Fox Tales WK#32 : Announcing contest winners and a new story image!

---

If you love writing stories then this contest is for you! Write a one paragraph story about the image pictured above. Be creative, think outside of the box and follow the listed rules!

---

Lots of new faces from this past week’s fox tales! Welcome! :) You’ve made this week’s announcement post extremely difficult! I was planning on making this post yesterday but I was experiencing vertigo and had the spins for most of the night. Keeping myself in a relaxed state of my was my main goal so I had to put most of the day’s agenda on hold. Thankfully, I woke up feeling much better so I began to reread all the entries from week 31.

I had the hardest time choosing winners because each story was outstanding! I had to go with my gut while narrowing it down and even then I still had more than three selected. It got to the point where I approached friends for help and began a small vote. Please know, for those of you who didn’t win this week, you’re incredible and I look forward to reading more of your stories!

---

Every now and then I like to throw a curve ball for foxtales. Some of you might recognize this cat from inktober, if not then no big deal. I decided that I wanted to go a different route for this week’s story prompt so I threw some color on this feline to give it new life!

---

The progress...

_{All my drawings are original sketches drawn digitally by me on the Procreate App using the iPad Pro with Apple Pencil.}

---

I started by mapping out familiar shapes for the general outline of my new feline friend.

Then I began to ink in the wrinkles on the head.

Next I blacked out the eyes and drew in wrinkly toes and itty bitty claws.

Whisky strokes to simulate a fluffy coat.

Shading and highlights. If I threw in a colored background then the highlights would probably stand out more here.

I began to color my cat in with one of my favorite colors, mauve.

Then I went back and created more contrast by throwing in a light blue tone to bring out the shadows.

And that’s it! We’ve gathered so many creative writers since last week so I can’t wait to read everyone’s stories this week!

---

Prizes:

---

1st // 5 STEEM
2nd // 3 STEEM
3rd // 1 STEEM

---

Contest Rules:

---

• Upvote & Resteem this post.
• Create a separate post with your one paragraph stories.
• Maximum length 300 words. (I’ll be monitoring this closely!)
• Use the #foxtales tag.
• Usage of the current story image in your post is optional.
• Submit your post in the comment section below. (I’ll sharing links to the stories submitted this way in the following Fox Tales announcement post!)
• Maximum of 3 entries (only one story per person will qualify for a portion of the prize pool each week.)
• Deadline is this post’s payout.

---

WEEK #31 WINNERS & STORIES!

---

1st place // @cyemela “Untitled”

---

_{A skull within the grasp of my hand yet so far from my comprehension. This skull you see did not originate from Earth. It had been found in a meteorite in the Arizona desert by a traveling salesman who’d stopped to rest. He killed himself a year later. His wife wanted nothing to do with it and found a customer of her husband’s eager to take the curiosity, and he paid a good sum. Only the same fate awaited him as well. Some madness lingered in the skull perhaps as it continued to exchange hands before finding itself in this strange land and into my possession; delivered in a small box with a bow to my curiosity shop with a reputation. No doubt, I approached the object of people’s obsession with great caution. At first only taking glimpses at it, never touching it, wondering what had driven the previous owners of this strange skull to take their own life. I have to admit there were many sleepless nights with it placed on a shelf in my shop still in the box. I didn’t dare take it home. Somehow it always seemed to capture my attention with no clue as to its disposition. Until today, when I’d finally had enough, and I’d decided to hold the skull in order to understand it more. Only the mystery became solved as soon as my hand touched the skull as some far away voice echoed in my mind with this odd greeting: ‘You’ve found my skull, now follow my commands as I instruct you on how to kill yourself.’}

---

2nd place // @adncabrera “¡Bésame! / Kiss me! ”

---

_{In his dream, the skull looked at him with empty eyes. Behind it, the unowned hand made a vain effort to reach it. He did not retain other visions that tormented him while he slept, but he did remember the noise: millions of crickets sang. The vibrations of his little legs shook his bed and finally woke him up. Today, more tired than yesterday, and the day before and the day before... He had been without a deep rest for a long time, and he yearned for it with an almost insane longing. Even so, I waited for the hour of sleep each day with more fear. When tiredness threw him into bed that night, he immersed himself, as was usual in recent weeks, in the restless waters of a restless sleep. However, something changed this time: he was not greeted by the darkness from which the terrifying skull emerged, but was surprised by the light and, instead of the crickets' singing, the waves of the sea resounded. On the shore of the beach, a small, dark-skinned girl called him to her side. A snail stretched out at him. His blackest hair was unusually long and wrapped around his body. Small, firm breasts were somewhat uncovered with turgid beauty. "Listen," he said in a crystalline voice. And that voice opened his desire as if to say "Kiss me!". The squeaking of millions of crickets darkened the sea. Behind the burst of darkness the sun struggled to shine as an unowned hand ripped the girl's hair off, leaving a trail of blood. Her cry of pain faded with the last pieces of skin that the implacable hand tore out. Organs, all the bones of his small body, were absorbed by the orphic song of the crickets. The peeled bone that used to be his face asked in a whisper: "Kiss me!"}

---

3rd place // @calluna “Promise”

---

_{She watched, transfixed in horror, as a skull began materialise beneath his hand. The thin, soft bone knitted together, stretching round to form the open mouth of a newborn’s soft spot. From the base of the skull, individual spinal discs popped down, like a string of candy from a dispenser. Out of the suspended spine, the branching arms of ribs emerged, embracing nothingness, collar bones formed as shoulder plates spread across the back like growing moss. Fingertips crawled out of the arm sockets, drawing bones behind them. The processing was snowballing, dragging her eyes from the jarring emergence of the arms, pushing out like limbs from a jumper, she noticed the hips. Forming like a flower coming into bloom, the petals spread, disembodied toe bones dragged legs out of the holes in the pelvis, and fighting nausea, she stared with macabre fascination at the form taking shape before her. Tendons crept over emerging bones, pink spools of candy flossed tissue engulfing the rosie white skeleton. Muscular flaps reached across the cheek bones, as the hand passed over the tiny skull, willing life forth. The delicate skin of lips began to grow over slimy gums, lungs expanded, filling the rib cage, as an assortment of organs pushed their way into existence around the snaking intestines. Fleshy threads strung limbs together, and like ice across a pool, skin spread, gradually covering the exposed tissue. She watched, as half-formed, it opened its mouth, gulping air, pushing down the still visible diaphragm. Skin advanced over the stomach, bubbling into a twisted belly button as the thing, still not quite complete, began to wail. When he had promised her a baby of her own, this wasn't what she thought he meant.}

---

Thanks so much to all the writers who participated!

_{⬇️ Please take the time to visit the links to their stories below!⬇️}

_{Writers listed in alphabetical order.}

---

“¡Bésame! / Kiss me!” 

@adncabrera

“Promise. - Solution. - Pilgrim.” 

@calluna

“Untitled” 

@cyemela

“Just a Job - Catch - A Memory” 

@gaby-crb

“Aquella casa embrujada” 

@oscarina

“The Sins of the Fathers” 

@seesladen

“Cranium justo inspectionem” 

@theironfelix

”The Cave” 

@vasigo

---

---

Thanks for stopping by and good luck to those who decide to participate!
Do you have any questions? 🦊

---

---

Check out some of the previous #foxtales posts!

---

_{Fox Tales #31} 

_{Fox Tales #30} 

_{Fox Tales #29} 

_{Fox Tales #28} 

_{Fox Tales #27}