We would like to express our deepest gratitude to all the individuals who took part in the February Challenge and generously shared their stories. It was an absolute pleasure to dive into the pages of each entry, as they exemplified outstanding writing talents and adeptly explored the given prompts. Congratulations to all the participants, with a special acknowledgement of the winners!

First Place Winners

By Chance by Millie_Kate01

Second Place Winners

Stardust by Rathilluser

Third Place Winner

Blossoming Love In The Wasteland by Vegas801

Blurb

When Christi (Chris) has her heart broken by her three-year-long boyfriend, she decides a week-long, cross-country train ride is what she needs to heal. She didn't expect to be assigned the same cabin as a stranger. And she didn't expect to fall in love with said stranger either.

Review of winning entry (Written by )

By Chance is a short story that manages to pack so much content into five thousand words. You managed to add most of the elements required in a full-length novel into a short series of interactions between two characters on a train. Christi and James go from complete strangers who accidentally get assigned the same carriage to a pair that works well together as a couple, without making it feel rushed or forced. 

We get both their backstories, goals and motivations within these really well-written dialogue exchanges, and it doesn't feel unnatural or shoved in. The two seem like they've known each other for ages later in the story, and they honestly have better chemistry than some works I've read.  

It's a really nice read, and I recommend it to anyone who would like to have a few minutes of a happy well-written short story.

Congratulations to everyone who participated! We hope you had fun with this Challenge, see you soon with our next one!