Stories - Long Story Short Award - 2024 - page 1 - all works

Short Fiction

2 min

God is real and he is a plastic box.

I do not possess a witch's wit, the wise man's words, nor the taleteller's tongue, but I must attempt to honor the spirits who were with me this evening and tell you my story. It starts, as most ... [+]

Short Fiction

2 min

My Journey to College

Tatyana Hunter

Once in a blue moon, the universe conspires to weave a tale so enchanting that it defies the ordinary rhythms of life. In the heart of 2024, a year marked by both tumult and triumph, there ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Second Chances

Demetrius Chew

They sent us to another city with the same objective: push them back. Aachen, September 1944. They said something about taking the first bit of German land, but I couldn't have cared less. I just ... [+]

Short Fiction

4 min

I am the Sun.

Juan Joy

The sun hung low, its molten rays bleeding into the ocean, transforming the sea into a tapestry of gold and fire. Daedalus, the master craftsman, stood on the rocky cliffside, his eyes heavy with ... [+]

Short Fiction

4 min

no lipstick, no crime

Daniel Por

There it was.
That lipstick tube, lying in the trashcan. Its hot pink hue, crisscrossed with glitter and promises of "100% AQUA HYDRATION". Maybe its owner had forgotten it in a rush. One thing ... [+]

Short Fiction

2 min

The Jump

Eva Crikelair

Light spasmed on the lake as the boys below churned it with their limbs and laughed, loud and urgent. It was the middle of August. Looking down from the cliff's edge, the surface of the water seemed ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

A Good Boy

Ozymandias Kafka

Nothing manly about a boy like me.
Deep in the Georgian plains, a man makes his own fate, with nothing but his two hands. My first memories were riding in the back of the red station wagon ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

The Celestial Clockmaker

Kavishvaran Srinivasan

Evelyn had always been fascinated by the intricate workings of clocks. As a child, she would spend hours in her grandfather's workshop, watching him repair timepieces with steady hands and unwavering ... [+]

Short Fiction

4 min

Misdirection

Treyce Wood

My first semester was over before it started. It was Halloween night and I was finally starting to adjust to college. Life at a small liberal arts college in Ohio was different from my life in the ... [+]

Short Fiction

4 min

Unseen Battles: A Story of Hope and Triumph

Kustomo Kustomo

In the quiet and small village of Cilacap, nestled among the lush rice fields of Central Java, a young boy named Tomo stood at the threshold of his first-grade classroom, his heart heavy with ... [+]

Short Fiction

4 min

Once in a blue moon

Nishita nishita

When was the last time you had dinner together with your family? In your pursuit of the remarkable, what meaningful moments have you let slip by unnoted? If guilt creeps within you, your soul is ... [+]

Short Fiction

4 min

Memento

Naci Konar-Steenberg

The artifacts were discovered forty years ago by a mountaineering expedition, but came to the attention of our geology department only recently. The mountaineers were part of a multinational ... [+]

Short Fiction

1 min

When No One's Watching

Quinn McNally

It's 11:54 when we leave the party. I have to drag her away; she's tipsy from sneaking sips of my parents' champagne and doesn't see the need to rush. I can't judge her—I'm not all ... [+]

Short Fiction

4 min

Friends Lost and Found

Isla McCullough

Most people think ghosts only come out at night. They'd be wrong. A kid tripped along the path, about five years old, chasing a chipmunk. Nobody called out for him to stop or be careful. Indeed ... [+]

Short Fiction

3 min

legs

Swaranya Sarkar

"Shoot!"
The blast echoes across the field.
I watch from behind a grimy water pump. For days, I have been watching, never daring to go beyond. The air smells like sweat and hangs heavy ove ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

The Prince's Visit

Scarlett Kingston

When Prince Hubert stepped into this murky town, he couldn't fathom who would travel across the vastness of the empire for a mere festival. Barren streets — lamenting the beating sun — and one ... [+]

Nouvelles

5 min

Like

Charlotte Chadwick

We were walking together, the three of us, the shape we made lurching clumsily to and fro on the concrete as our glances flicked back and forward between our faces; asking, answering, nodding ... [+]

Nouvelles

5 min

Midnight Rising

Ava Illi

The crests and troughs of the night were already beating along the shore. Oh, how badly she wished to be released from Rickshaw! Up there, on the rocky cliff dotted with pink salt sand and red paint ... [+]