Writing Contest Number Five: Zed's Picks are Live!

So, it's been about four months since the last writing contest I ran, and I'm going to run another because you all are awesome! Unfortunately, I'm just starting seminary and have very little spare money, so I can't promise any prizes (yet), but every entrant will get put on my whitelist! I swear it's worth it. Not right now, but trust me, once in a while there's something good. In a fun twist, I will also be entering... so I better get writing. I won't win though, that would be unfair. If you've been writing something, and want a chance to get some recognition for it, here you go! You can be the "SteamGifts GoodWritingPerson of October 2015, or at least the GoodWritingest of the People who Entered", which is an official hereditary title which I am somehow qualified to endow. Also, uh, I can give feedback if you want, though I won't unless you request it. And there are giveaways for everyone to enter, and perhaps more to come later?

I had this stipulation in the past, but forgot to initially post it here; there are actually two categories; long (1000+ words) and short (less than 1000 words). Some writers do better with longer/shorter so the categories give everyone a chance to compete in their best area! Please enter now. We have like, 1 eligible entry. I'll, like, do some prizes even maybe? Please? Unlike the others, there is no minimum, since there are no prizes at stake (yet?), so even if you just write up a cool scene that works!

Submissions so far, by alphabetical order by category:

Anyway, here's all the boring stuff.

DUE DATE EXTENDED: OCTOBER 9TH

The restrictions:
English language. I don't have high enough reading comprehension in any other language to weigh those entries properly, and Google Translate would not be your friend in the grammar category.

No "erotica"; adult elements are fine, but if your work is just smut, I'm not interested. Adult relationships are fine, but if you're just writing a sex scene, there's... places for that.

Preferably no "shipping" fan-fiction. If you write a fan work, it should be in keeping with the original universe and interesting as a story to someone with no prior knowledge of the setting. I live under a rock, so I probably won't get your references, so try to keep it entry level or explain where it's from (links to wikipedia pages, etc. are appreciated!)

You may use works that you've written before, but remember to format them properly. For the sake of keeping the thread clean, I will not judge submissions that are simply posted in as text to the thread. The only exception is that I will not allow submissions that were in prior writing contests that I hosted, because I want to see fresh content!

How to submit:

Make a clickable link to a Google Document or other online storage service, which is accessible with only the link, in this thread or share the document with me using the address "squirezed@gmail.com". You can do this whenever you want, but remember that I will be judging the works based on how they are over the weekend of October 3-4 or shortly later depending on the quantity of entries.

LEGAL
This is not to get rights to your works so I can republish them. There are no contracts, you keep your work, I'm just interested in seeing it. I don't want to publish it (though I will contact the winners about links here if they do not post public links) or make money from it, and all rights will remain with the author. Thanks to schalart, for pointing this out. That said, your submissions should still be your original works which you own distribution rights for. Legalese is hard, so unless you are the original author of an otherwise unpublished work, please do not submit the work. Remember that posting your work publicly online can make some publishers refuse to publish your work. In case I actually muster up some prizes: If your place of residence doesn't let you win contests, tough. Not my responsibility to guarantee that you won't get in trouble. I live in the US, and I will not circumvent region locks to get you your prizes should you win.

Feel free to contact me at the email address above or via Steam message or any other arcane way you devise to contact me for clarification. I will try to respond to questions posted in this thread.

View the last contest here, with links to the earlier ones also.

Update: I have listed all the entries that I have up above by title and username divided into short and long categories. The hyperlinked ones are ones that I have a shareable link for; if you want a link, and you don't have one up, it's probably because it's not shareable as is (either your link is for editing and not just commenting/viewing or your story is in the body of an email). I can format it and share it if you want me to; just send me an email or post here and I'll update with a link at your request, but I don't want to share your work without permission! If you're not on the list at all, it's because I managed to lose your entry (sorry!) and it's my fault and please just send it again or post here to remind me. There are a lot more entries than I was expecting (which is a good thing!), so I'll try to get it done this weekend but I might get behind on judging.