Third Great Incantations Bracket Challenge

We held third Great Incantations bracket challenge, with 30 members taking part. The rules were simple; read the stories in your bracket and pick your favorites. It was a friendly competition, with only bragging rights on the line.

Once again, the stories were outstanding, and the scoring was very close.

The winners of each bracket were as follows:

Death By Chocolate by Britt Blomster

Cole lurches awake in his kitchen with a skull-pounding headache. Gone was the peaceful dream of his mother pulling out a chocolate birthday cake from the oven. It feels like a thousand needles are jamming his eyes as he peels them open, still smelling chocolate cake. As his eyes adjusted to the bright lights, the outline of a petite girl standing by the oven emerged.

The Day It Rained Red by Ali SP a.k.a. Aliberry SP

I will not forget this day — January 26, 1983. Nigeria, Africa.

The sound of the horns is distant — sad and low as the rain beats against our hut and the canopy that surrounds us. With each growing second, the brassy and quick toots become louder growing to a crescendo that awakens my stiff body from sleep. What is happening?

By the Light of Fire and Stars by Rachel M.J a.k.a. Rachel Jordan

The sun lulled a lazy pink fog over the cobbled-streets. It sunk, like an orbed fishing hook, into the lake that parted the city. A gentle gust of wind swept under the dying leaves that had been bundled in the trenches, and scattered them across town like stepping stones.

A small mouse - that had nearly toppled in the breeze - scampered from home to home, searching for a nook to nestle in. The houses lining the streets had been all but sealed in anticipation of the oncoming winter, and just as the frost began to turn it's nose purple, the mouse happened upon a small haven; an opening, beneath a poorly pillared home in which a number of intertwined wooden beams provided a warm spot for sleeping.

Above, a young boy lugged firewood from porch to hearth.

"Coming Grandma!"

Bench by Meagan Dion

I was young enough to fear what was in the shadows, but old enough to pretend like I didn't. So as I walked the street alone I held my chin high and wore a confident smirk. The night was beautiful but unassuming. The fallen leaves littered the wet pavement like confetti after a parade. The moon was high in the clear sky and the only sound was the echo of my heels on the empty street. It was just me and the unknown.

A Selkie's Return to the Deep by Call Me Les a.k.a. Lesley Anne

Growing up in rural Ireland, I never knew my father. Or rather, I knew of him, but we had never met. When pressed, all my mother would say was that he was an officer in the navy, and that it was better for everyone if he stayed an ocean away. But I never felt the absence of a parent; Mamma was the kind of person who took up all the space in the room. Everyone who met her commented on her breathtaking beauty and captivating charm. I loved listening to her sing the old lullabies and ballads while she danced around our home, graceful even when doing something as simple as washing the dishes.

The Starboard Sabbatical by Sarah St.Erth a.k.a. Sarah Wareing

I did not pursue this carelessness by way of frivolity. No, it had been as a result of the ripping insistence of loss and pain. The early understanding of the fragility of life, instead of creating timidity, bred ferocity. The kind that inspired me to paddle my board out into the bay, and lay there watching the stars, waving my legs through the phosphorescence that played on the surfaces of the sea, mirroring the dark night full of stars.

The overall winner of the third Bracket Challenge:

Death By Chocolate by Britt Blomster

Be sure to read and support all the great authors.

Past Winners:

First Great Incantations Bracket Challenge

Katy's List by KT Marie

Second Great Incantations Bracket Challenge

The Fire at Freedom Pond Park by Gerald Holmes

Thank you to everyone who participated.