I think I understand what you mean by your feedback here. I like this idea and topic. I imagine the suggestions / parameters are intended to open up possibilities rather than restrict them.
You definitely have the writing talent to take advantage of the criteria.
I'm glad you commented too as it promoted me to check out your posts. I haven't been very active on steemit lately, but I do enjoy a contest and I love discovering talented people (and I hate spammy comments, relevant intelligent comments even critiques are better than generic transparent "complimentary" one liners. @calluna I hope you don't mind me crashing your post with my own response.). Steemit is like mining for gems, sometimes you just stumble upon treasures. I'm happy to discover both of you @rhethypo and @calluna. I look forward to reading your story, (hopefully for this contest, it looks like a cool idea).
Take the suggestions as a challenge, push the boundaries of them and turn them on themselves to suit your purpose.

I too am thinking of entering a piece. I have done a little bit of poetry and free writing on steemit, but am not experienced in story writing, but I thought I might give it a go. The topic interests me, and I would like to develop my writing.