The frost, it wasn't anything out of the ordinary, I mean to the people of Auola it may even been seen as extraordinary. The frost didn't just come and go as Winter came it was always there. It was something the people used as decorations for holidays, they welded it to make what truly enlightens us on holidays. They use it for ornaments, they use it to make the stars glisten at nighttime. They use it to add the extra charm in everyone's home. But more importantly it was used to be the creator. The frost created everything they needed, it created the firm but destroyable parts to a ship or containers to freeze food. They used it to cover buildings for a protective layer that would expand with every a ice storm that would come. The frost would absorb what came and make sure it would not harm the people. The people embeded it in their clothing and added it to almost mark who they were. It was used politically and for needs.The frost came all the way back in the late time when techonology was at flying cars, awhwh.. The olden days. It came and formed like this very planet came to be. It emerged and flourished making itself grow and die. Then people starting warping it to fit their needs and millions of years passed to when we presently use it today. But now people try grasping it and making us beg to their needs, that's is why we have such a high secutity. No one has ever done because well that wouldn't end well actually I take that back it would end well for them not us. The frost was what the Auola people needed the same for water and food for humans it was frost for the Auola people. Then one day someone stole it. They defied what hadn't been done ever… for greed. For PURE hatred. Then everything for Auola started to melt.

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order): 

Dolphin! The way you explored frost from different people’s perspectives was really captivating. Your story had something just so beautiful and unique about it, and it was wonderfully written. 

Sixlets! The poem you wrote had a cool (pun intended?) concept, and the way you wrote it conveys so much emotion and backstory in just a dozen or so lines. And the last line was the perfect way to end it. 

Sunshine Summers! I absolutely love the way you worded your story, and how you showed how much the people of Auola relied on the frost. It ended in such a way that was a cliffhanger, but still left me satisfied. 

Third Place:  

Jaybells! This was just beautiful. You put such a strong image in my mind, while still leaving room for imagination. Also, I love the perspective in which the story was told. 

Second Place:

MoonKitten! Your story had a great pace, with just the right amount of description. I love the horse’s name – Dryad. It painted a beautiful picture in my mind. 

First Place:  

*cue drumroll*

Head! Ahh I love this story so much. It had a great beginning, jumping right into the action, and was expertly worded. As a skier myself, I think that you perfectly captured the feeling of being on the slope. 

Everyone did amazingly, and I had such a hard time picking a winner! Head, you get to choose the next one-word theme!

Since Head isn't responding, Moonkitten, would you like to judge next since you got 2nd?

I've already written it all out in my head but I don't have time to post it today so I will tomorrow

(I assume you mean the goddess Artemis, not Artemis Fowl) 

Free smiley faces:   (also rainbows and sparkles but I don't have any of those so you have to imagine them) (on that subject admins could you somehow make that an option)

Our webmaster already has a long to-do list!

Admin

Hmm, maybe I'll enter next time. If Moonkitten isn't responding, maybe the prompt should go to Jaybells?

The moon taunted Isabel.

It bathed her in its shafts of light, dripping promises of glory and disaster from the celestial skies. It was curious, it was strange. It hurt, to even behold.

It was everything and nothing at once. It promised something big, something great, and whether that ended in luck or misfortune, Isabel was not important enough to know.

Once, Isabel had tried to find out more than the gods let her. Once, only once.

She had dreamed of cities falling into the sea, rivers of fire running through cobblestone, citadels falling to smoke and air, disaster that was real and not, for a week.

Birds followed her. Crows, especially.

They crowded at her feet, not flying, but following behind her like a mass of black feathers and diamond-like eyes.

Prophecy was a tricky thing. The future was fickle, capricious even, suited to the ever-changing whims of the ones above. Sometimes, Isabela wasn't sure if she was blessed or if she was cursed.

Locusts died. Thousands of them flew up into the air, and one day, one minute, one moment, they all dropped dead at Isabela's feet.

That day, a nation fell.

The ocean tides reversed. It swept Isabela up, in her tiny boat, nothing but a mere speck in the wide expanse of endless blue.

That day, an emperor rose.

The moon was ever constant. It rose, and every night, Isabela could do nothing but gaze upon it, too terrified to fall asleep and flail, adrift in the tides of her dreams. Of her nightmares.

She dreamed of women. Of men. Of animals. Of kingdoms. Of every possible thing imaginable, of events unstoppable, of love, of curiosity, of adventure. And yet–everything, out of her grasp. The moon taunted her, telling her to go back to sleep, telling her to ignore the cries for help, drowned out by the sea of prophecy.

Isabela curled her fingers around the cold marble of the balcony. Stop, she told the moon, stop it. Please stop. Stop–

"Isabela?"

Isabela raised her eyes. Valerie was in the doorframe, illuminated by the moonlight. Isabela caught her breath.

"Come back to sleep," Valerie said, "aren't you scared of Oliver's curfew?"

A laugh broke through, coming out more bitter than Isabela wanted. "He won't actually feed us to his dragon."

"Perhaps he won't," Valerie said lightly, padding over and resting her arms on the railing, "Something on your mind?"

Isabela nodded. 

"Well, that's alright."

Valerie was silent for a moment, and then reached out her hand for Isabela's hand. Her touch was icy cold, freezing like the pure white first snowflakes of winter.

"Just remember," Valerie said, raising her eyes to meet Isabela's momentarily, her gaze unwavering and steady, "I'm here for you."

Valerie pressed a kiss to the back of Isabela's hand. It burned like fire, sending pinpricks of warmth racing up Isabela's nerves. It wasn't cold, it was warm.

Isabela was sure, in that moment, if Valerie asked her for the moon, she would find a way to give it to her. She would tear it from the skies, cradle it in her hands like a glowing orb of magic, break the curse, once and for all.

"Get some sleep," Valerie said, releasing her hand, and headed back inside.

— 

Basis of this: Isabela is a prophet, Val and Isabela are in love. No clue where this went, just wrote what felt cool :p 

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