Only three entries this month (so no Members Choice) but still worthy winners. 

1st Place: Surprise! by JudyBrewer
Sometimes it pays to heed the weatherman.
Low Fantasy Word count 1,600 apx.

2nd Place: Nelson Candell by jisaacs
light fantasy/april fool's april shower writing contest.
Nelson Candel awakes to find his imp has set a miniature thundercloud following him around.  His day only gets worse from there.

3rd Place: Bridal Shower by lifetone
Story about the wedding party for a bride-to-be. Romantic fantasy after the challenge.

Congratulations to all.

Firstly, apologies - this should have gone up yesterday, but it was quite a busy and stressful day and it totally slipped my mind.  Sorry.  Though fortunately May is a 31-day month, so you actually have exactly the same time as you did last month.

Yesterday was May Day, which has more than its share of ancient tradition, so this month's challenge is a story about an ancient tradition being preserved.  Maybe its a forgotten tradition revived, something being maintained against opposition, something your MC is trying to stop - or any other situation you can think of that fits the challenge.

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

Here are the results of the March challenge:

1st Place: Reborn - Hellishly so by colinmac
Having a job in Ireland! Having a job in HELL. A nightmare imp is pondering the possiblities of being human.

2nd Place: Flight by JudyBrewer
Old Clara is known in the dragon caves, but when what she has been doing there is discovered, everything changes.  One old woman can change a world.  High Fantasy

3rd Place: Warlord Of The Drudge by Robster
Naras awaits the birth of a child he knows will be a monster. His beloved wife will not survive the ordeal. But there will be little time to mourn, for Naras must undertake a solemn journey and deliver the child to its own kind, the warlike Drudge. Such is his fate and duty, for the Zukerai Elves live under an ancient curse.
2200 words. Set in the same world as my novel project and my other pieces published here. Not sure it has a real ending, but ran out of time so published anyway. Let me know what you think. High Fantasy afterwards, please.

Members Choice: Time Passed, Yet Was Not by Asenath
A story I've been working on for a while now. The challenge prompt gave me just the jolt of inspiration I needed to finish it.
Just over 4200 words.
Science Fantasy after the challenge, please.

Congratulations to the winners.

April's probably best known for two things - showers and practical jokes.  So this month's challenge is to write a story that deals with the effects of a practical joke (the more disatrous the better) and also features rain as a major element.

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

There was quite a small field this month, but it was a high quality and a close-run thing for the winner.  The results are:

1st Place: In Their Infancy by Lion
A ghost story. (Contemporary Fantasy)

2nd Place: Something From Nothing by newm
A new story of the Pit and the Burbs.
A young Burb resident is caught up in the aftermath of a horrific strike against the Guv. Is he the perpetrator, or another victim?

3rd Place: A feast for free: How the Crow made the mountains from a box by MarcusCT
This is my attempt at one of those old origin stories that come from the spoken lore of Africa and Native America. I've been reading a lot of old trickster tales and thought it would be fun to give it a try.
Sit back and let me tell you of the trickster crow Corvos and how he shaped our land.
Fairy tales after the competition.

Members Choice:RuneFire by insideout
The chasm was a horrible place, a great gash in the earth that no one dared go near. It was foul, terrifying, and the perfect place for a 14-year-old servant to practice the forbidden art of Rune Magic.
High Fantasy after the challenge.

Congratulations to the winners.

March is the month of my birthday (hint: acceptable presents include publishing contracts with six-figure advances) so the challenge this month is to write a story about a birth, whether it's a birth of someone or something, or just a figurative birth.

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

For the first time in a few months, we were back to a normal-sized field.  There was a good standard of entries, with several stories just missing out on a place, but a very clear winner.

1st Place: The Water Walker by newm
In a time of violent transition, Wieska is charged with carrying a precious cargo to safety.
For my first completed story in more than three years, I have borrowed from Anishinaabe tradition. The scrolls are real, the names and places are real. The story itself is my invention.
Low Fantasy after the Challenge.

2nd Place: Make Hay by Erika
Astronomers are saying that many stars have planets. But many stars are also part of a binary system. What would that do to the orbit of a planet - and to the lives of any colonists?
600 words. Science Fantasy after the contest.

3rd Place: Rebirth by Serafyr
A wizard and spirit watch as a world ends. A side story dealing with characters from the general Decebal/Zev story (but not Decy and Zev).
About 900 words long. Historical Fantasy.

Members Choice: The Rose with No Thorn by tp
Lights, camera, action...
It is the end of an era as the first 'talkie' is filmed. This going to be big, it is going to change everything, in more ways than one...
6000 words ish.
Contempory Fantasy after the competition.

Congratulations to the winners.

For the last few challenges, I've tried to use something vaguely relevant for the time, but this one's back to random - write a story about making something out of nothing.  You can interpret that as completely literal, completely figurative, or anywhere in between, but it has to involve making something out of nothing as a central feature of 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.

Many of our members will have read and listened to reports about the legislation known as SOPA and PIPA currently making its way through the American legislative process.

The owners, administrators and moderators of Fantasy-Writers.org have grave concerns about the viability of our site should the legislation pass as it is presently written.

Our concerns are not politically based, but lie in the the way the wording and retroactive nature of the legislation, should it become law, would affect our site and the personal liabilities of those who own, administrate, and post on it.

To draw attention to our concerns, FWO will join other internet sites in a voluntary 24 hour shut down on 1/18/2012 and 1/23/2012 in protest against SOPA and PIPA.

Only three entries this month, so there's no Members Choice, but all the stories scored pretty well in the judging.  We've got them into this order, though:

1st Place: Holiday Spirit by Serafyr
Decebal is severely lacking in Christmas cheer. Will Zev be able to squeeze some warmth out of the wizard’s typically cold heart? A Decebal and Zev (Seal of the Wolf) story.
About 2000 words. Contemporary Fantasy.

2nd Place: The White Moon Bride by Robster
Every eleven years a full moon falls on Midwinter’s Night. By the light of this sacred White Moon, the people of Bleake elect a beauty queen to honour an ancient festival and a duty to the God of the Snows.
Cysna really hopes that it will be her this year. Good fortune and celebrity always befalls this Bride, and a slave girl needs all the luck she can get. Dan, a Freeman of the city, shares in her hopes, and in the dream of a happy life together. Their fates are intertwined with a forgotten truth; what does the night hold for this year’s White Moon Bride?
High Fantasy afterwards please. It's set in the same world as my novel project, but far to the north. Roughly 4000 words.

3rd Place: Under the Dead Moon by tp
Fidel Portolli makes a dreadful mistake one night when he takes a girl home. His life will never be the same again. But what desision will he make under the Dead Moon?
Set in the same world as 'The Winds Awaken'.
Just shy of 5,000 words. Contempary Fantasy? after the competition.

Congratulations to all of you.