I'm sorry this happened, and that you're upset about it. Please remember that our judges have a lot of stories to get through. They have to open, keep track of, and read over fifty items. We have to enforce rules consistently because if we make any exceptions at all, then everyone participating would have a right to ask for and expect an exception. That would make the difficult work of the judges even harder still.

I hope you understand.

Cheers,
Michelle