And the winner is...

That Was Fun! ❣️

We did it. We created something magnificent together. With this announcement of the Winners' Circle, Munson's Microfiction - My Tears Need a Minute draws to an end.

Reading these entries was a delight. The microfictions were evocative, entertaining, stirring, heart-wrenching, and or mind bending. I am awed by your talent. Thank you for honoring me with your contributions.

Judging turned out to be a nightmare -- worthy of an entry in Vocal's 3 AM Challenge. You did not make it easy and I'm grateful for that, despite the sleepless nights. I would award every entry a top placement if I thought it fair, but awarding every single entry defeats the purpose of a challenge.

Thanks to everyone who encouraged this endeavor through inspiration, likes, comments, and most especially participation. 🫶🏻

I also offer one more shoutout to Lacy Loar-Gruenler, without whom there'd be no story behind this wonderful prompt. I've awarded Lacy a Tip for the story that started this all, and I highly encourage everyone to read, "The Girl Who Loved Them Both."

The Judging ❣️

First and foremost, I considered integrity. I verified, to the best of my ability, that none of the entries plagiarizes any other writer, and that AI was not used to generate any of the microfictions. Satisfied, I judged the entries based on a grading system. I used the following criteria:

• Emotion (did the piece evoke an emotional response - anger, empathy, laughter, tears, etc.) - up to 10 points
• Hook (did the piece gain and hold my attention) - up to 10 points
• Memorable (how long did the microfiction linger in my mind) - up to 10 points
• Originality (does the author write this type of story often, have I read this story or ones like it before, did the author leverage word choice and develop imaginative characters, plot, theme, etc.) - up to 10 points
• Prompt utilization (did the two mandatory lines flow naturally, fit the tone of the piece, work as intended in the story) - up to 10 points
• Writing quality (did the author work within the bounds of literary fundamentals, applying editing and attention to detail) - up to 10 points

In the event of a tie, the author's use of the prompt would break the tie.

The Entries ❣️

Please read them all. Not for me. Not for the authors. But for yourself. Give the reader in you that gift.

Here are all of the entries, in the order the microfictions were received:

• John Cox — "The day I saw the light leave your eyes" [Vocal Top Story] 👏🏻
• shrey - "Cursed" 👏🏻
• Gerard DiLeo - "Plainer in a Plane Lane"👏🏻
• Andrea Corwin - "Tears at the Cooling" 👏🏻
• Mike Singleton - Mikeydred - "What's Cooking" 👏🏻
• Anna - "I'm sorry" 👏🏻
• D.K. Shepard - "The Flamingo Lounge" [Vocal Top Story] 👏🏻
• Matthew Fromm - "OPERATION DRAGON" 👏🏻
• Kayleigh Fraser - "Convention" 👏🏻
• Everyday Junglist - "These Days It Was an Everyday Occurrence" 👏🏻
• Kelli Sheckler-Amsden - "Sunday Kind Of Love" 👏🏻
• Paul Stewart - "Everyone Does It" 👏🏻
• L.C. Schäfer - "For Crows" 👏🏻
• Sarah Wilcox - "Forgotten Forest" [Vocal Top Story] 👏🏻

• Sonia Heidi Unruh - "Shooting Guernica" [Vocal Top Story] 👏🏻

👋🏻 Although my own stories are ineligible, I hope you'll honor me with a read if you haven't already - "Jax" [Vocal Top Story] and "The Painted Nail"

👋🏻 Also worthy of a read, but unfortunately ineligible due to the length of the short story, Matthew Fromm - "Vale Perficientur" [Vocal Top Story]. If this story had been eligible, it would have placed. I've awarded a Tip, although it cannot earn an official prize or placement.

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WINNERS CIRCLE ❣️

Drum roll please!

It is my honor to present the winning entries in Munson's Microfiction - My Tears Need a Minute unofficial challenge:

🏅 Runners-Up

It's a tie -- even after applying the prompt utilization criteria as a tie breaker.

Earning one of two Runner's-up and a $5 prize: Gerard DiLeo - "Plainer in a Plane Lane"

To quote Vocal readers*:

Gerard crafts an allegory for the ages. It is at once descriptive, dimensional, incredible, insanely impressive, jaw-dropping, and out-of-the-box.

Earning one of two Runner's-up and a $5 prize: Kelli Sheckler-Amsden - "Sunday Kind Of Love"

To quote Vocal readers*:

Kelli crafts a beautifully woven, brilliant, compelling, emotional, evocative, heart-wrenching, intense, poignant, spectacular, stellar, and tragic story.

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🥉 Third Place

In 3rd Place, recipient of the $10 prize: Sonia Heidi Unruh - "Shooting Guernica"

To quote Vocal readers*:

Sonia weaves a beautiful, dexterous, excellent, incredible, haunting, strange, suitably surreal, and all around wonderful work.

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🥈 Second Place

In 2nd Place, recipient of the $20 prize: D.K. Shepard - "The Flamingo Lounge"

To quote Vocal readers*:

D.K.'s story is amazing, beautiful, believable, brilliant, compelling, delicious, emotional, fantastic, haunting, heart-tugging, hopeful, poignant, and wisely wistful. In short, the fiction is pitch perfect.

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🥇First Place

With a remarkable 58 out of 60 possible points, in 1st Place, recipient of the $30 prize: John Cox — "The day I saw the light leave your eyes"

To quote Vocal readers*:

John's words are beautiful, emotional, heart-wrenching, moving, phenomenal, poignant, powerful, relatable, and tragic. This microfiction is a "stab-you-through-the-heart story."

Two readers shared, "I have tears in my eyes," and "my heart melted reading this."

I couldn't agree more. Simply mesmerizing, tender work, John. Congratulations!

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*Note that readers' comments did NOT factor into judging. I've quoted other readers' comments because their words cover my own impressions perfectly, and also because I love acknowledging others' opinions wherever possible.

Congratulations to all who placed, to all who participated, and to all who've read these indelible entries!

What's Next ❣️

I plan to sponsor another unofficial challenge. Please be on the lookout. In the meantime, keep writing and reading and supporting one another. I can't wait to read what's next.

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Copyright © 06/01/2024 by Christy Munson. All rights reserved.