You did it! You voted for me in droves and propelled me to the top in the Flash Friday Fiction Dog Days of Summer contest! That means I WON, people! Thank you SO MUCH for all of your support, and patience with my pleas for votes. I couldn’t have done it without you.

Not only did you vote for me, but many of you took the time to tell me you’d read my story and really liked it. I can’t think of a better compliment than that.

In snagging first place, I’m now $25 richer. That is, until I use those ill-gotten (not really) gains to take some fellow writer friends out to dinner to celebrate this victory. Sounds reasonable for a use of contest winnings to me, don’t you think?

I hope those of you who enjoy writing consider participating in the weekly Flash Friday Fiction contest, if you’re not doing so already. It’s a whole lot of fun in a supportive community, and though I’ve been involved with it for less than a year, now I can’t imagine a week without it.

Thank you for making my little writer’s heart happy by supporting me in my quest for this Dog Days title. I’m thrilled! (And ready for pizza.)

The Temptresst – 157 words

All she wanted was a little time to herself. Time away from their leering glances, their suggestive comments, their wolfish grins. Time away from the groping.

Other women didn’t understand. “I’d kill for someone to look at me like that,” they said. “I wish I had your body,” the heavy ones moaned. “I wish I had your face,” the plain ones sighed. “You don’t appreciate what you’ve got.”

She longed to trade with them. To know what it was like to go a whole day unnoticed, no one commenting on the color of her hair, the curve of her lips. The sway in her walk.

She studied the painting, grateful for the quietness of the room, the solitude, the time alone with nothing surrounding her but air to breathe freely and a thousand tales told by the pictures on the wall.

“Yes,” she whispered, tracing the woman’s tresses without touching them. “A storm rages in me, too.”

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What do you think? I had 150 words (+/- 10) to write a story based on the prompt and including something about freedom. Do you like it? What would you have written, instead? Sail on over to Flash Friday Fiction to read and comment on the other entries, and/or to enter your own!

Please also VOTE in the Flash Friday Fiction Dog Days of Summer contest – the 10 finalists are up (I’m one of them!), and we need your votes! You can vote as many times as you want, as long as you’re voting from devices on separate IP addresses, since that’s how the survey tallies who’s voiced their opinion. A good reason to go hang out at a variety of wi-fi offering places this weekend!

Whee haw, people! I made it into the Top Ten of the first-ever Dog Days of Summer Flash Friday Fiction competition! I’m SO EXCITED!

But I need your help…the winners will be chosen by popular vote. That’s right, YOU have a say in this contest. Let your voice (or at least your ability to click on a name) be heard!

Of COURSE I’m hoping you’ll love my story the best and vote for me. I can’t deny that. But I ain’t no politician, so I encourage you to read all ten finalists and then vote for the person whose story you really think deserves to win. *cough* ME! ME! ME! *cough*

Voting is open until 11:59pm Monday, July 28, Washington, DC time. Vote as often as you can from as many devices as you can (once per IP address).  

And please help spread the word…every vote counts!