1st gunsan - dragonfly with wonderful POV 2nd anniemation (splendid fractal) 3rd mommavelvet9999 (both the nest and explaining life and loss to children) ************* Choosing is sooooooooo hard! I am rather partial to snowflakes, and Pam's fairy is lovely. Both poems deserve mention. I like the cats They are ALL good and worthy and fulfilling of the theme. We've been working hard, and the last few months have been full of meritorious entries... some drop dead gorgeous pieces and some meaningful poetry and scary stories... and new people dropping by and participating. Therefore... if you have entered, voted, or commented in this thread, you can email me for a snowflake package. :) I have 2 more to finish cleaning up (the originals were drawn in pencil decades ago, before scanners and computers entered my life). They aren't quite real flakes (there is more than a tinge of art nouveau, as though they've fallen through curvy Japanese clouds). So it will be 3 snowflakes, each with 3-4 fancy textures, as .psd layers, in a nice zipped bundle. I'm tempted to do a snowflake from Hell, but will restrain myself. ;^) Carolly