Yes, the challenge is back, after a lay-off for May.  Lots of people have made suggestions for topics, all of which are on the list and may be used, but I want to keep it simple and flexible after recent problems.

The challenge is to write a story (whatever you like, as long as it has some fantasy element) containing the following elements:

A far-off place
A frustrating delay
A maze
An unusual animal
Someone who isn't really dead.

You can interpret these any way you want, but all five must be present and be important to the story.

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

1) All stories submitted must be in before June 30th at 11:59 pm server time via online story submission under the category “June 2010 Short Story Challenge”. There will be a first, second and third place winner chosen by the Challenge Judges, plus a Member’s Choice. All winning stories will be featured on the News Page on July 15, 2010.

2) All stories must be between 400 words and 10,000 words total and must be a complete stand alone story. Please use near perfect spelling and near perfect grammar, as you will be judged on these. You must include the fantasy subgenre you want your story filed under after the challenge in the description section of the story.  Please note that failure to include the category will result in the story being moved randomly after the challenge, and it may not end up where you would choose.

3) An entry must be a complete stand-alone short story, ie prior knowledge of other stories is not required to understand the work, and the story's main business must be concluded.  This does not exclude a story which is part of a series, provided it meets the above requirements.

4) An entry must be substantially in prose, although it can include short pieces of verse. 

5) Write a story using the five elements listed above.

6) Please follow the Fantasy-Writers guidelines for story submission. No plagiarism, no excessive violence, no excessive language, and no excessive sexual content.

7) Stories already submitted to Fantasy-Writers are not eligible for the writing challenge after their original post date on the site.

8 ) All stories submitted for the writing contests must be fantasy stories, in any sub-genre.  The definition of fantasy will be broad, but not unlimited.

9) Only one Short Story Challenge entry per contest per member.

10) Once your story is submitted to the story submission engine, you cannot alter it. If you attempt to do so, your story will be disqualified from the contest. If you need to fix minor FORMATTING errors once you have submitted, PM Nyki with exact details and an agreement will be struck if applicable. Story content cannot be altered.

11) All stories submitted after the deadline will be disqualified.  If you've attempted to post before the deadline but been prevented by technical issues related to the site, please contact any mod and if possible an arrangement will be made to add your entry to the challenge.

12) Any story which, in the opinion of the Challenge Judges, fails to meet a vital aspect of the rules (eg no reference to the topic, not a fantasy story) will be ineligible for any of the places.  A story which fails to meet a lesser aspect (eg only part of the topic present, not sufficiently stand-alone) will be marked down by the judges, but will still be eligible for a place.

Good luck.