I look at the red sand between my toes, trying to recall tales of beachs. But now we're space locked, never too see a pool of water again. Oh, why didn't people listen to the scienticts before it was too late to save Earth? That big blue marble that crosses the sky every day, that marble that so few people in Wardon have been on. 

i didn't expect to get so many people in this contest, but I'm happy so many wanted to participate.  Picking the winners was really hard.  There were so many good sentences.  I liked each sentence equally for different reasons.  I finally made my desicions and here are the results!

~ ~ ~ ~

1st place: Aqua!

"It was not long ago that I took the twinkling night stars for granted.
But tonight, looking up at the sky, I cannot help but wonder if I will
ever see them again."

If I had never heard of the story plot before, this would have made me curious to know why she wondered if she would ever see the stars again.  I like the discription of "the twinkling stars".  I was able to imagine where the character was standing.

2nd place: Luminescence!

"It was a dangerous silence, the kind that pressed in from all
sides, taking away your breath. Sevianna knew it by another name: fear."

This one made me feel the fear, and the description of the fear was really good.  If this was the first sentence(s) I would have kept reading because I would have wanted to know why Sevianna felt fear.

3rd place: Rainbow Riot!

""We can totally build a nuclear reactor in three days, easy peasy," Sevianna said, looking up at their only hope of escape from Mars, an ancient rocket."

This one made me laugh.  I could easily see Sevianna's personality, and by knowing a little of her personality it gave me a connection to the character.  Having a connection to the character would make me want to read on and learn more about Sevianna and why she need to build a nuclear reactor in three days.

Honorable Mention:

Zahava S:

"The night sky, eternity, holds us back, here on this red planet.
We have no chance at survival, no matter how hard the four of us fight."

This would make me wonder why they have no chance at survival and would make me want to see the characters through their troubles.

Feline Fantasy:

"My older sister had been lying when she told me two years ago that our
relationship with earth was fine. Maybe not lying, exactly, but she had
been wrong." 

This made me curious to know what her sister had been lying about.

Sophie T:

"Accidentally blowing up the communication center might
have been a mistake, but I'd fix it, I had to. All our lives depended
upon me being able to go back and fix what I'd done, but it wouldn't be
easy."

This made me want to find out why she had blown up the comunication center, and why it might have been a mistake.

~ ~ ~ ~

Great job to all of you!  I hope you all continue to participate even if you didn't win.

Aqua, you're the next judge!  Go ahead and post the next story summary anytime you want.  Please let me know if you want to or don't want to be the next judge.

MoonHalo, I really liked your submission.  But it exceeded the sentence limit so I couldn't include you in the contest because it would have been unfair to the others.

You won! You're the next judge, can you post a judging date and theme, please? Thanks!

Also @Peregrine, wow, thanks! Second place! That's the highest I've been in any contest, period! 

Hi Aqua, if I don't hear from you in a week the judging position will go on to the second place winner.  I don't want to be or sound harsh, I just want this to stay alive!

I know I'm late but I have one!    

There I stood finally warm in a cozy bed after my looooong adventure.

Hi Luminescence, would you be the next judge for this contest?  I really don't want this to die.  Post the summary whenever you have the chance if you do want to judge!

Trumpet Girl, I'm afraid the judging for the last contest already happened.  But please feel free to join the next round of this contest when it happens! 

Scarlett has lived shut up in a castle with her twin sister, Alisa, the way she thinks everyone lives, for as long as either of them can remember. It all changes, though, when a boy named Blue sneaks in, pretending to be a servant to steal treasure. What he doesn't realize, however, is that the castle doesn't have servants. And that once you enter the castle... it's impossible to leave. Scarlett and Alisa, now knowing the truth about the world, naturally are feeling determined to leave. Blue, meanwhile, is determined to get the treasure he came for. Except... Alisa and Scarlett don't have any treasure. So they strike up a deal: Blue will get the treasure, in exchange for helping the sisters escape. Neither side knows how they will hold up their end of the deal, but they're desperate enough not to care. Will they succeed? Or will they be trapped in the castle forever?

You may choose who narrates, and you can write two sentences. I will judge on November 18, entries are due by November 17.

Have fun!

-Luminescence