I'd like to thank everyone who participated in the story contest either as an author or as a reader. I am especially grateful to all those who diligently read all the stories (50!), went back and re-read them and then thoughtfully voted. The number of "reads" was especially high as compared to the board on average--over 300 for some stories and many others had over 200. This shows that the readers were really interested and that's what keeps us authors going. Februs' jumble of the order was helpful in that it evened out the reads (like or not we are conditioned subconsciously to start at the top). Thanks to Februs, Flopsy, Pink, Linda and the rest of the moderators who put this thing together and ran it. And also I thank everyone who commented on the stories. I only got to read them this morning, as did all the other authors, and I think I can speak for us all in saying that we appreciate your commentary very much. | 
