I originally thought about submitting this story for the "Contest Contest" but decided not to, for three reasons. First, I wanted to post the story on other sites right away, and I would not have been able to if the story had been a winner. Second, I wanted to share it with everybody, both free and Premier members alike. I didn't really need the prize money, anyway, and if it helped allow some more deserving writer to win it, so much the better. And lastly, I write these stories for my own satisfaction, and tell them the way I want to tell them. I've found that if write a story for a contest, I'll end up introducing elements to raise the "vote count" even though they really didn't fit into the story.
But I can't help but wonder how the story would have ranked in the contest. So I'm making a special request to those who voted on the other stories, to let me know where this story might have ranked in their choices.
And, as I said in the end note, I'm always open to suggestions, praise, and criticism from my readers. You guys (and maybe gals) rock!