Flux Gryphon's Entry for Best Short:

[FluxGryphon]

Gloaming
Cool quiet surrounded Kael?n as a tropical wind sliced through air and tree, shuddering bough and leaf. All was dipped in the rosy light of approaching dusk. The Ranger crouched low to the path, squinting at the freshly etched tracks on the ground. Distant rumbling rolled far off in the heavens; a storm was gathering. He dipped a finger in a spatter of blood gathered on the ground, rubbed it thoughtfully between thumb and index finger. Foliage shrugged in the weak tumbling breeze that flowed over the canyon. Shouldering his rifle, Kael?n stood and turned his gaze skyward.

Inky purple clouds gathered overhead, dismissing orange wisps of sunset to the east, with the light. Below lay the serpentine gorge, sandstone rock edges highlighted with veins of glowing purple rock. Its caliginous mulberry depths emanated an unnatural stillness.

The Ranger stiffened and exhaled, his eyes following the trail of blood, scuffed dirt and sand. With a final glance behind him into the shivering forest, he started forward along the path. As his boots crunched along the path, rain fell pattering to the ground, growling upon many leaves.

It would be dark soon.

[FluxGryphon]

One of the rules that tend to go when sharing work in creative writing courses is for the writer or poet to simply read their work and let the others speak. Following such tradition, I have thusly presented (again) my submission to the contest above.

But perhaps a little personal introduction is in order. I am a Creative Writing major (undergraduate college senior on a few years hiatus), so it's a habit of mine to desire feedback and criticism on my work. And since I haven't been writing much for about a year (icky depression stuff - that's all I'll say), and this contest has happily sparked a renewed enthusiasm for the craft, here is my attempt to get back into practice! So hurrah for that! http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif While I don't expect to win any titles or prizes, on the whole I've found this contest an enjoyable diversion as something other than a competition to see who can achieve the most votes. There is such a thing as being too serious, particularly when it's a goofy contest (no offense PSOWorld officers!). But I'd like to think there's something else to be gained.

As a post remark, I encourage other contest participants to make threads like this to generate feedback about their work. While I'm still around a computer to do so, I personally would be happy to make comments and give feedback for other contest participants, should they seek such dialogue.