All entries for the Short Story Contests will be posted here for everyone's enjoyment!

The winners of each contest will be denoted by bold print.

AUGUST

The task is to write a short story in 200 words or less with a clear beginning, middle, and end. It must include:

• A wolf
• A treehouse

Deneke -
"She wandered through the forest, powerful paws striking the terra without a sound. Her eyes flicked through the trees as a strange sound filled her ears, like a bird's call, but muffled as though it were trapped. That's when her eyes found the strange den. It looked like a part of the tree's trunk, only it was supported by the trees branches. Bracing her ivory paws on the trunk of the tree, she sniffed the air beneath the strange thing. Suddenly, a tangle of branches fell from the tree den. They hung just in front of her snout, suspended by strange vine-like things. Testing their strength with her front paws, they held. She made a decision, and scrambled up the branches.

Standing on the floor, she noticed it was not made of dirt, one of the few things she had ever seen ground made of. Pressing her nose to it, she pulled up a snootful of dust. Sneezing wildly, she shook her head to remove it of more dust. Peering over the edge, she realized she might not be able to get down. A whimper echoed through the air, as darkness began to fall. She was in trouble now."


Andy -
"Starlight was oddly curious of the great structure that loomed just above her head, squashed between four pine trees. It appeared to be made of trees itself, which was an intriguing notion. With a great effort, she found the half-rotten, overgrown-with-brambles rope and wood ladder that led into the oddity. An ear flickered back as her subconscious warned her that it was hardly a good idea to venture into an unknown area, but when did she ever listen to the voice in her head? A determined glean flickered in her eyes as she lifted her front paws tentatively onto the first step, followed quickly by her back paws. She balanced precariously on the rickety ladder, deciding that speed would be her ally in this quest. Continually moving upward, she took each step as it came, this time moving a bit more rapidly in efforts to minimize her weight upon each questionable landing. Finally, after much effort, Starlight's paws graced the larger wooden landing that made up the front portion of the structure. She stood there for a moment, jaws agape and panting, before realizing - much to her dismay - that she was not looking forward to getting down."


Tiff -
"a young woman's delicate hand mingled leisurely with the brown and grey fur of a barrelled chest, taking time to draw variations of small and large circles with individual fingers. heart shaped face lay contentedly on the animal's ribs, rising and falling with each breath it took. she lifted herself to sit as the sun began to recede, the wolf taking notice and rising with her. she gingerly cupped his left ear in her small hand, softly rubbing her thumb in the treasured spot as he leaned into her touch. she whispered her goodbyes before pecking the bridge of his nose affectionately, emptying out the contents of a picnic basket before taking her leave. the woman hurried through the woods, ducking beneath branches and racing against the clock until she reached a small clearing. stepping forward, blue eyes gazed up at her suspended home while she absently brushed a brunette lock over her shoulder. she paused at the foot of wooden steps to glance longingly back into the shadows before gathering her red cloak up at the knees and ascending the stairs to grandmother's treehouse."


Zystx -
"Wow! What was this thing?! She sat in a tree, gazing at this strange thing. It looked like a huge nest! No, it looked like a giant wooden human contraption. Yes, that was it. This was a human tree-nest. The foolish raven gave a proud bob of her head, happy to have named this unknown device. The shadowy bird opened her proud wings and pushed off to get a better look at this tree-nest. There was a hole in the side that was perfect a perfect perch for the bird. It would be an easy landing. Just swoop down and throw out her feet. Except, she didn't take in to account the wooden sides and her wings. A few moments of undignified squawking and panicked flapping later, she was on the edge of the opening. Now, her attention turned to the inside of the tree-nest.

Her beady eyes got wide with delight as she beheld a beautiful set of stones strung together. It had to be her's! The raven dove for the object, claws and beak reaching for it madly. It was her's! Then, she was out, soaring off to her nest with her stolen treasure, the tree-nest already forgotten."


Azaya (too long for contest, but really good!) -
"Hunger, one of the few things the pup had known in the few months she had been born to a beautiful mother. Of course, she had been grabbed by a monster while her mother's back was turned and threw off to the side like a toy. Was that all she was, a toy? Used by the humans to hurt the ones she loved so they would die a lonely death? At least she had ran away and made it to the edge of the woods without any harm. Then the unnamed pup-or did she have a name?- heard it. A roar, mixed with a high pitched scream to create a nightmare. The noise came again, and again, and again. It hurt her ears so much that she yelped.

Although she was afraid, the pup traveled on, and the screams become louder and louder, until they stopped, leaving only a spooky, mean silence. The silence was explained by a giant den, on a branch, strange. It was not falling off, and the branch seemed fine, however looked weak. With a soft whimper, the unnamed pup did what anybody else would do. The pup, cautious and slightly nervous, slid to the den and bit it. It didn't move.

Instead, something hit her on the head. The pup yelped and jumped back, staring at whatever had attacked her and startled her. What was that large wood thingy attached to the strange vines? Was it something to pull up orphan wolf pups to a nice, warm home? The pup jumped on the first wood thingy and crawled to the second one. At the third one, she had to stop before crawling back up. At the topmost one, a large black space made her enter. It seemed interesting, with its strange newborn pup scent. The pup jumped inside, and sniffed around.

A strange bottle was laying on the cold, hard floor. More sniffing revealed a pup, its neck dangling in the strings, and the head of an hairless wolf pup next to it, and organs all over the place. There was a strange animal that looked like nothing he had seen before, laying on the floor. It had glazed eyes with a strange, thin black pupil and a gash on its stomach. The pup heard a soft whimpering and moved to a pup. It stared at her before it went limp.

The pup heard footsteps, coming up the steps, and a gruff noise. She heard a wail and a screech, and the faint thud of something. What was going on? Was she next in some sick game? A man in a black coat came up, with one of the strange animals in one hand an a knife in the other. The man moved the knife across the animal's neck and moved towards her. He grabbed her by the scruff and pinned her down on a table. The pup whimpered as she saw blood. It was all around her.

The man hit her hindquarters first, and threw them off the table. Then her forelegs. The pain made the pup sick. Then the man aimed it at her head.

The last thing the pup heard was something about her sacrifice being honored. "