For the month of July, we have a delicious recipe for you to prepare. The ingredients are all listed below, but how you mix-n-spice them is completely up to you. Remember, all great chefs manage to make recipes their own by adding their personal touch and flavor. This month, let's see what you can cook up for our insatiable Aragorn/Legolas appetites!

The five ingridients are:

• Lame horse
• Knocked-over candle
• Person with a disability
• Missing toy
• Broken musical instrument

Each item on the list must appear in your story at least once, either physically or in dialogue. You don't have to use the exact same wording as we did. For example, your story can contain a limping mare, a knocked-over taper, a one-armed veteran of war, someone's lost plush dragon, and a smashed mandolin. We've tried to make the list specific enough to be challenging, but not too restrictive as to choke your imagination. (Hope that worked!)

There are many ways to go about this challenge, but if you need a hand in tickling your muse, here's a hint. You'll notice that all the items on the list have qualifiers; something happened to them. What was it? How did it come to pass? For example, to whom does the toy belong, and how did it go missing? What might befall a lame horse in Middle Earth? How will it affect our favorite characters? Ask yourself these questions, and you'll have an interesting story brewing in no time . . .

Legolas and Aragorn don’t have to be the main characters, but they must be mentioned. Also, keep in mind that in this contest, writers remain anonymous until we announce the winners. Please avoid any comments or recognitions that might give away your identity. Many readers are very good at guessing, but we want to make them work for it, right?

Special thanks to Beth and Ro, whose suggestions inspired this theme!

And here are the winners: