Welcome to the final round of my contest! This competition will follow an almost-traditional tournament-style bracket with 3 rounds. In this round, the Season 3 champion will be crowned. The general rules are as follows:

1. Entries are due on 15 April, 2019. No late entries will be accepted*, however if all contestants submit their entries early, judging and the next round will begin early.
   
2. Entries must be exclusively yours. No collaboration is allowed.
   
3. Whether you advance to the next round of competition is determined solely by the judges. The amount of diamonds or favorites on your submission will not count toward your chance of moving on.
   
4. This round requires the submission of a short story of 500 to 5000 words in prose. Please leave a word count somewhere on your submission.
   
5. Only the text of your story will be judged. Any visuals you use will not be judged, though they will be appreciated.
   
6. All submissions must be linked in a comment on this forum post before the deadline.
   

The challenge for this round is “Lost in the Fire”. The Great Fire of 1666 devastated London, with an estimated 13,200 houses destroyed and a vast majority of the population left homeless. Curiously, the official death toll was only six, likely for two reasons: because the deaths of the poor and middle classes were not recorded and because the fire was so hot that people caught in the flames would have been cremated, and so their remains were not found.

For this challenge, imagine a scenario in which a fire not only causes the death of a person but also erases all physical traces of their existence (i.e. their body and also their belongings). Write a story about how one or more characters would deal with this situation and how they might try to keep the memory of this person alive even without anything left.


The writers of this final showdown (in no particular order) are:

ieryana
DinowCookie
TheSilentWind


This season will be judged by myself, CaelChan, and Artsy_Lady. The breakdown of the judging is as follows:

Originality – Make your stories new and interesting! I want to see you think outside the box, present plots in unexpected ways, write something I’ve not read before.

Quality – Write well and present clearly. Proofread your entries!

Cohesion – Organize your thoughts and finish your stories. Make sure that your story is a complete package as-is, without the need for “Part 2” or other accessories.

Let me know if you would like my in-depth feedback of your work and I will PM my thoughts to you. However, keep in mind that my writing is not perfect and I judge from my perspective as a reader and writer.

If you missed the entry for this contest and would like to participate in a future one, let me know and I’ll be sure to contact you when the next one happens.

Good luck writers!

*If you need more time than is currently allowed, contact me and suggest a new end date. A majority of the writers in the competition must agree to your extension in order for it to be valid.