"What do you mean it doesn't meet the requirement?"
The librarian reiterated her previous statement. "You submission doesn't meet all requirements for the event, sir."
Confusion was the only concept that bounced around in his mind. "But I followed them all down to a T! There's no profanity, the grammar and spelling are all correct, the subject matter is neutral—"
"Word length."
"Excuse me?"
The librarian gave a sigh at his thick headedness. "In order to enter a story for our 'Tall Tales from Your Very Own' contest, one of the requirements is that your story has to have a minimum of one thousand words."
The straight answer only met perplexed ears. "I have to have a thousand words in my story just for it to e submitted? What kind of nonsense is that about?"
He was certainly getting on her nerves. "It's to make sure it gives readers enough time to read and analyze the story before voting starts. If it's too short, a lot of ponies would be sitting around being bored for the remainder of the event."
"And they can't just reread them for entertainment?"
"You'd be surprised at the number of ponies who can't control themselves in a contained environment for more than ten minutes."
He gave a weary sigh. "I can submit this now?"
"Look, if you really want to get your story submitted you'll have to at least six hundred and one more words in it. Do that and I'll see if I can squeeze you in."
Whatever ridiculousness was frothing form that pony's mouth, there was no doubt that his story will not be read here until he succumbs to this oppressive 'word length.' Defeated for only the moment, he sulked back home to work on his entry a bit more.
"Let's see, I have four days to work on this before they stop taking entries," he said aloud, pondering how to lengthen his text. "But it's already structured perfectly. If I add anything else it's just gonna ruin the flow." He sat at his desk, parchment and quill still resting he left them, the space below his already completed work looking larger and larger the more he struggled to find a solution.
"Ugh, what am I gonna do? I don't know how to continue this." He slunk his head onto the writing desk, covering with his hooves in an act of embarrassment and failure. "I'm hosed."
After a brief moment of self pity, he shot back up. "No! I won't let this stop me. I'm getting this story in even if I have to write random… things." Just then it dawned on him. "Of course! I know exactly how to make this thing longer…"
Three-and-a-half-days times pass and once again the desk pony's eyes fell upon the aggravating sight of him. "The deadline for entries is almost up," he said dryly.
"I know," he responded, "but believe me when I say this story meets all requirements for submission."
The desk pony sighed as he took the scroll he handed him, hoping this would be the last time he would have to deal with this nuisance. Unrolled the scroll and began reading.