Well, here's my two penneth worth! Just personal opinions. I reread all of the stories, and the first one to spring to mind was jstros, it drew me in enough to make me ask how the girl got her clothes wet, but as a scene it did not feel complete, the mother did not seem quite real to me and I felt that some element was missing from the story, which left me feeling dissatisfied. Perhaps this is because it is drawn from a larger work, and it would work better in context. I think if there is an honorable mention category, then I would like to put jgeorge forward. I couldn't quite get a sense of where you were going with your story, but feel this is down to your writing in a second language. It had however a certain charm. Perhaps this is because I when I read your work, I added an accent in my head to match the way you used words. This gave your character a character! :-) This story within a story thing is the reason I am voting for Dialyn. Her piece seemed the most satisfying a read, giving me a sense that lives of the couple had started before the event I read about, and somewhere continued on. In both instances these seemed believable. I suppose I am trying to say it had a feeling of life. So, my nightmare is over (lol) and if I was the boss I'd say DIALYN is this months Writers Forum winner! ps Well done everyone! Shanna :-) It ain't the winning, it's the taking part.....(unless of course you win, then it's three laps round the coffee table and all the chocolate you can eat!)