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If your story is listed in the top 5 below, congratulations, you are among the 125 writers moving on to the 2nd Round kicking off at 11:59PM EDT this Thursday, April 11th!   Congratulations to everyone that submitted a story, narrowing down a top 5 in each heat was incredibly difficult and everyone should be proud for rising to the challenge and creating a story outside your comfort zone from scratch in 8 days.  We hope the challenge was inspiring and hope to see you in our next challenge!

#1 'Splinters' by Jamie Campbell SYNOPSIS - Maimed in the European Theatre during World War II, a British veteran contemplates the meaning of his survival as he’s chauffeured through his hometown in the English countryside, the ghosts of the War haunting him at every turn.

#2 'Crazy Was Chasing Her' by Nikaya Dahn Smith SYNOPSIS - Feeling trapped in a situation she wasn’t prepared for and a relationship she’s not sure she wants, Marisol finds herself in the middle of a night that will change everything.

#3 'Pain Meds' by Tanya Taimanglo SYNOPSIS - Nurse Norma's usual workday would test her strength in more ways than one. By meeting patient Jonah--a man struggling to recover, Norma is taught that power and beauty really come from within.

#4 'The River of Milk and Ghee' by Patrick J Salem SYNOPSIS - LTJG Fatimah Thompson, USNR, a Navy nurse on a hospital ship in the Persian Gulf is suddenly detached to work with a company of US Marines operating in the area of Laksar Gah, Afghanistan, as part of Operation Enduring Freedom because her service record indicates she speaks Tajik—a Persian dialect used by people in parts of the Helmand Province—but when her patrol is ambushed during a meeting with village elders who have vital information about Taliban fighters in the region, Fatimah finds herself thrust into a small dry wadi with a wounded GySgt Jake Davis, USMC, and the handsome Ahsan Khasimudden, the youngest of the Afghan leaders. As Fatimah tends to the wounded Marine, she finds the strength to endure the horrors of war and a love so surprising that it could only occur at this outpost on the end of the earth even as the battle for survival continues all around her.

#5 'Catalina' by Emily Clements SYNOPSIS - Some things are never black and white, while other things never experience grey. What happens when you can’t tell the difference between the two?

#Honorable Mention 'Dandelions' by Christa Smith SYNOPSIS - A devoted young woman fears losing her troubled lover to a dangerous underground fighting ring.

#Honorable Mention 'Exile' by Susan Bernhard SYNOPSIS - Patrick has Marisol stuck in his head. Marisol and everything else.

#Honorable Mention 'Head Over Heels' by Jenny Platt SYNOPSIS - While Molly daydreams about the perfect man, Nurse Stacy and Ken are falling for each other…literally.
 

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