Thank you to all of our participants especially the many newcomers and to those who provided comments.  Some of you poured your hearts out with your own stories of loss.  Some of you made me laugh.  All of you continued to impress me with your writing talent.  This week's contestants were:

Sheilagh Lee ~ @SweetSheil
David A Ludwig ~ @DavidALudwig
Charles W Jones ~ @ChuckWesJ
Miranda Kate ~ @PurpleQueenNL
Anthony ~ @unfoldingmyth
Jeffrey Hollar ~ @klingorengi
Cara Michaels ~ @caramichaels
Stacey Jaine McIntosh ~ @StaceyJMcIntosh
Jeff Tsuruoka ~ @JTsuruoka
Phoenix Lavan ~ @PhoenixLavan
Chessny Silth ~ @ChessnySilth
Ryan Strohman ~ @rastrohman
Bob Mahone ~ @Computilizer
Rebekah Postupak ~ @postupak
and a straggler but still a lovely story from
S Jayanth ~ @sankarajayanth

Thaks to all who participated and to Wakefield for providing the challenge - especially during this time of loss.

As if making choices from among these great stories weren't difficult enough, the power went out a few times as I was working on this.  Ah, the joys of living in a third-world country!

Finally, after having read each story at least a half a dozen times, I managed to reach the following decisions:

Jeff Tsuruoka (@JTsuruoka):
Death before (or, perhaps, because of) dishonour among thieves.

Chessny Silth (@ChessnySilth):
Finals week can be such a killer.

Ryan Strohman (@rastrohman):
Nothing comes between the MC and her sister.

Rebekah Postupak (@postupak)) :
Loved the concept.  It was kind of a combination of Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" along with "Logan's Run" but all wrapped inside of a world created by Philip K. Dick.  Well done!

“The List”
By Rebekah Postupak

I can’t believe she’s gone. By all the rules, she shouldn’t be: according to the List, Dena was owed another fifty-two years, eight months, seventeen days. She’d paid in full, too—I witnessed her making the final cash transfer, and signed my government-approved name to it, all legal and everything. Even your grease-dripping lawyers will have to agree the contract was valid.

You developed the List to do away with this exact situation, the “hideous wrenching of unpredictability,” your brochure says. The List “provides peace, happiness, security.” Right there on the front of your brochure, in big, glowing letters.

Well, Dena’s gone, you fatheads, and now her husband is fighting in court over her bank account, and her kids are crying and confused, and our dunderheaded government took her house back, and if you did even ONE stinking thing you promised in the contract, I’d like to know what it is.

“Calm down,” my wife says.

She can say this because she’s still got thirty years left, plenty of time for calm. She knows I’ve only got another month left myself, and she’s got her eye on Ted next door. A month, blast it all, a MONTH, and the way I see it, your company should go right down the toilet where I’ve just flushed my contract codes.

Nobody at your office would talk to me on the phone about it. Cowards. I tried in person, but your guy at the front desk said, “Read the small print, mister, there’s an exception for car wrecks.”

He didn’t need to call security like that, just did it to show off. Probably has a hundred years left, I’d bet. And anyway, it was a lie. I read that contract fifty times, me and Dena did together, read it line by line, and we could read every word just fine. Wasn’t any words any different size than the rest of them.

You can flush your small print, you crummy floozies. Flush it with my contract, with the government, with the whole world.

You owe Dena. You owe her big.

And I want my little girl back.

On Sunday night, I learned that one of my best high school friends recently passed away.  This week's contest is dedicated to her memory.

I can't believe she's gone.
It was only yesterday when we were playing around and flirting like teenagers do.  She was one of my three best friends, the ones I called my angels.
She was the quietest of us, her voice a gentle trickle of a mountain stream, but her smile lit up an entire room like a lighthouse beacon slicing through the tumult of a hurricane.
Twenty years have come and gone but I always said to myself "It's okay.  I'll go visit her next year.  I'm so busy, there's so much to do."
Now I'm sitting out on my front porch.  My cigarette burns away while I drop gentle wishes on the wind.  I listen on the wind for her response, but there is only silence.
Still, in my heart, I hear her.  She speaks to me in that same gentle voice. Now my angel has gone to be with her kin, in the bosom of Abraham, in the loving arms of the Father.
Good-bye my angel.

Our special guest judge will be here next week.  I apologize for the miscommunication.

This week's judge is, once again, my favorite lycan, Lupus Anthropus, a regular on the Flash Fiction scene.  Check out his work at http://fulmoj.wordpress.com/
Lupus has a challenge of their own called #TitleTwisters.  Stop by and check it out!

