After the debate over how to interpret last month's challenge, this month's is much simpler.  Write a story in which a significant discovery plays a large part.

Please read on for the complete rules. Failure to follow the rules will lead to disqualification, whether you read the rules or not.

"..."

Fortunately fkurni was able to extract a bit more from her once the shock had worn off . 

Congratulations you all! You rock!

Well, we got a good standard of entries this month, with a rather complex challenge.

1st Place - How Does It Feel? by Erika
Overwhelmed by the choices this month, I, perhaps foolishly, asked for a more specific challenge. I was instructed to write a story that used the same two themes my challenger was using, but that my story should be dark, while theirs would be light, just to switch things up.
Okey-dokey. Let me know if it turned out dark enough for you.
The two challenge themes were:
Feb: A kiss which brings both gain and loss.
Aug: Main character not a hero
Dark Fantasy after the Challenge. (2,500 wds)

2nd Place - Of Mud, I Built It by Brynn
For the January Challenge, I chose the themes from February and August.
5,800 words. Low Fantasy after the challenge, please.

3rd Place - Trust in Love by lesliweird
Sooo, the principle challenges here are a story based on a myth for July, and a kiss that has both positive and negative consequences, from February. Also addressed are January's dreaming, April's song of my choice, May's five things, possibly August's not a hero, and September's guilty and innocent. 
I guess this is retelling after the contest.
Also, I don't know how people wrote things before Wikipedia. Did you know the Empire State Building wasn't completed until 1931?

Members Choice - SANTERA by lenamilo
A 150 word micro that meets three of the previos challenge guidlines:
Apr: Story based on a song of your choice
"Yemaya Asesu" A Santeria ritual song that translates as follows: Yemaya is the Gush of  the Spring. The Gush of the Spring is Yemaya. The Mother of the Children of Fishes is the Owner of Rivers. The Owner of Rivers is the Mother of the Children of Fishes.
June: Story about dancing
Nov: For fun Micro Fiction no more than 150 words, on the theme "Don't interrupt me while I'm busy"
Contemporary after challenge

Congratulations to all the winners.

I've had a lot of great challenge suggestions lately, and I'll get to as many of them as I can in the coming months.  This time, though, the challenge comes courtesy of Brynn, and it's to write a story that begins and ends with the same event.

Remember that you only have 28 days to complete this one, so get writing

Please read on for the complete rules. Failure to follow the rules will lead to disqualification, whether you read the rules or not.

We have a huge list of successes this month and you all should be proud! Many congratulations, FWO! Keep sending them out there! Let the world know who they're dealing with

(1,298,376.43 inches to World Domination *maniacal chuckles*)

Introducing our first Featured Member of the new decade, TheCaveman! Tracked down by Kukana, who reports that she found our resident Cro-Magnon using fire to char the ends of sticks so he could write stories on the walls of his cave.

Let's hear what other pre-historical mysteries she managed to unearth...

So here are the results of the final challenge of last year, and it was a close result between the top half dozen stories.  The final results, though, were as follows:

1st Place: I'LL BE DEAD FOR CHRISTMAS... by lenamilo
A dark comedy i storyteller fashion narrated by a comedian relating the death of his mother and visitations from her ghost. There is some mild language which I checked with a moderator, so just be aware. Oh, and see if you can catch my little homage to Moms Mabley added in there.
It's about 2.8 K words and should go in the light fantasy section afterwards. Enjoy.

2nd Place: A Very Special Child by Brynn
For the December challenge, I picked the rather serious topic of adultery and poked a little fun at it.
Barely 1,300 words. Light Fantasy after the challenge, please.

3rd Place: Starry Death by pmmg
Just a quickie for the contest. (460 words)

Members Choice: A Plea for Human Decency by Master Mudget
Kyle tries to keep a leash on his temper while attending his first anger-management class. But there is hope, perhaps the other attendants are the kind of people who can hear Kyle's story with sympathy and understanding.
1628 words.  Light Fantasy after the challenge.

Congratulations to everyone who entered, and especially the winners.

All righty, I think it is time to open up nominations for January's Featured Member. It's always fun to find out more about our fellow FWO members, so think about someone on FWO who makes you go "hmmmm...". Nominations will be taken for one week and end on midnight, the 22nd (see server clock). You may nominate any member you like save for those on the linked list, but you may not nominate more than one. To nominate, please send our (almost ready to take the exam on this) MoM coordinator, Erika, a PM with the word NOMINATION in the subject line, and make your nomination.