Yes, you can send in your wonderful stories to Highlights Magazine whenever you like. But wouldn’t you like to send in your story and win big bucks, too?

I’m all about winning the big bucks. So, I send something into this contest every year. So far, the $1,000 has eluded me. But this could be the year. If I can write a terrific Contemporary world-cultures  story, postmark it between January 1 and January 31, 2009, and keep the length under 800 words, I’m halfway to the money.

And you know what else is swell? I can take the $1,000 OR tuition for the Highlights Foundation Writers Workshop at Chautauqua! I’ve always wanted to go to Chautauqua (Could that be any harder to spell?)!

But first, I have to write a Contemporary world-cultures story. Hold on a sec-

First, I have to figure out what the heck a Contemporary world-cultures story is. Any ideas?

(Maybe there’s a clue here at Highlights.)