I can't believe she's gone.

Thank you to all of this week's contestants and readers.  Once again we have some brand new authors to showcase.  Check out all of the stories here.  Remember to come back next week and tell all of your friends because we will have a special judge and a special prize.  (and no the judge isn't me trying to sell you one of my books)  This week's contestants were:

ML Gammella ~ @MLGammella
Nellie ~ @solimond
Chessny Silth ~ @ChessnySilth
Lupus Anthropos ~ @LupusAnthropos
Michelle Smith ~ @msmithbooks
Warren Danbar ~ @warrendanbar
David A Ludwig ~ @DavidALudwig
Kimmydonn ~ @Kimmydonn
Miranda Kate ~ @PurpleQueenNL
Charles W Jones ~ @ChuckWesJ
Sheilagh Lee ~ @SweetSheil
SJI Holliday ~ @SJIHolliday

Sheesh, you all really shoved me through the wringer this week. I feel like I've been tortured, threatened, abandoned, blackmailed and am now in desperate need of a nap in a safe room somewhere (padding preferred). Thanks to everyone for taking the time to share your fantastic skills here at #MotivationMonday. Oh, and thanks for making me crave toad warts. -Rebekah

Sheilagh Lee. This award should be self-evident.

David Ludwig.
The characterization of the awkward (but passionate) kid and the annoyed (but vulnerable) shopkeeper is spot on. The pacing of the plot via dialogue is great, capped by the shopkeeper’s wonderfully resentful defense at the end. Nicely executed.  

Michelle Smith.
Creepy sandwich! The scene feels rushed in the right kind of way, an effective parallel of Laura’s panic and her sister’s consternation. I’m a little resentful of the cliffhanger, though. Please feel free to PM me to let me know if Laura gets away.  

Nellie.
I love this well-designed scene with the verbal battle between the demonkin and the Thorn Prince. The dialogue and details are richly painted, and hint of a much larger world and conflict. Though complete as is, it reads like a piece of an epic fantasy—and one that people would like to read.

Lupus Anthropos.
Cleverly written and action-packed, this concise story jerks the reader into the unexpected in almost every sentence. The storyteller’s skepticism and humor perfectly balance the utterly incomprehensible events. I felt like I was at Cheers. Except with aliens. 

Week 27 Entry
By Lupus Anthropos

"I can't wait that long."

He looked nervous and sounded earnest, but how could we believe what he had told us? Bar patrons weren't known for being the most credible people.

Wheels shrieked as they came to a sudden stop just outside the tavern. One, two, three doors opened then closed. The bartender, complying with our guest's request, plugged in an extension cord and tossed him the other end.

In a single motion that demonstrated dexterity and desperation, he caught the cord, cut off the end, split the two wires apart and plunged one into each eye socket.

The lights dimmed briefly and, just as the front door opened, the nervous man burst into a brilliant ball of light that expanded to fill the room and then vanished, leaving the extension cord to fall to the floor.

The three newcomers didn't bother to say, "Hello." They just turned around, ran back to their car and sped away. We still don't know what happened to that visitor or his pursuers and we never saw any of them again.

You should have seen what the bar's electric bill for that month was, though.

We're changing up the rules just a bit this week.  The winner will earn the badge and judge the week after next because we have a guest judge and special prize for next week.  This week's prompt was inspired by the change.

This week's judge is one of my favorite new writers.  I was very happy to see her picked last week.

Rebekah Postupak is a writer, teacher, executive assistant, and believer that coffee is a moral imperative.

I can't wait that long.

We've made it to the half-year mark.  My thanks to all of you faithful readers, writers and supporters who keep this going.  This week's entrants were:

Kimberly Gould ~ @KimmyDonn
Charles W Jones ~ @Chuckwesj
Siobhan Muir ~ @SiobhanMuir
Sheilagh Lee ~ @SweetSheil
David A Ludwig ~ @DavidALudwig
Jeffrey Hollar ~ @klingorengi
Cara Michaels ~ @caramichaels
Lisa McCourt Hollar ~ @jezri1
Warren Danbar ~ @warrendanbar
Rebekah Postupak ~ @postupak
Nellie ~ @solimond
Ryan Strohman ~ @rastrohman
M L Gammella ~@MLGammella

There were so many fun and interesting stories to choose from this week.  From zombies to investigations...from fantasy tales to rest stop restroom faux pas and sci fi westerns.  With much difficulty my choices for this week's Motivation Monday are:

David Ludwig
You told a fun and complete fantasy tale with great characters.  I loved the use of the term and concept of the berserker.  I haven't read that term in any format in a long time.  It shows a great attention to cultural detail for the depth and development of a character even in such a short venue.  Nice job.  @DavidALudwig

Siobhan Muir
You created a story that allows us to intuit and assume a rich back story for the relationship of the characters while wanting to know the outcome and leaving us on the edge of our seats.  As a result you told an almost episodic a tale of a few hundred words that  seemed much longer...all by stimulating our imagination. Very cool story. I'd like to read more.   @Siobhan Muir

Rebekah Postupak
Everyone who has has lost a loved one or a family member to Alzheimer's or some similar fate can understand the frustration of the situation for all involved as well as their fixation on certain objects or concepts as they try to hold on.  But you also capture the kindness that often is exhibited by family and friends during their loved one's slow descent making the simple trip to buy the mustard a labor of love and an honoring of the affected person's dignity by allowing them relevance.  This story affected me and was a simple and subtle slice of life that we can all imagine being played out in thousands of similar real life stories every day. Very well done.      @postupak 

Mustard
By Rebekah Postupak

I’m out of mustard.

My husband, a ketchup man, laughed at me when I pointed this out, kissed the top of my head and headed out the door to work, whistling. If only I could be so cavalier.

I'm just kidding.  I've got plenty of prompts left.  This week's prompt was inspired my new favorite web series, "The Guild" but I didn't want to limit the writers with an RPG prompt. 
(I think I have a crush on Felicia Day, I hope Natalie Merchant doesn't get jealous.)

In other news we will have a guest judge on May 28th with a special prize for the winner.   The winner of the May 21st competition will be the judge the following Monday.

This week's returning judge is Jake Wilkins, A little bit about him in his own words:

I’m a humorist, comedy writer and entertainer with a day job.  I live outside Fort Worth, TX with a mean ole’ yellow eyed cat named Mango.  I’m more story teller than author and probably the last person you’d expect me to be.

Current WIPs include a comedy romance about a writer with a wicked twist on the classic Cyrano De Bergerac tale and the early stages of a sitcom pilot being developed and written with a partner.  I enjoy writing in a variety of genres and am drawn to works with strong female characters (yes, I have a bad girl fixation) and to wickedly clever subtlety in subplots.

I'm out of

Another great week with 18 stories and more new voices.

Warren Dunbar brought us a young boy's view of the Apocalypse. Kardin Kaye brought us a mysterious face from the past.  And Jessa Russo debuted with a story about the worst work day ever.

Here is a complete list of our entrants and where you can find them on Twitter:

Robby Hilliard ~ redshirt6
Ryan Strohman ~ @rastrohman
Jessa Russo ~ @JessaRusso
Rebekah Postupak ~ @postupak (2 entries)
Nellie ~ @solimond
Kardin Kaye
Jake Wilkins ~ @JakeWilkins3
Dryadsgarden ~ @dryadsgarden
Cara Michaels ~ @caramichaels
Warren Danbar ~ @warrendanbar
Bob Mahone ~ @Computilizer
Charles W Jones ~ @ChuckWesJ
David A Ludwig ~ @DavidALudwig
SJI Holliday ~ @SJIHolliday
Rafe B ~ @etcet
Sheilagh Lee ~ @SweetSheil
Wakefield Mahon ~ @WakefieldMahon (your humble host)

@caramichaels :
I loved the dialogue. It brought me into the story and I felt as though I was there.
@solimond:
The sense of dread that built up during the story was great and the ending, with the books being the priceless treasure was a fun twist.
@redshirt6:
I am really hoping they don’t succeed in exorcising her. This was a ghost story that I would love to see written into a longer piece.

@JakeWilkins3
This story stayed with me long after reading it the first time. I was really hoping he would be able to get back in time to rescue the old man.


The Rescue
By Jake Wilkins

“I don’t want to die!” the man screamed.

Nick tightened the harness straps as the hoist pulled them toward the chopper.

“Be still and we’ll get you strapped in!” Nick shouted, exasperated.

Most of us are familiar with Benjamin Franklin's line from his missive to Jean-Baptiste Leroy: "'In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."
The fear of each - to differing degrees - is universal.   I arrived at half a dozen spins on this week's prompt.  How creative can you be?

This week's judge and returning champion is author Lisa McCourt-Hollar, Mistress of Jezri's Nightmares and hostess of the 55 Word Challenge.  Visit her website at http://www.lisamccourthollar.com/

I don't want to die

We had a phenomenal week.  Readers from almost sixty cities in eight countries dropped by to enjoy the work of our sixteen competing writers.  I'm also glad to hear from new voices!

