Pick a winner.......

Okay here's your chance to vote again on who gets this award........

If you read my last Portrait Of Words you will know that I made it a competition to win the above award by writing the ending to my story.    Well here are the entries and you can read the story for which they wrote the endings here, so you know what's gone before.

In the order they were in the comments...

Thom (Thom's Place 4 Well Whatever)

Geoff goes back home. Three weeks later he gets his okay from National Geographic to be settle in the hills. After getting all his ends tied up a week later, off he goes. All his wordly possessions with him, he arrives in the mountains and goes driectly to the diner. L'il Dolly Duke is no where to be found.

A voice from behind says, "May I help you"

"I'm looking for L'il Dolly?"

"Why she done moved after she married her childhood sweetheart. His dad decided to pick up and start a new business in the mountains just east of here. Cow herding is better there." Betty Sue said.
Heartbroken, Geoff starts to saunter out. Betty Sue continues, "Well Sugar, I remember you. I was one of those mud wrestling girls you saw the day you met L'il Dolly."

Geoff eyes lit up. Well I'm here so why not. Off the two went and Geoff thought, the hills would come alive yet again.



Dr.John (Dr.John's Fortress)

Several days later L'il Dolly Duke pays the diner owner for letting her play hillbilly girl waitress. Takes the one taxi out to what passes as an airport and flys her plane back to New York where she ceases to be L'il Dolly Duke and become Maggie O'Toole the author. She starts work on her new book "Hillbilly Murder".


As she writes she wonders if she can get that Geoff guy to sell her some of his pictures for the book.


bettygram (Betty's News)

Letters came on a regular bases, with tales of Geoff's travels. One day a package arrived with a copy of the National Geographic. The Photo were beautiful of their little community.


Dolly had a jar where she put away a little each pay check, hoping for Geoff return. As the sum grew she put it in the bank.


A few years passed and the letters grew fewer and fewer. The bank account grew, and Dolly found she could attend college. College or Geoff? She still cared for Geoff but a college education would prepare her more for a life of travel.


Dolly left her family and the diner. Geoff became a memory but he was the inspiration for her.



Daryl (Out and About in New York City)

While driving off Geoff thought of nothing but Dolly ... his mind focused solely on her and when he would be able to return.
So involved was he that he wasnt paying attention to the road and he lost control of the car, driving off a cliff .. his last words were Dolly, oh my Dolly.....


Mimi Lenox (Mimi Writes)

Geoff ran away with the next floosie he met on the street.


Pam (Finding Pam)

Geoff had kept all of his promises to Dolly. After the latest edition of National Geographic was printed, Dolly became a national treasure from all the exposure. She became an apprentice to Geoff and they traveled the world together taking photos of one adventure after another. Life was good. Dolly was happy and that was all that really mattered to Geoff because he was a man in love.


Stephen (Stephen's Thoughts)

Dolly continued to work at the diner, waiting for Geoff to return. He sent her an occasional letter, which she cherished. She wrote him back, and sent letters much more frequently than she received them. He spoke about the strange places he was visiting, and about how much he missed her. She spoke about how nice it was to hear about such things, places and customs that she never dreamed existed, and told him about life there in the hills and about how much she missed him.


Although he had said he would be back in a short time, months passed and then years, and still she waited. The hill people were starting to feel sorry for her, she knew, but she still kept waiting. She even turned down the men who wanted to date her. As time passed, her brothers and sisters grew up and all got married. Still she waited. Finally a man came in, a stranger, who still looked somehow familiar. Then she realized it was Geoff, years older, his hair streaked with gray.


"I'm sorry it took so long," he said. "I meant to come back earlier, and almost did several times, but I was afraid that if I did I couldn't bear to leave again. I was trying to save up enough money so that I could retire and stay here with you. We could still travel sometimes, but then it would be for fun, and we could go wherever we wanted."


She looked at him, wanting to hug him, wanting to throw her arms around him and never let him go, but somehow reluctant to make any move toward him. She said, softly and with a little sadness, "Did it really have to be so long? Couldn't you have come back at least sometimes? You did get vacations, you know."


He looked back at her, then turned his face to the side. "I'm sorry, I just couldn't. I couldn't bear to come back and then have to leave again. I thought of you almost constantly, though." He turned his head toward her again, fear and pain showing in his eyes. "There isn't someone else, is there? Someone who has taken my place?"


Several seconds of silence passed between them. She almost started to say something, but then stopped. Her face was unreadable.


Then she finally said, "There is someone else, but he has not taken your place. Come in Tommy, and meet your father." A little boy came in, who looked like both of them, and they all hugged each other, tears of happiness running down their faces. He had come home, and he would never leave them again.



OK so there you have the entries.   Stephen won the very first Great Imagination Award, will he do it again?  It's up to you.
Leave a comment to vote for who you want to win.  In the event of a tie we'll have another vote.