week 28 winners

Here's what @lellabeth had to say about this week's entries:

These prompts were ones that were special to me, and seeing what you made of them made me so happy. I’m constantly amazed at the talent we have in our little corner of the world. Thank you for sharing your words.

@TinsleyWarren - So subtly powerful - there’s no big dramatic reveal, the words are woven in such a way that the sadness sneaks up on you. Somehow happy and heartbreaking.

@AnnaLund2011 - Beautiful. I love this interpretation of the prompt, and the hope at the end.

@sulliedsoles - Something about the way the letter was addressed to ‘My Heartbeat’ made me fear this would end sadly, and it did. And yet in a way, her selflessness in wanting him to go on is the saddest part of all. Lovely.

@everydaybella89 - This is such a twisted version of love - putting the other person’s dreams above your own - but it’s clear he has the best of intentions. The acceptance that he’ll have to let her fly made me ache.

@Sherbert20111 - I had to read this one a few times to make sure I understood it, and now that I do I almost wish I hadn’t. The last line is so strong.

@Pinkcookie - Wow, this was intriguing. I wonder who the woman is, whether she’s really even a woman at all. How awful that they discovered the connection, but that their discovery is doomed to die with them. I wonder how many more lives she’ll take.

@sandyquill - The all-encompassing first heartbreak is the worst, and I think that feeling that your life has reached its peak and passed you by is the nastiest sting in the tail. This captures that perfectly, and I love the small sliver of sunlight at the end.

@ChocoMG2112 - This is so unexpected, not a topic I’d normally read about, and yet I loved it. I’m torn between thinking she’s selfish for wanting him and selfless for giving him eternal love. I still can’t decide which I feel most. Wonderful.

@femme_mal - 2ND PLACE: This is so softly written and understated, and yet it hides a horrible revelation that you piece together with each sentence. Such beautiful words.

@GeekChic12FF - 3RD PLACE: It’s so cruel to imagine rooting for someone to have a bright new future, only to realise all too late that you won’t be part of it. The ‘for now’ at the end makes everything even more bittersweet. I worry what will happen when that time ends.

@bigblueboat - There’s so much being told here, but it’s snippets, little fragments of a picture that I want to have all of. I hope she finds her happy ending and reclaims her life as her own.

@Alesoflyy - The use of the lyric in the last line seems to fitting - he seems to be her tether, in some ways, the only thing holding her back from floating off in her haze. I love the imagery.

@Shneezles - I think this flash encapsulates so many people’s most basic fear - to be forgotten completely once we’re gone. I love the analogy here. It works so well.

@Shneezles - HONOURABLE MENTION: I loved this. I hoped someone would pick up on the darker, more tumultuous side of the ocean, and this did so perfectly. I wonder how many victims the woman has taken - and how many more there are still to come.

@jacndaniel - 1ST PLACE: I don’t know quite what to make of this flash, except knowing it hurts. The tone of it is so wistful, so full of regret that I wonder what could ever have torn them apart. It feels as though something that strong should be unbreakable.

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Congratulations @jacndaniel!

Thank you to @lellabeth for judging and to everyone who participated.

See you all next week.