And so it has come to pass that the voting for Round 3 of this great challenge has come to a close. All that’s left is to report on the results of the furious voting battle that took place over the past three weeks.

Twenty-five votes were cast during the course of three weeks since voting started. Most votes were cast in the last week. That’s a slight drop from the last round (six fewer votes), but still semi-respectable.

Someone running late and still wanting to express their appreciation for their favorite story can do so HERE, and, while any additional votes will not count, they will be registered for posterity. For them who still haven’t read the stories, here are the links and a teaser description:

E. J. D’Alise submission<<link
Feeling as if things are falling apart? Well, you’re not imagining things. Still, it comes down to attitude and perseverance . . . and maybe a River.

R. G. Broxson submission<<link
At first, this tale might seem like a simple parable, a story designed to make you consider the human condition. But as you peel this onion, you will find that it parallels a much more familiar trilogy tale. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to dive a little deeper and pick up on as many similarities between this father, son, and hermit crab story and the lessons you were taught in Sunday school. Good luck!

Perry Broxson submission<<link
Undoubtedly, Gill Beazley is a colossal jerk. Any man that would fake dementia to cheat on his wife deserves a harsh comeuppance. But does he deserve to be brutally murdered? And who gets their hands bloody? His wife? His lover? His lovers? Then, there are the babies. How will they be used to kill Gill? Crime is no longer the exclusive domain of the young. Seniors, insane or sinister, can be quite entertaining. This one is a ripping good murder story. Enjoy.

As a reminder, each writer wrote a story drawing on whatever inspiration they got from the title “Of Broken Things”.

The voting closed today at Noon, and the race was tight until yesterday . . . tight, that is, for about two-thirds of the writers. It was in the last 24 hours or so that Perry pulled ahead after coming from third to tie Gary at 9 a day ago.

Congratulations to Perry for the win and Gary for the silver. It was a race to the finish, with the lead changing hands at the very end.

As an aside, I got my usual number of votes, so that’s something, anyway.

A new title has been chosen (HERE), and the stories for that title — Cold heart — are tentatively set to publish in two weeks, on June 28^th. As always, that’s a ‘fluid’ deadline.

The above are the Paper Artist app’s rendition of this Adobe Photoshop Mix photo . . .

As some might remember from a few weeks ago (HERE), Photoshop Mix is an Android app (since discontinued) that allowed one to blend various photos.

The above photo is a combination of a painting from an antique shop, a rock from our flowerbeds, and flowers from one of our flowerpots.

This next one is the combination of an American Indian face wood carving, and a photo of gourds processed with Paper Artist.

This next one might be a bit difficult to discern, so I’ll give you a hint . . . two of the photos are some croutons and a bagel.

But what’s the third photo? Well, I’m not sure I’ve shared it before. I thought I did, but I don’t see it in my folders of published photos.

Before I reveal what it is, I need to refer back to THIS post from early January, and if you are familiar with that post, then this next photo will make a bit of sense.

You see, I was making the bed and the folded blanket happened to catch my eye . . . and seeing as I still had the cardboard rolls from the other photo, well, you see the result.

I’m going to add my favorite last. It’s a compilation of a print from my doctor’s office, a bowl of fruit salad, and a picture of a dehydrator tray with dehydrated carrots on it. It sounds strange, but I think it works fairly well.

That’s it. This post has ended . . . except for the stuff below.

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