The time passed slowly. The Abwehr had prowled the woods; however, since there had been no sabotage activity - nor any more suspicious activity on the radio frequency - for almost two months, they were forced to return to Berlin empty-handed.

Life at Stalag Thirteen also remained quiet. Guards were surprised, but if it ain't broke... They were just pleased that the roll call counts were even and if that meant looking the other way when a flicker of light was spotted after lights-out then so be it.

Finney watched and emulated the Heroes who'd been here longer… many had been here for years. They painstakingly read every story nominated. Some went so far as to read their favorite multiple times, just to make sure they held up in competition.

So he also read and re-read story after story. It even got to the point that they began to blur together. Until one night in March, he chucked one story across the table and swiped his hands over his face in frustration.

"I can't do it," he moaned.

Kinch, who was reading a lovely Medium Comedy involving Carter, Newkirk, bombs, and one plump barmaid, looked up. The lad was slowly shaking his head and then raked his fingers through his hair.

"What's wrong?"

Finney gestured to the stack of stories. "There's no way to pick one out of all of these."

"You can pick up to three for the Voting Round," Carter said helpfully. He was on his bunk, laying on his stomach reading about a substitute komandant who was very different from their (un)lovable Kommandant.

"Three, huh?" Finney studied his list and sighed. "What if I pick the wrong ones?"

Newkirk frowned. "Can't pick a wrong one," he said. "It's only your opinion that counts."

"Just vote for the ones you think were the best or that tickled your fancy in some way." Kinch advised, before turning back to his tale.

Reassured, Finney reached for the discarded story and dug back in. After all, he only had until April 3rd…


AN: That's right we have a little more than two weeks to go. If you haven't heard, you can head over to www dot papabearawards2020 dot com to find a ballot, review the nominated stories, or find the link to the survey. (It's at the top of the Nominations section)