[Coffee]

Katy - Thank you for the comments and for hosting this year's competition.

Eviljeff's story is an interesting piece. It's almost written as a pastiche of images. There is something inherently modernistic about it, both from the episodic nature of it, and from the general anomie of the main character. It's all sort of a nihilistic collage. I liked the imagery, too...particularly the one about him on the bench looking at the constellations. This is good work, but not something to read if you're feeling down about yourself.

Zutroy's story has some very good things about it. I think that the argument between the elites is fairly standard dialogue, but I believe that was the point. I loved the vivid imagery of the creature, the woman, and the church with the priest. I felt a bit confused about your choices in the ending, simply because it seems a bit kneejerk. In other words...I understand the image of the woman, and the character of the priest...but why was the priest subservient to the cat-creature? Is this an affirmation of God or of paganism? I was just a bit confused by the symbolism of the cat-creature, because the other two symbols were so clearly that of Judeo-Christian tradition. Overall, it was a very vivid piece...could you shed some light on the ending, though...perhaps after a bit of discussion from everyone else?