[Universe]

Scar - Well this was a touching and heartbreaking story.. Screw you for making me feel sad this early in the morning lol. Nah, I enjoyed this man. Although not up to your usual standard of polish, this was a nice little detour from what I was expecting. I loved the journal-like approach of the number of days on the boat being documented. I didnt find myself caring too much for the main character (maybe BECAUSE of the journal approach) but Wilson man... Wilson I loved. Great descriptions of this mouse, and I was cheering for him to live. I loved the part when she fed him and he looked up with a thank you... I guess you are seeing my love of animals coming through at this point lol.

The story was very well told and your heart is always on display my man. I few technical hiccups (some loose connections) and spelling issues kept this from being truly great for me, but I'm nitpicking. Then again, as the champ, you're going to be under a magnifying glass so get used to it lol.

An enjoyable read overall :).

Let's see if Bodey can top it.

Bodey - Well damn... I mean, for all the negative talk about yourself in the chat you sure showed up. Bodey... this was a great piece of work. Probably the best storytelling I've seen from you in terms of roping the reader in and never letting go. Your lines were crisp and each one had an impact, minus a few stragglers, and really propelled this tale along. What a cool concept of a mental patient escaping into the water she is meant to be in - the Olympic swimmer reference really came back around. Your descriptions in this were vivid and downright masterful. I loved this story man....

Ugh... you just made it very difficult for me. Let me go read them both again.

Okay... both stories connected with me. That part was even. This came down to what READ better overall - in terms of flow and word choices and connections made - one stood out a little more than the other to me. Scar's was a cool little tale of a stranded at sea boater who makes a friend in a mouse, Wilson. I loved Wilson and cheered for him. Even though the story was told in an interesting way, it was TOO broken up to really form the meaningful connection to the main character. This was a case of almost being beaten by your own brilliant design. Bodey's seemed more fluent and in the moment and kept me locked in. Her word choices were better - it flowed a little better to me. There was some cool little funny moments in there mixed with the pure anguish of the narrator.

I loved both of these. But for the reasons stated above, I'm going with...

Vote - Bodey

I am still confused as to why Bodey was so hard on herself for this one. I loved it. Scar, yours was amazing as well my friend but the level of polish and scrutiny you have over your own verses and word choices was watered down for this one. Pun intended.

This is the new BOTW for me. THANK YOU to both of you for these efforts.