Laatija Gray

Going back to that disqualification rule, I still don't like it. I didn't vote one round because I had an extremely busy month and hadn't had time or energy to give all the entries a fair read so I didn't feel like I could objectively vote for favorites. So I was essentially disqualified for not wanting to be shallow and uninformed (not that my entry that round was much to sniff at). That sort of rule also opens up the pressure for you, Edonil, to wait and wait and wait for votes, even well past the cut-off date because I know you don't like to leave people out. Personally, as an author, I want to vote because I truly believe a story is excellent (it was not hard to vote this last round), not because I'm worried about being disqualified.

This part of the rules has always thrown me a little: It sounds like you get the boot if you don't vote. Which is pretty sucky. Can we eliminate that?

Way to go, guys! congrats Haunter, that story totally kicked butt!!

Oh no! I hope not! I was looking forward to reading your entry, Bogo!

Thanks guys

Aww poor Geoffery

Ha! I love the poet bear!

Nicely done!

Here we are. Used the location, theme, character and, if you squint and stand on your head, the line. Word count: 197

Open Spoiler I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I know this is alarming. I will do my best to explain. You are in the Market; Cradled in velvet As red as blood, For anyone with the coin to buy; For anyone with the magic to use. You may hope for a righteous man. You may hope for a hero. You may even, perhaps, hope for a Nightmare. It does not matter. You will be consumed either way. The shadows you see, Shifting, lurking: This is the world you once knew. No longer are you a societal member, Freely interacting with mortals. You have a new function now. The magician’s stagehand; The conjuror’s assistant; The apprentice of another's soul. You have no body. You cannot run. But there is a world here, with us, in-between 'alive' and 'not'. They do not know Of the dream in which we dwell. They, the living. We, the Lost. It is a world in which Color is symphonic, Sensation is perception, Sentiment becomes a pungent fragrance. Crystal has become your body. Magic has become your being. To move, To breathe, To be, Is a gesture of wonder And a whisper of power Frozen in stone.

I do believe I feel a poem coming on....

He's fine but his computer may still be on the fritz.

I gave him a gentle nudge on facebook. Hopefully something will come of it

Thanks Haunter I'll mess around with the story and see if that works a little better.