Quick question!

If you are writing a short story for a competition that has no minimum word count, would you stress if your story came in at 989 words instead of 1000?

I am really enjoying writing this story, but try as I might I cannot coax it to 1000 words exactly. There is no reason or rule that says it has to be 1000 words, but I feel just wrong not being able to get it on a nice even number. Is this just stupid? Should I keep trying or if I feel the story is perfect at 989 words, should I leave it?

All advice appreciated as I am currently stuck at work using their lovely internet after hours, and won’t go home until I get this story in the bag! So PLEASE help!

EDIT: Am now home. Thank you for the comments! Decided to leave story as is rather than increase words for no reason apart from feeling even rather than odd! As, after all, am often a little odd, come to think of it. *grins*

Help!

This is something that is driving me mad, and perhaps you can help me. Have a look at my little picture below – does that arched wall thing that my arrows point to have a real name?


It’s like a stone arched border/edging around a patio, but I am sure it has a proper architectural term for it, as opposed to me fudging around with arched balcony wall thing. I've been searching for this for ages, and it is beginning to send me loopy. Please forgive the bad illustration – but hey, I threw in a few potted plants!

Yours hopefully,
Jayne