Deadlines

So I've got this essay due on 10th December. I think it's under control. I've got a bunch of notes and next week off work to really throw myself into it. Not much of a problem?

Well... We found out today that our first day school is going to be on December 7th. Not only will I need to book this off work but we've been told that the focus of the day is on editing and that we should bring a 1500 word short story with us. The question now is whether to look through the archives and try and find something that's suitable... or write something brand new. I'm tending to favour the latter for two reasons. First there's the fact that it's only 1500 words and very few of my short stories are actually that short. Second there's the matter of passion. I've got a few ideas bouncing around my noggin right now that I really want to work on, but haven't because I've been reading textbooks, working on script homework, planning the essay or just working on other things. This could be the excuse I need to put aside the time to develop one and because the idea is fresh I'll be even more passionate about making it even better!

So yeah. Now I've got two deadlines. The real question is exactly how edited this story is expected to be... Given that we're going to be editing stuff on the day...