Susi Holliday and Miranda Kate brought stories of abusive wives from different perspectives, one very intense and the other deeply emotional
Angelica Dawson gave us an unrepentant cheating husband and Kimberly Gould shoved the intensity of a thriller into just 153 words.

Here is a complete list of our entrants and where you can find them on Twitter:

Sheilagh Lee ~ @SweetSheil
Ryan Strohman ~ @rastrohman
Kimberly Gould ~ @Kimmydonn
Angelica Dawson ~ @angelicadawson
Miranda Kate ~ @PurpleQueenNL
Charles W Jones ~ @chuckwesj
Lisa McCourt Hollar ~ @jezri1
David A Ludwig ~ @DavidALudwig
Susi Holliday ~ @SJIHolliday
Jeffrey Hollar ~ @klingorengi
Cara Michaels ~ @caramichaels
Bob Mahone ~ @Computilizer
Rebekah Postupak ~ @postupak
Nellie ~ @solimond
Rafe B ~ @etcet
Stacey Jaine McIntosh ~ @StaceyJMcIntosh

Judging this many great stories is no small task so I have to offer a huge thank you to this week's judge J. Whitworth Hazzard (or to you twitterati @ZombieMechanics).

First, a great big thanks to Wakefield for letting me judge this week’s competition.  Second, I was really impressed with the number and quality of entries.  I ended up with 9 (NINE!) finalists after reading over the entries twice.

 I wish I could have given out more, but in no particular order, @SJIHolliday,  @AngelicaDawson, and @Solimond.

@SJIHolliday:
Susi’s piece was one of three lovely “domestic bliss” stories this week, and her’s was beautifully psychotic.  I thoroughly enjoy a romp through the perspective of crazy people.  Hmm, I wonder what that says about me? Remind me never to be late to dinner at her house. 
@AngelicaDawson: 
Angelica took the flip side of the equation and brought forth the put-upon husband’s perspective in an emotional tale of the regrets/no regrets decisions unhappy people make.  For anyone who’s ever gone through estrangement, this one is hard to forget.
@Solimond: 
Nellie’s Dr. Who-inspired tale of capture and magical imprisonment brought me back to the days of reading classic Strange Tales and watching Twilight Zone episodes.  Weird, scary, evocative, and thoroughly entertaining.

@Jezri1
It had all the elements of a great bit of flash fiction.  It was interesting, fast, cute, entertaining, had a bit of grisly in there for the horror fans, and a bit of fairy tale for the fantasy fans.  Excellent work.

Thank you everyone for submitting and please take to Twitter and congratulate our winner @Jezri1 and HMs, @SJIHolliday, @AngelicaDawson, and @Solimond. 

A Troll’s Story
By Lisa McCourt Hollar

“It’s too late to apologize.”

I stared up at Shyll, my eyes narrowing. The creep glared down at me, his huge hook nose threatening to drip snot on me, if he didn’t wipe it soon. I couldn’t believe I had gotten this kind of reaction from the burly goon.

“Shyll, please get hold of yourself,” I said. Big mistake. The big lug reached down, wrapped his meat hooks around my waist and lifted me into the air.

Originally the prompt was going to be "It was a dark and stormy night, but I just couldn't find enough ways to play with the punctuation to keep from boxing writers in.  Instead this week's prompt comes from a more general theme.
My wife and I watched "The Descendents" and a cheesy Lifetime movie this weekend.  One of the shared themes was forgiveness even when it doesn't come easily.

J. Whitworth Hazzard lives in the vast cornfields of Illinois with his wife, and four nearly perfect children.  A Geek-for-Hire by day, J. Whitworth has worked for over ten years fixing minor computer problems, some of which he did not even cause.   He prepares technical documents for a living and tries not to include any zombies in reports on server upgrades and network outages (although not always successfully).
Dr. Hazzard has a PhD in molecular biophysics that he now uses to figure out how to scientifically justify the existence of mythical creatures.  Trained in science and critical thinking, J. Whitworth spends his leisure time writing fiction that would make his former professors cringe.  He has been a life-long writer and has spent more than his fair share of time writing about all kinds of ridiculous things.  His dream of writing for a living started in the 5th grade when his five page story “The Blood and Guts 500” entranced and thrilled his classmates.  His passionate prosody received a standing ovation and from that day forward he was hooked on the art of story telling.

It's too late to apologize