Week 1 Highlights

Both topics lent themselves to a variety of interesting takes (both fiction and nonfiction) this week and I think there were a lot of very, very good entries out of the 212 that we saw. There were a few recurring themes - real life containing challenges (as metaphorical dragons), cats as dragons, and 'I don't know what to write', which is always a perennial favorite. There's definitely a lot of great talent this season, both newbies and returning contestants, and I'm certainly looking forward to future weeks. Without further ado, here were my favorites, in no real order:


Winding Up

• xreesex gives you a story about love and an ending you won't forget anytime soon.
• the-vernacular presents a beautiful tale about a family, a turtle, and a girl who catches it just in time.
• fortitudehigh teaches us a bit about grief, silence, and moments that stretch on for too long.
• drjeff reminisces about baseball, and sweeps everyone up in his interests. That's just how he writes.
• cobycaroline gives a narrative about baseball too, but it's also about pain, breaking points, and battles off the field.
• brilligspoons should make people smile. That's all.

Here There Be Dragons

• abangaku merges science and fantasy, for something that's not quite sci-fi but is definitely a best-of-both-worlds experience.
• cadmiumyellow7 gives a story of childhood regrets and the bitterness of a relationship lost.
• dizzy-writing creates a short, sweet, sensuous scene.
• fourzoas writes a haunting more-truth-than-fiction entry, incredible in its use of subtle understatement.
• ilvack pens a tale about love, and the obstacles one faces, and the joy in overcoming them.
• thaliontholwen summons forth the beginnings of a shadowy, dystopian world - interestingly, a world that's inspired by music.

These are not the only ones that I voted for, nor are they a be-all-and-end-all-list to what was good this week. The numbers clearly show that ;). They're just entries I enjoyed, hope you will too, and especially believe deserve to be read even if you didn't get to read all of them before the polls close.