Stories - Short Fiction & Poetry Contest - 2019 - page 1 - all works

Short Fiction

The Intersection of Humanity and Insanity

The stoplight on the corner had been broken for weeks. Westway Avenue was yellow and green at the same time, while Cherry Lane was forever red. Mabel knew this. Mom and Dad called it "the ... [+]

Poetry

1 min

I Went to Prague and I went to Virginia

Ellie Wilkie

I went to Prague and a thousand spires greeted me; brushed the skies and toyed with the clouds. ... [+]

Poetry

1 min

Unattached

Aria Austin

I never felt attached

to the translucent lights that dance across the glass

my cheeks ... [+]

Poetry

1 min

Richter scale

Alessandra Scholle

Home is a place I’ve never lived

Even though I know the hills and valleys of it

I didn’t ... [+]

Poetry

1 min

Ker Ys (after Baton Rouge, after St. George)

Jack Dean

Highways
Vivisected

Shotgun houses
with mouths agape
gasping for air

Two fires ... [+]

Poetry

4 min

Matoaka

Shane Moran

I

My eyes are tired and heavy,

I’ve woken up, again, in the McGlothlin basement,

A ... [+]

Poetry

1 min

Home

Mazarine Rossert

It takes someone remarkably special,

to make a rainy day feel warm.

to feel cozy unde ... [+]

Poetry

1 min

To compose a love letter

Kathy Jiang

in my chest i hold

flickering nights on your couch,

crumbs between the ... [+]

Poetry

1 min

Send Me the Sunrise

Daria Moody

Send me the sunrise.

You told me it misses me.

The pink, orange, red,

Breaking the ... [+]

Poetry

2 min

Familiar Sounds

Jack Cackley

I apply just the right pressure to the doorknob

And it clicks open

I step inside, to the ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Home is Where the Backstory Is

Jeannine Brokaw

After another fast-paced day, the four adventurers were sitting in the bar of the Dragon’s Dungeon Inn. Suddenly, they felt a change in the air as the geometric orbs of predestination ceased thei ... [+]

Short Fiction

4 min

Fellowship

Oluwatobi Adepoju

Jumoke, Deji, and James are Nigerian-American students from Virginia that received a fellowship to work at a technology company in the central city of Lagos, Nigeria. They have been tasked to pitch ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Esme

Catherine Green

It’s always jarring to see my mother’s face on a magazine. People talk about magazines being glossy, but most aren’t. They’re nearly dull. This one screams, “Willow Van Lise: ‘I’ve ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

All Lined Up

John Lin

I am sitting on the staircase looking out the window while the mother takes down the balloons and streamers. Painful quiet in the air until finally the gray car pulls up in the driveway. I stand up ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Home Away

Kate Kowalski

With the customary three raps of Gavin’s life-size StarFleet Viroblade-2000 replica, the biweekly meeting of the Beechwood Middle Intergalactic Relations Club commenced. The BMIR Club (pronounced ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Or We'll Burn This Town Down

Ferdison Cayetano

Fermin Tobera's grandfather was killed by the Americans. Now Fermin is in their country. He is in California. He is there to farm cabbages.

The Americans will kill him, too.

But he ... [+]

Short Fiction

3 min

A Shared Home

Conor Sokolowsky

I stared into death; death stared back. The piercing gaze of the beast pinned me. I could not move. Dare not move. Locked in its predatory gaze, my vision tunneled. I was tuned to the highest note ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Where is home?

Joo Young Ok

a. the house you grew up in

When you close your eyes, the images, sounds, smells, all come flooding back.

It’s been years, but you can still transport yourself in an instant, across time ... [+]