To sum up:
- David Barber slapped us with a stunning triple whammy #1 Episode 2 of The Undead continued to entice. #2 One wedding and a huge funeral - they'll be sorry. #3 He took the wrong move and all would be swiftly, and very nastily lost.
- mimimanderly blew her audience away on New Year's Eve. They should have known better.
- Diana spangled her diamonds in our direction, playing the teasing game, thanks to Chris Allinotte.
- Gothic graveyards had Antonia Woodville serving cold supper to the starving, the ever-hungry.
- Erin Cole lied through her teeth to bring us a strangling and skeletal untruth.
- A restaurant packed with silent diners was enough to warn us - too late, in Susan May James' Lambs.
- Sushi is suggested whilst geishas and delicate precision fills asuqi's teapot of disappointed love in That of Which the Heart is Filled.
- Dominion provided the spiralling, metamorphosic first entry from William Davoll followed by more merging of body and soul, of senses and self-sacrifice in You Are What You Eat.
- AidanF's demonic Qarînah lay slinky on the lover's pillow, tempting, taunting...
- My poem Swallow revealed unsavoury choices whilst Lydia takes her choice of tidbits at masterchef Marcel Garotte's restaurant in Tasty Bites.
- Awakening school-tide fears, Anthony Cowin delivered the revenge we can (should) only perform in words in Old School Cries.
- Michael Solender likes to play. His Hot Tub in Hades had skin being sloughed off and flesh melting away.
- AJ Humpage is guilty of hurting our pristine sensibilities with her raw tale of bigotted injustice.
- Black & white TVs with curving screens took us into the past then into the present with ghostly, tragic memories from Bill Owens.
- Cold in the title and cold is the decision to end it all in Pixie J. King's disturbing Cold Reflection.
Hard, hard choices here because the standard and skill is just excellent. However, for me Erin Cole's Bare the Bones teased my senses beyond belief and sang to my appreciative ears so wins this Prediction. Congratulations Erin.
I simply cannot choose a runner-up, so I'm putting it to the vote (how mean am I?) You have 48 hours to decide - whether you entered or not. Comments below please.
Tomorrow's Prediction at UK daybreak...
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Congratulations, Erin! Color me unsurprised that she won. Great use of language, and the pen could have been wielded by no worthier hand.
ReplyDeleteRunner-up? Asuqi's has stayed with me from the moment I read it. Fresh imagery, sharp observations, great bit of dialogue.
Huzzah! Yea to Erin. I vote for Aidan's fine tale as r.u.
ReplyDeleteWow! I am truly honored (thank you!) because I'm having a bit of difficulty choosing...
ReplyDeleteMichael's Hot Tub in Hades delighted me much, Chris' Diamonds-2 stole my breath a bit, Asuqi's That of Which the Heart is Filled had a great mix of elements, I really enjoyed Susan's Lambs, AidanF's piece was stunning in its ending, and Lily's Swallow was magnificent in its raw truth, yet I think I'd have to pick AJ Humpage's Mea Culpa for its amazing delivery and language.
Again, so many good ones - you've got a great thing going here Lily, and I thank you for all the time and effort you've put into reading everyone's entries and comments.
I appreciate all the support everyone. Happy Friday.
congratulations, Erin! A worthy winner, loved your story. My r u - AJ's
ReplyDeleteA worthy winner!
ReplyDeleteRunner-up should be AJ.
ReplyDeleteAJ's had depth, and was exceptionally moving, but I'm going to score one for Michael's "Lucifer's Stew" - the gleeful malevolence, and the detached observation of the narrator at his own destruction was simply captivating.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Erin, your piece was brilliant!
ReplyDeleteI loved Michael´s stew, but my vote goes to AJ -- great delivery, very vivid imagery, like a scene from a movie.
A mighty congrats Erin! Well done!
ReplyDeleteAs runner up I'm inclined to pick AJ Humpage with Mea Culpa. Great description, touching, too real; it really stuck with me.
Congratulations Erin, well deserved. Am I brown-nosing to vote for Swallow? The rhythm really stuck with me.
ReplyDeleteI'm hard-pressed to pick between the other ones, they were so good. However, I would have to go with Chris' for the horses.
Congrats Erin a worthy winner.
ReplyDeleteReally difficult to choose between such fine talent, but after much re-reading of all the entries my vote goes to AJ for Mea Culpa.
I agree Erin's story was a fantastic piece of micro fiction and deserved to win. I have no idea how you managed to set about judging this Lily. The content was so strong last week.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Erin and I'll abstain from voting for a runner up because I have about four or five in mind and still can't decide on just one.
Well the midnight oil has burned out - and so have I.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for taking on the voting for the runner-up - by a majority vote it's AJ Humpage's profoundly disturbing Mea Culpa. Well done AJ!