I feel like two people really put their "best foot forward" this month (and hid their bad feet). These two were Dreaming and Victor. Dreaming's piece was beautiful in its whirlwind of enthusiasm and creativity, but needed help with editing, which could have fixed the dialogue and Mr. Anderson problems. Victor's piece was perfectly paced, and although it didn't hit the theme directly for me, it oozed with fantasy-goodness and the sensory experience of an imaginary world. The writing is really good and "smooth like butter" except when he tries to fit too much information or too many terms into one sentence. The characters came alive and were easily differentiated. It made me think of anime and I hold my anime-watching days dearly in my heart, so it scores (cheap?) points for that. I had to vote for Victor.
Kenny's: I felt like the main theme was the persistent date. The mystery being how the man was going through the years without noticing.
Luka's: I feel like the author abused his characters and scenes, making them pawns in his game of witty-word-play and over-the-top humor. The plot idea felt like a backdrop in which to put the real gems: annoying sons, miscommunication issues, technology that never works, a crazy lady attacking her family, absurd dining situations, and bypassing the corporate feedback mechanism to directly threaten your boss. First and foremost, in writing, I want to care about the plot and characters, otherwise I would read an essay. I didn't like the name Chevron or the personality. He was selfish, lazy, and uncaring towards his son. I begrudgingly waded through his misadventures, although I admit laughing more than once. I might have really liked this as a comic book or a 30 minute television sitcom, but it might work as flash for some readers.
Ms. Facing: Some good parts, but it was overshadowed by the dark humor, which does not appeal to me. When I started reading about executions, I expected the theme to apply to the idea of being overwhelmed by too many executions, but instead it was about underwhelming attendance numbers which led to a woman being overwhelmed by her unusual career choice. A more subtle take, which, again, felt outbalanced by the comic death routine and sexy humor. On this last point, there were a couple parts that could have been titillating but I overlooked the "exchange of favors" (too subtle?) and the curvy outfit seemed more gross than sexy, the oranges seemed ridiculous. I guess the overall tone didn't agree with me.
). IMHO a lot of what I see here are more like just very short narratives (as you said) or abbreviated or summary (or even unfinished excerpts/vignettes), but that's all okay too. I've seen things like that in the anthologies and collections I read as well. Everyone has different tastes. I know much of my work is not necessarily striking a chord with this audience and that's fine too, but I do appreciate all the feedback and the opportunity to try things out in these contests.
grapefruits is a go! 
LOL
