Category:Fiction
First Prize: “Stateless”
Mina Alali
“June 20, 2016,” Alborz recites aloud as he scribbles on the clipboard. “Gloria’s results were negative; cancer treatment is going well. Keep taking nine micrograms of Denileukin Diftitox daily.”
Second Prize: “Jolene”
Rebecca Wright
I still remember the smile on Baby’s face when I gave her my granddaddy’s guitar. Gap-toothed, too wide, and brighter than a pail full of sunshine. Mama clucked at me when I came home empty-handed. “Delly, you’re a sweet thing,”...
Joint Third Prize: “The Mask Maker”
Cole Andrade
There lived a great spider that made the finest masks in the world. Inside the spider’s cave were hundreds of masks on hundreds of shelves. Each mask was a masterpiece, decorated to perfection with paints, ribbons, jewels and gems. ...
Joint Third Prize: “Mind Shadows”
Cecilia Vacanti
Genesis had taken Lethe’s memories, she was sure of it. She didn’t have any logical reason why she should come to this conclusion. She didn’t remember who she was, where she came from, who her friends were, where she lived. ...
That Window, My Window
Luna Ramos
Have you ever looked back on your life and realized that there were people, objects that pretty much shaped your childhood, made you into a more creative, interesting person? I found mine at a very young age. No, actually, it…
The Ungrateful Son
Dinty W. Moore
After the tale by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Once a man was sitting with his wife. They had roasted a chicken which they were about to eat together. Then the man saw that his aged father was approaching, and he…
The Sword
Ben Loory
You got something in the mail today, the man’s wife says. It looks like it’s from your uncle.
The man takes the package and holds it in his hands. He opens it.
Inside is a sword.
This sword was used…
Birdheart
Adam Mills
When I sliced the man’s chest cavity open, feathers poured out. I recoiled, dropping my scalpel on the ground by my feet. The old man – a Mr. Clayton Montgomery – lay on the gurney in front of me, eyes…
For the Time Being
Louis C. Stewart
Chapter 1 — The Voyagers
Kevlin left the council room disturbed by the lack of fresh ideas. The council was definitely thinking in circles. The same old ideas and supposed solutions to the problem had been gone over and over…