple of ‘gotchas’ involved here.
The first gotcha is that there is no backward time limit as to when the entry was published. It does not have to be newly written just for this contest. If the post fits the topic, even if you self-published it ten years ago, or had it published in any Medium pub (including Q) five years ago, or whatever, all you have to do to enter it in the contest is let me know your intent, and it’s thereby entered.
The other gotcha is that if you choose method number 3 above, you have to first be an accepted author in Q. To accomplish that you need to let me know you’d like to be added to the pub as an author. You can do that by replying to this post. Or you can do it by sending me a PM. Or you can do it by sending me an email at legendkeeper21@gmail.com
If you’ve already been published in Q even once, there’s no need to apply again. You’re already qualified. Whether that initial post was an entry in a contest or not.
If you don’t know how to send a PM, here’s how:
a. you highlight any word or phrase in this post. b. a little black ribbon will appear as you create the highlight and an icon consisting of a picture of a padlock or the initials PM will appear. c. you click on that. d. a writing ‘box’ appears. e. you write your message in that box. f. you hit Send. g. that’s it, you’re done.
The question always comes up: What if I’m not a paid Medium member? Answer: Doesn’t matter. You can enter anyway. The only difference is that if you are, you can elect to get paid (a very modest amount) for your post, and, if you aren’t, you can’t. That’s it!
Another question that often comes up: Do I have to be a Follower of Q? Answer: If you weren’t, you wouldn’t be reading this, so yes, you do. (On the off chance you aren’t already, here’s a LINK to the page where you correct that oversight. Note — following me, personally, isn’t enough. You have to follow the pub.)
So, now, the ball’s in your court, as the saying goes. What will you do with it? Do you believe there’s no such thing as luck? Say so, and you’re in. Do you believe that FATE is really another name for luck? Ditto. Do you believe that Fortuna really is blindfolded and thereby cannot be influenced to give people the kind of luck they deserve? Prove it!
Do you believe in Loki? Good on you.
Are you a Knights Templar in disguise? Get yourself unarrested.
Do your create your own luck? Then you’re a Lucksmith. Congratulations! Will you enter and win the contest? Tychee will tell. (Look it up!)
