"Welcome back!" says Nuile. "Velox and I are glad to announce that the League of Authors has returned! . . . Again. Again again--again? Well, never mind how many returns we have had; we will have as many as necessary, though hopefully there won't be any more for a while.

"Thanks to Velox and his dedication, the LoA still has a host and so all our features are back, and more are in the works! Alas, the first two challenges are no longer open for entry, but you have from now until December [insert 28 days from the day this is posted] to enter this one here if you so choose, when another challenge will begin--but don't forget this is bi-weekly; there will be a challenge 14 days from now as well!

"Well then! Without fruther cunctation, let's issue a challenge, eh?"

This week's theme shall be:

Nuile explains, "Derive from this any interpretation you desire, integrate it into your Short Story or Epic chapter within the next four weeks, and post the link to your story topic here. In addition to the standard four points for entering, if you follow the theme."

And now we shall segue straight to your task for this week:

"You have the option to write your entire Short Story in verse, or, if you prefer, to have one of your characters utter a poem. Or a song, even. Alone or accompanied by prose, tune or no tune, as long as it has a rhyme scheme and is formatted properly, it qualifies and earns you another extra point. And if you're really lame"--Nuile raises his hand--"you can just write a haiku. But I wouldn't try to post a single haiku in its own topic, if I were you. . . . Blog entry? Sure, why not?"

Cunctation n. - Procrastination; delay.

Segue v. - To make a transition without interruption from one activity, topic, scene, or part to another.

Number of, amount - Number of should be used only for countable objects, as many: "I have a number of suits in my closet."Amount should be used for a mass, as much:"What amount of water do we need?"

Remember that each word and tip earn you an extra point--three in all. And if you qualify for everything--theme, challenge, vocabulary, and grammar--you'll earn another point, for a grand total of ten points!

"It's great to be back!" cries Nuile with alacrity. "I hope you're as excited re our return as we are! Enjoy the challenge; see you again in two weeks!"