FINISH THAT THOUGHT #25 - RESULTS!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! Thanks for joining in the fun this week! If you missed it, check out all the entries here. I thoroughly loved them all! They were such fun - except the one which was heartbreaking, thanks for that one too. Enough from me, let's see what Judge Charles Short had to say:

The Imaginator @theimaginator20 – Excellent and prolific use of Christmas songs. Back story brought in nicely, good length.

Christy @weylyn42 – Christmas Merlot in the super soaker, very creative.  The picture of everyone running, hiding and so on was well portrayed.  As was the turn.

JMmacF – Loved the premise of Christmas dinner in heaven.  My favorite line of all the entries was Mary treasuring these things in her heart. But the Biblical allusions were all well done. You fooled me with the conclusion, I really expected the visitor to be someone else.

Melissa @MissieK – I loved the twist at the end, the subtle hint that the narrator had been the one to invite Uncle Jasper in order to make every year memorable.

LWM – Having been in many nursing homes and hospitals, I have seen people all dressed up for visitors that never came. I am glad you included a story to point out those who go unremembered.

Patrick Stahl @patrickjstahl – Excellent use of the hymns, in that they became a part of the story instead of merely borrowing their words in the telling.  I had to laugh at the typo in Silent Night though.  “dawn of redeeming grace.”  Not race.  Although NASCAR fans everywhere probably like your version better.

 

On to the Awards:

Special Challenge Runner Up: Melissa @MissieK for the load bearing water pistol.

Special Challenge Champion: Christy @weylyn42 Christmas Merlot in a super soaker, cause you know, a water pistol isn’t always enough. 

Grand Champion Runner Up: JM MacF the premise, the laugh at the end, the use of Bible characters it all added up really well.

Grand Champion: Patrick Stahl @patrickjstahl similar to your runner up a very good story, loved the build up, but since it’s Christmas I loved the conclusion. I am old fashioned but Christmas stories that point to Christ just make sense.

I did not judge the Optional Festive Award, since that is Alissa’s challenge I assume she is judging it. But let me also say I would award all entries an honorable mention, if this challenge had them. Every piece offered something wonderful and prize-worthy.  Thanks to all entries for being excellent and making my job harder. 

Yes, indeed! We had such fun this week! Thanks to all for joining us! TheImaginator and Patrick Stahl both qualified for the Festive Challenge this week! I enjoyed both. It was a hard decision. Thanks for the fun!
I chose the winning piece because he managed to 'hide' the song titles and lyrics within the story well and the story was tight. As much as I loved the other - for the sentiment and carols chosen - there were times of confusion for me as I read it.

Festive Challenge Champion: TheImaginator