1st Place **FINALIST** 'Clock Radio' by ruston head   SYNOPSIS - An aging scientist struggles to accept the dehumanizing world that he has helped create.  Ultimately, he realizes his fate through the powers of his own inventions. (Heat 17)

2nd Place  'The Shifting Sand' by Michael Billips   SYNOPSIS - A nomad passing through a town is forced to choose a side in a fight between town’s mine op-erators and the town’s mine workers. After attacking the corrupt mine owners’ transport convoy, the ragtag group of rebels moves in to finish off the survivors. (Heat 17)

3rd Place  'Dreams of Dissention' by Hillary Vipond   SYNOPSIS - In the future people can experience the lives of others through programmed neuropathic ¨dreams¨. This has led to extreme apathy and alienation among those rich enough to afford to live their lives in this manner, and the story is about a man deconstructing ¨dreaming¨ itself.    (Heat 17)

4th Place  'Under the Starlight Diner' by Ryan Norris   SYNOPSIS - In the near future, a global deadly virus causes mass rioting and destruction.  Now, a young couple holed-up under a diner must survive the grotesque results of a botched vaccine and give birth to their child. (Heat 17)

5th Place  'Stuck' by Stefanie Good   SYNOPSIS - An unexpected trip to a diner allows a young woman to travel back in time to face her past and realize the consequences of her actions. (Heat 17)