I had a hard job voting this month, as there was a kind of plateau of good stories all very much in the running, and no one rising into a little mountain peak above the others. Anyway, here is my shortlist, afer culling a number of stories which only just failed to sneak up from the longlist:
Graymalkin -- Wills
Hugh -- Have you ever tried herding cats?
Ihe -- The Natural Order of Things
johnnyjet -- In Their Father's House
mosaix -- Where There's A Will...
Parson -- Legacy: A Long Obedience
StilLearning -- Trust in Space
TheDustyZebra -- If You Will
Victoria Silverwolf -- Testament
In the end it came down to a duel between two stories of children receiving much-needed if not immediately appreciated legacies, and
TDZ just pipped johnnyjet to the vote, though he very nearly scraped the win just by virtue of his Bible-echoing title which I thought was a great fit for the story.
Many appetising vulturine thanks for the mentions/shortlistings Victoria, Peter, DEO, StilLearning, johnnyjet, crystal, p'marvin, Luiglin, CC and TDZ!