Stories - Long Story Short Award - 2022 - page 1 - Short Fiction

Short Fiction

3 min

Tied Down

When Gary asked politely if she wanted him to tie her to the bedposts that night, Sybil politely declined. Polite, polite, polite - she was sick of it, the way he always asked when it was a nightly ... [+]

Short Fiction

4 min

The Timefang's Prowl

Renton Christensen

‘Getting old', Vyncor thought, ‘has been my worst decision yet'. He stretched and felt each of the gnarled knots of pain that ran through his back and neck, twisted up like tangled fishing lines. He ... [+]

Short Fiction

1 min

A New Resident to Darkness

Vanshika Ghai

"The work of the eyes is done. Go now and do the heart-work on the images imprisoned within you."
― Rainer Maria Rilke

I sit in front of him watching him like the painting that hangs in a ... [+]

Short Fiction

1 min

Falling

Aidan Hardy

Close your eyes...

Be in the moment...

Breathe in and out...

Feel the air against your body...

Just take it all in...

Keep breathing...

Stay calm...
... [+]

Short Fiction

2 min

Origami

Elizabeth Bryan

The boy is obsessed with origami, his mother tells her friends. He sits at the kitchen table for hours at a time, folding and pressing and creasing and fitting. Microscopic tucks and pleats – tiny ... [+]

Short Fiction

4 min

The Fucking Jasper

Freya Emery

"Where the hell are we going anyway?" Cynthia asks Jess in a stern tone.
We've been on the road for several hours, stuck in Jess's mini cooper listening to nothing but Harry Styles and Miley ... [+]

Short Fiction

3 min

Rock Candy Sweetness

Mia Maxwell

My bloodless white fingers grasped my thighs, squeezing away like Sunday lemonade. I gasped, letting my head fall back. I thumbed the lining of my shorts, finding a loose thread and pulling hard. No ... [+]

Short Fiction

1 min

Forgotten Eyes

Aiden Jones

Mallory Johnson lived in the suburbs behind a white picket fence and a dark pine door. Her husband called her "Mal" when he trudged in late on the weekends, drunk and tired. David Smith was a working ... [+]

Short Fiction

3 min

A Tale of Three Friends

Miriam Arce

A long time ago, in a lonely forest, lived three unlucky friends.

Vanished into the land of the lost souls, they were outcasts left to perish—left with nothing but regret and anguish.

It ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

The Moon and her Novelties

Cristina de La Espriella

Springtime arrives with cherry blossoms falling over the streets of Florence. The shower of rosy petals are tangled in the ruby dawn. A young girl approaches those new hours of daylight in a different ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Lemons

Keturah McQuade

Anya sat slumped on the couch with her hands on her stomach, anxiously anticipating her husband's return from work. She watched emptily as her breathing raised her hands slowly up and down. Her navel ... [+]

Short Fiction

3 min

Honest Doubt

Tanner Burke

"There lives more faith in honest doubt,
Believe me, than in half the creeds."
A. L. T. - In Memoriam

When I was nine years old, I lost a little Superman action figure and Dad told me to ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Hunt

Helen Kong

Moonlight shone upon the street, lingering around. There was only one person wandering around humming a song.

‘Hey Jude, don't make it bad...' The song was fluttering around the street. ... [+]

Short Fiction

3 min

Cold Walls and Ugly Chairs

Samuel Houghton

The white wall of Mount Sinai's waiting room was hard and smooth against Henry's head. Its unforgiving coldness infiltrated his bristly hair and trickled along the back of his skull and down his ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Marin of the Sea

Tobin Eckstein

The strength of the ocean lives on inside of me. Tight-laced panels around my waist will never drain the saltwater from my veins, nor will high-heels ever rid me of my sea legs. I refuse to buckle ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

I see myself in you

Clarice Wu

Why?

I whispered under my breath, looking at my soulless corpse on the bed. Next to me, my dearest sister stood there in shock, with a pillow in her hands.

The pillow that suffocated ... [+]

Short Fiction

2 min

Looking for a Story

Isaac Buckley

What is one thing that everyone has but none of them are the same? The easy answer is a story. Where can a story be found? It can be found anywhere, as Callie found out one night long ago. Callie was ... [+]

Short Fiction

3 min

Fault Line

Abby Knudsen

Evan's body lay sprawled on the outcropping below, just above the reservoir.

Millie hadn't meant to. She was only joking, only trying to stop him from being such a wimp. She could still feel ... [+]