Contest Winner!

The Hills Behind the House

Steele Filipek

A small breeze blew through the air as Tom tensed up, finding himself alone in the grove. The leaves shimmered in the sunlight overhead. A few twigs cascaded down, landing lightly on Tom’s shoulders. Tom had been there a thousand times, especially when he was younger, but there always seemed to be something not quite right. It was… off.

Tom’s hair raised on the back of his neck as something cawed out in the distance. He stepped into a ring of mushrooms, then back out again as he almost tripped on a branch. He forced himself to stop, and took several deep breaths, despite the alarms in his head that were screaming at him to run.

Contest Winner!

Blythe's Vengeance

Heather Kuehl

As we turned a corner the horses balked, refusing to take another step forward. The charred city gates of Ronand loomed in front of us, the main door just dangling from its hinges. I dismounted and ran a hand through my earthen brown hair. The stench of burnt wood and decaying flesh assaulted my nose and I gagged, turning away. Gaylan was still on his horse. His black hair was pulled tightly back and his eyes glittered like the purest sapphire, filled with shock and anger. I walked over to him and put a hand on his thigh.

“He will die for this,” I promised him.

“Yes,” Gaylan growled, a bit of his dragon half entering his voice. “Yes he will, Blythe.”

Mystic Crystal, Ancient Gold

Jerrel Swingle

She loved the smell of the ocean, loved to close her eyes and inhale the scent of faraway. She enjoyed the cries of the seagulls. Her heart thrilled to the sound of the breakers crashing on the reefs guarding the lagoon, and the feel of the ocean’s breath on her face.

Today she stopped, shaded her eyes, and enjoyed the visual poetry of white foam and blue-green water, of a sky turning from blue to pink until she noticed something dark bobbing on the waves, still too far away to tell what it was. Ana stood and watched as each surge of the tide brought the object closer.

Contest Winner!

Manly House - Part #3

Gerald Beckman

He dreamed, or perhaps imagined he saw the sun shooting like a rocket across the sky, of watching it move repeatedly from east to west, faster and faster till it turned into a flickering blur and then into a broad, dull glowing band stretching from horizon to horizon, pulsing like the aurora borealis across the zenith.

He dreamed, or perhaps imagined, he saw Manly House sinking into the ground, and being helpless to stop it. The peak behind the house was shrinking before his eyes in the half-light of the pulsing band, like a chunk of ice under a hot sun, and it was the scree and alluvium from the peak that covered the house.

He watched as the valley in front of the house heaved like oatmeal in a microwave. All signs of the city had disappeared. From left to right the earth quivered and rose, and the mountains weathered and shrank till their tips were round, then sank into the rising plateau like boulders in rising water.

Contest Winner!

On My Way Home - Part #3

Ariana Merrill

Eleanor didn’t speak. Instead she picked up the rabbit off of her and put him on the pillow next to her head. Two tears rolled down her cheeks, which she wiped off on her own pillow.

“I really am sorry Eleanor.”

“This shouldn’t happen here. Since I’ve gotten to this world I’ve witnessed a murder attempt, been frightened out of my mind by a wolf, and had my heart broken. This is supposed to be a land of make-believe where everything turns out all right in the end.”

“There’s no place like that, not even here. Everywhere you go you will find fear, and evil, and pain. There’s no place, in any world that will protect you from that.”

“You’re just an optimist at heart aren’t you?” Eleanor blew out the candle next to her bed.

Contest Winner!

The Beast Sinister - Part #2

Gerald Ryan

The brush parted. Taloned hands spread branches. Two cat’s eyed pupils set in a vaguely human head stared at me with the unsettling intelligence of an Oustlander Beast. Coarse brows wrinkled in that hairy face as the head tilted, then nodded in recognition. It rose from its crouch in the brush but did not advance toward me. Around its waist, it wore a torn, black sash. Through animal teeth and palate, the creature half spoke, half growled a greeting.

Contest Winner!

Tales of the Witch Clan - Part #2 (Demon's Debacle)

John Stormm

Khu Lim is the loveliest demoness in Southeast Asia. Her snowy white hair and fine blue skin luxuriated in the cold mountain air near the temple. She never tired of this place. It was a beautiful, ancient temple, tended well by its monks. Pilgrims would climb its Ten Thousand Steps every year for the privilege of praying so close to the gods. Mostly, they pray to Lord Buddha these days, but some still name the Old Ones in their prayers. When Khu Lim heard a petition that moved her, she was not beyond granting a prayer. Not that anyone ever prayed to her, demons are secretive about their true names. Knowing such could give one power over another and she was careful not to let that happen.

For some, it would be worth the arduous climb. One had to be particularly determined to make such a hike up this mountain. Most mortals expired before they would ever get enough inspiration to haul their short lived carcasses to this holy place. Khu Lim had no regard for such. Her icy gaze was reserved for those made of stronger stuff. Such a soul was approaching even now.

Editorial - Part #3 (Go Ahead and Identify)

Catherine Balachowski

Within our third issue, we are wrapping up two of our novelette length tales, Manly House and On My Way Home. Manly House was our first prize winner in one of our pre-issue contest and On My Way Home was our second prize winner in that same contest. Personally what I like most about both of these stories was the how their authors brought realization to their main characters. Manly who has pushed away all human contact finds that he becomes punished by his own design and Eleanor comes to terms with the concept of fear and its very real place in fairyland and the real world.

Contest Information May 2008

Catherine Balachowski

Short Story Contest
The Fantasy Gazetteer Short Story Contest for the August 2008 edition the contest begins on April 12, 2008 and ends midnight of June 7, 2008. To be entered in the Short Story category, your story must be between 500-5000 words. First Prize winners will receive $100 and Second Prize winners will receive $50. Both winners will be printed in the respective issue.

Novelette Contest

The Fantasy Gazetteer Novelette Contest for the August 2008 issue, this contest begins on April 12, 2008 and will end midnight of July 5, 2008. To be entered in Novelette category, your story must be between 10,000 and 30,000 words. First Prize winners will receive $250 and Second Prize winners will receive $200 both winners will be printed in the July 2008 issue.

For rules and guidelines for any particular contest please send an e-mail to contest@fantasygazetteer.com.