Hello and Welcome!  Kittie drops her stack of papers and watches with dismay as last years Olympic results get sucked down a gutter drain.

Ok! Well, on to bigger and brighter things!  I'm sure you've all forgotten who I am, so here to remind you is my cat Polly! Kittie points to a cute little black and white cat who startles and leaps over a fence never to be seen again. 

Right. Uh. Huh.  I'm the Creative Director around here and due to something lame called "real life" I have neither been creative, nor have I directed anything. We're gonna change that! Kittie drags an easel with a messy looking newsprint pad of paper on it. In bold red letters the first page reads:

"The FALL of the Mafia." 

For the next week your assignment is to write a story about the fall, or autumn as some call it.  But it HAS to be heavily interspersed with tidbits about your family life.  And you know what I mean when I say family!  Kittie winks but it looks more like she's gotten a handful of dirt in her face.  After clumsily attempting to recover she finally pushes a strand of hair behind her ear and grimaces. 

Righteo. These things usually have ground rules but since participation was so low last time the bar is in hell now. Here's the basics. 

1. Post your story in the Streets with [FALL] in brackets behind the title. Post a link to the story in this post.

2. Entries must be AT LEAST 250 words.  You may absolutely go over that limit.

3. NO AI. Obviously, but sometimes people "forget."  Those people are now at the bottom of Lake Meade.

4. Deadline is Sept 25, 2025 11pm PST. I do not know what that is in GMT and since this is the 1950's I don't have "google."

5. Your story can be fun, silly, serious, or whatever you want thematically, but it must be about the mafia, set in the fall. 

Have fun writing and be creative!  All entries will receive big tips and prizes will be sent out randomly to all participants, GOOD prizes go to the winners! 

Kittie steps off of her soapbox and immediately breaks her right ankle. 

Judging will FINALLY close Nov 7 as I have just now located a computer with an actual keyboard and not just my freaking tablet. 

Kittie stands on a soapbox and waves a sheaf of paper around 

Turns out packing up two houses, moving once, losing the cord to my desktop uhhhhh typewriter and going on vacation are all little side steps in my quest to judge this contest!  Also partaking in the devil’s lettuce for a few weeks sort of altered my reading skills. 
 

this contest will be fully judged and awarded This upcoming Sunday night. 

At last, the turkey has been fed to the dogs, the stuffing is currently being scraped off of the roof and the firemen managed to get Aunt Gertrude out of the empty well.  How was your holiday weekend?  And if it wasn't a holiday, how was the regular weekend? 

Shane_Stetson and JamesHowlett tied for first and received 5.5mil cold hard cash, don't spend it all on candy! 

TonytheTailor SlimRagnarok and @SimontheSwanHunter were all runners up with 1.5mil payouts. 

Thanks for participating!